Visual Hallucinations Are a Normal Grief Reaction

Hugh Pickens writes "Vaughn Bell has written an interesting essay at Scientific American about grief hallucinations. This phenomenon is a normal reaction to bereavement that is rarely discussed, although researchers now know that hallucinations are more likely during times of stress. Mourning seems to be a time when hallucinations are particularly common, to the point where feeling the presence of the deceased is the norm rather than the exception. A study by Agneta Grimby at the University of Goteborg found that over 80 percent of elderly people experience hallucinations associated with their dead partner one month after bereavement, as if their perception had yet to catch up with the knowledge of their beloved's passing. It's not unusual for people who have lost a partner to clearly see or hear the person about the house, and sometimes even converse with them at length. 'Despite the fact that hallucinations are one of the most common reactions to loss, they have barely been investigated and we know little more about them. Like sorrow itself, we seem a little uncomfortable with it, unwilling to broach the subject,' writes Bell. 'We often fall back on the cultural catch all of the "ghost" while the reality is, in many ways, more profound.' "

Comments

Eternal

[Sanat]

I believe that life is eternal and that our body(ies) are like shirts. If one gets torn on a nail or worn out then it is discarded and a new one is put on for a new life experience.

The eternal part of us certainly can travel and assist the grieving family members just by being present with them. Time and space is an illusion and the only moment we have is the present one. Basically all time is now.

The eternal part of us knows only love... we as a body tend to exist in a state of fear and yet after enough lifetimes we (our consciousness) tends to shift from the fear side towards the love side.

To call this phenomena a hallucination seems to be a great stretch on somebody's part and certainly such an assumption is not from a level playing field. Of course, for those in fear of an afterlife... calling it a hallucination reduces the personal impact that it might have.

98% Seed PLZ!!

[Arthur Grumbine]

I first read the tag as "I seed 'ead, people"...very confusing...too much torrenting for me, I guess.