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Ghosts & Hauntings

60% of widowed people see lost loved ones

By T.K. Randall
March 13, 2016 · Comment icon 70 comments

Reports of encountering a deceased loved one are not uncommon. Image Credit: sxc.hu
A new study in Italy has suggested that it is not uncommon to see, hear or sense a deceased partner.
Paranormal experiences involving a deceased loved one are not as uncommon as most people would believe - that is according to researchers at the University of Milan who conducted an extensive study in to cases of 'post-bereavement hallucinatory experiences' (PBHEs).

"Overall, evidence suggests a strikingly high prevalence of PBHEs - ranging from 30% to 60% - among widowed subjects, giving consistence and legitimacy to these phenomena," they wrote.

Jacqueline Hayes of the University of Roehampton, who has also studied the phenomenon for several years, prefers to use the term 'experiences of continued presence' (ECPs).

"People report visions, voices, tactile sensations, smells, and something that we call a sense of presence that is not necessarily related to any of the five senses," she said.
"They happen involuntarily, and, for example, not while someone is deliberately "remembering". They are always significant to the bereaved and continue some aspect of the relationship with a loved one; sometimes they also magnify it."

While it isn't clear exactly what is taking place during these experiences, some researchers believe that they may be similar to the flashbacks reported by sufferers of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Dr Hayes on the other hand maintains that there is something more going on.

"ECPs can occur for many years afterwards, and even when the bereaved are no longer experiencing trauma and they are usually not in the form of flashbacks but can be quite new experiences," she said. "Whether they are helpful or unhelpful depends on the nature of the relationship with the deceased."

Source: New Zealand Herald | Comments (70)




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Recent comments on this story
Comment icon #61 Posted by JVG 8 years ago
woohoo, maybe this could be my wedding photo after all. I know a pretty face when I see one and you are quite the looker!!!!
Comment icon #62 Posted by preacherman76 8 years ago
My ex mother in law had a similar experience when she was supposed to be out for the cold during an operation. She also heard the voices of the doctors and could recall what they said. She recalled this because she was not fully under although she could not move or say anything.....thankfully this is not an everyday occurrence, but they can happen. OMG that's horrible. Was she feeling pain during it? Ive heard a couple terrible stories of people feeling and hearing everything, but unable to move or speak. With this case, there was no chance of that happening. Her brain was being monitored, and... [More]
Comment icon #63 Posted by preacherman76 8 years ago
Ok I got as much info as I could. The operation took place in Phoenix Arizona at a hospital named Barrow neurological institute. This was in 1991. The Doctor who performed the operation is named Dr Robert Spetzler. The patients name is Pam Reynolds. They even titled the event "operation stand still" as it was the first time anything like this has been attempted. Normally it would have just been a death sentence. Her body temp was dropped to between 10 to 15 centigrade. For a full hour her heart would be completely stopped. She wouldn't breath, and there would be no measurable brain activity. S... [More]
Comment icon #64 Posted by ChrLzs 8 years ago
I'd suggest this: http://talkrational.org/showthread.php?t=10223 covers it pretty well. I'd also strongly suggest you look at this, in particular the parts about how this 'case' was shown to be deliberately misreported... http://infidels.org/library/modern/keith_augustine/HNDEs.html#pam We have nothing but two accounts, made at differing times after the operation and not properly recorded or cited at the time they were made - indeed, those parts we CAN verify show that her 'NDE' was in fact nowhere near the time of her 'deeper' anasthesia, when her senses could ver reasonably be expected to op... [More]
Comment icon #65 Posted by preacherman76 8 years ago
Never mind that if I had used some crazy source like infidels.org or Talk rational,that you would never accept them as ligit sources. As if either could even be close to considered non biased. I mean you wouldn't even open a youtube link who's video could have been sourced from anyone. This part of your second link interested me. "Could Pam have heard the intraoperative conversation and then used this to reconstruct an out-of-body experience? At the beginning of the procedure, molded ear speakers were placed in each ear as a test for auditory and brain-stem reflexes. These speakers occlude the... [More]
Comment icon #66 Posted by preacherman76 8 years ago
. The Doctor himself says he has no explanation, but that does not mean there isn't one, nor that it has not been exaggerated over time (in part for good, exciting television)... Yeah, call me a cynic, but nobody has ever lied or misremembered or exaggerated or cheated (or patronised...) before, right..? ones..) ... Fair enough. Im happy to agree to disagree. As if this conversation could had led anywhere else right? LOL
Comment icon #67 Posted by ChrLzs 8 years ago
I do agree that case does, unfortunately, come down to he said/she said, plus a pile of interesting things that were really not investigated as thoroughly as they should/could have been.. Never mind that if I had used some crazy source like infidels.org or Talk rational,that you would never accept them as ligit sources. Whereas Youtube or a BBC docco...? I generally don't accept anything except well - documented and preferably peer reviewed publications and solid documentary evidence. If two sources disagree, then they pretty much cancel each other out unless there is something solid and check... [More]
Comment icon #68 Posted by regeneratia 8 years ago
I do not doubt this at all.
Comment icon #69 Posted by ChrLzs 8 years ago
I do not doubt this at all. And I am not surprised to hear that at all... Thanks for that edifying, comprehensively researched and supported post - it's easily up there with your best.
Comment icon #70 Posted by TruthSeeker_ 8 years ago
And I am not surprised to hear that at all... Thanks for that edifying, comprehensively researched and supported post - it's easily up there with your best. Perhaps because many of us have heard about widowed relatives who have seen/spoken to their deceased loved ones. It's far more common than we think. So I do not doubt at all the findings of this research either. The question is more about whether this phenomenon is entirely psychological or also paranormal in nature.


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