In May 2004 I undertook a project that I thought might be groundbreaking. Reports of haunting activity and UFO's have increased exponentially in the last 20 years,
coinciding nicely with the advent of a new class of psychiatric drugs called SRI's. I endeavored to prove a relationship between these two events.
SRI's (seratonin reuptake inhibitors) work to control depression and
some compulsive and addictive behaviors, as well as having moderate success in the control of anxiety.
Seratonin is a hormone chemical in every human brain that assists the connectivity of electrical impulses from nerve endings-called neurotransmitters. When a person has too little seratonin, the brain becomes dysfunctional. This dysfunction can take on varying degrees of severity and manifest in several different behavioral ways. SRI class drugs increase the body's ability to keep seratonin at healthy levels.
I had a theory. Personally, my experiences with the paranormal increased somewhat in both frequency and intensity after being prescribed an SRI (Prozac) for my clinical depression.
Seratonin affects sleep patterns, muscle control, seizure activity, pain, and general cognizance. SRI's prevent depletion causing, in seratonin deficient bran, not only a better physical well being (better sleep, less pain) and reduction of depression, but also significantly clearer thinking. It should follow that "normal" brains and those enhanced by SRI's would have either an increased incidence of paranormal experience due to better awareness and cognition, or a decreased amount of paranormal experience, based on the idea that only crazy people see ghosts and UFO's. My own experience would suggest that normal/enhanced brain function, when all other factors are discounted, yields higher incidence of paranormal exposure.
I also took into serious consideration the theory that all of us ghostly types are just plain crazy.
I considered that most cases of depression go undiagnosed. I contemplated the possibility that I would discover that yes, in fact, most of the people in my life are indeed crazy and seeing dead people was a clear symptom.
What I needed was hard data.
I created a survey (see the Appendix for the full survey and results) and got on the phone. I can't tell you how many phone calls I made in total. I called random numbers from throughout North America, trying to get responses from every area code. Each person was asked if they were male or female and whether they had been diagnosed with a psychiatric, behavioral, or personality disorder. If they answered no, they were then asked if they had ever seriously considered suicide. Those who answered yes were grouped together with those with active diagnosis.
The interviewees were then categorized into one of six groups.
First, men and women were separated. Each gender was then separated into groups of those who had either confirmed or probable seratonin issues and those who did not. These two groups were then separated further into those who were taking SRI class medications and those who were not. The final categories were:
Men with no psychiatric/psychological history
Women with no psychiatric/psychological history
Men with diagnosed history but not on SRI class drugs
Women with diagnosed history but not on SRI class drugs
Men with diagnosed history taking SRI class drugs
Women with diagnosed history taking SRI class drugs
The sample consisted of the first fifty respondents in each category. Each person was then asked the
following:
Have you experienced any event that you consider ghost or poltergeist in nature?
Have you experienced any event you consider UFO/alien in nature?
Have you experienced any event you or someone else would consider a hallucination?
A yes answer to the last question would disqualify the person from the sample group and the survey entirely.
To say the results of
my simple survey caught me by surprise would be an understatement.
First, of the 300 people who were asked questions about their paranormal experiences, an astounding 121 said they had, in fact, experienced firsthand some event that they consider to be paranormal. This figure was about double what I had anticipated. Further, my theory was not at all supported. Among men and women without mental illness, 52% reported paranormal experiences. Among those with untreated mental illness, 39% reported experiences. For those who were currently being treated for depression, an equal number (39%) had these experiences.
This data could be interpreted several ways.
If we group those without mental illness and those being treated, 45.5% report experiencing the paranormal versus the 39% of those with untreated illness. Those numbers are not significantly different. Alternately, if we group all those with mental illness (treated and untreated) we are looking at only a few points more in the gap with those presumably completely sane. (39% versus 52%). Certainly neither of these groupings provide significant enough difference to support any theory.
One interesting constant was that men, overall, reported slightly less paranormal experiences than did women in all cases. Perhaps women really are more "sensitive" than men!
When it comes to
conclusions, I have to admit my theory goes unproved.
In the same way, however, this simple study does not support the theory of others that ghosts, et al, are the result of some aberration of the brain. In the end the only fact I am able to put forth is this:
You don't have to be crazy to work here, but it helps.
Robin Pyatt Bellamy
September 2004
Bibliography:
"Systematic review and guide to selection of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors"
by Edwards JG, Anderson I
University of Southampton, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Biological Sciences, Department of Psychiatry, Royal South Hants Hospital, England.
"Physiological, pathophysiological and therapeutic roles of 5-HT systems in learning and memory"
by Meneses A Terapeutica Experimental, Departamento de Farmacologia y Toxicologia CINVESTAV-IPN, Mexico City, Mexico.
"The serotonin transporter: a primary target for antidepressant drugs"
by Schloss P, Williams DC Biochemistry Department, University of Dublin, Trinity College, Ireland.
http://www.nutraceutical-pharmacy.com/depression/serotonin.html
http://web.indstate.edu/thcme/mwking/nerves.html#5ht
"Serotonin and Psychedelics"
by Aghajanian GK, Marek GJ Department of Psychiatry,
Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
http://www.pdr.net
http://psychologynet.org/dsm.html
http://depression.about.com/cs/brainchem101/a/brainchemistry.htm
Appendix
Men with no psychiatric/psychological history
Women with no psychiatric/psychological history
Men with diagnosed history but not on SRI class drugs
Women with diagnosed history but not on SRI class drugs
Men with diagnosed history taking SRI class drugs
Women with diagnosed history taking SRI class drugs
Have you experienced any event that you consider to be ghost or poltergeist in nature?
Have you experienced any event you consider to be UFO/alien in nature?
Have you experienced any event you or someone else would consider to be a hallucination?
Results:
50 respondents were in each
category. The first number would indicate the number of each who answered yes to either of the two qualifying questions regarding paranormal experience. The second number is the number of each who answered no to
BOTH qualifying questions.
Men with no psychiatric/psychological history 16/34
Women with no psychiatric/psychological history 27/23
Men with diagnosed history but not on SRI class drugs 18/32
Women with diagnosed history but not on SRI class drugs 21/29
Men with diagnosed history taking SRI class drugs 19/31
Women with diagnosed history taking SRI class drugs 20/30
Total respondents: 300
Total who claim paranormal experience: 121
[Home] [About Us] [Ghosts] [UFOs] [Alien Abduction] [Cryptozoology] [Psychic] [Our Blog] [F.A.Q] [Links] [Feedback] [Legal Info] [Message Board]
