mental-health – Page 11 – LIBERTY PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION

Bereavement Visions in Parapsychology Research, explained:

Bereavement visions are one of the studied forms of after-death related anomalous experiences in parapsychology. Researchers examine them as possible perceptual experiences of the deceased occurring after death, usually reported by grieving individuals.

1. What Bereavement Visions Are

In parapsychology, bereavement visions are experiences in which a grieving person perceives the deceased as present. These perceptions can include:

Visual apparitions (seeing the deceased person)
Auditory experiences (hearing their voice)
Tactile sensations (feeling a touch or embrace)
Sense of presence
Dream encounters with vivid realism

These are often grouped under After‑Death Communications (ADCs).

Typical characteristics reported in research:

Occur spontaneously
Usually happen within the first year after death
Are often comforting rather than frightening
Individuals usually remain psychologically stable

2. Classic Parapsychology Research

One of the earliest major investigations came from the Society for Psychical Research (SPR).

Findings:

Thousands of reports of apparitions and crisis experiences were collected.
Some reports occurred close to the time of death of the person seen.
Researchers proposed the possibility of telepathic hallucinations.

3. Modern Bereavement Vision Research

Modern parapsychology approaches the phenomenon more systematically.

Many have Researched

Some of the research has documented thousands of cases.

Findings:

ADCs occur across cultures and religions
Most experiencers report psychological comfort
Many experiences involve clear sensory perception

4. Bereavement Vision Research in Psychology

Psychological researchers also studied these experiences without assuming a paranormal explanation.

A study was conducted that:

Some studied widows and widowers and found:

Some reported sensing or seeing the deceased spouse
Most participants did not consider themselves mentally ill

This suggested bereavement visions are relatively common in normal grief.

5. How Parapsychology Interprets Bereavement Visions

Parapsychologists generally consider four explanatory models.

1. Survival Model

The experience is interpreted as actual communication from the deceased.

2. Psi or Super-Psi Model

Related to the Super-Psi Theory:

The living person unconsciously gathers information via telepathy or clairvoyance
The mind constructs the experience.

3. Psychological Model

The experience arises from grief-related cognitive and emotional processes.

4. Hybrid Model

Some researchers think multiple mechanisms may operate simultaneously.

6. Typical Characteristics of Bereavement Visions

Parapsychological case collections consistently report:

Occur during quiet states or transitions (sleep/waking)
The apparition often appears healthy and peaceful
Messages are usually brief and reassuring
The experience ends abruptly

These features differentiate them from clinical hallucinations associated with psychiatric disorders.

7. Why Bereavement Visions Interest Parapsychologists

They are important because they potentially relate to the survival of consciousness hypothesis.

Researchers view them as valuable because they:

occur spontaneously
often involve ordinary individuals
can sometimes contain veridical information

In summary:
Bereavement visions are reported experiences in which the bereaved perceive the deceased. Parapsychology studies them as possible after-death communications, psi phenomena, or grief-related experiences, while psychology often interprets them as normal features of the grieving process.

Shervan K Shahhian

Stress-Induced Dissociated Behavior, explained:

Stress-Induced Dissociated Behavior might refer to dissociative symptoms or behaviors that emerge when a person is overwhelmed by acute or chronic stress.

The nervous system could shift into a protective survival mode when fight-or-flight isn’t enough.

What Is Dissociation?

Dissociation is a disruption in the normal integration of:

Awareness
Memory
Identity
Emotion
Perception
Body sensation

It could exist on a spectrum, from mild spacing out to more severe fragmentation.

How Stress Triggers Dissociation

When stress becomes overwhelming, especially if it feels inescapable, unpredictable, or threatening — the nervous system may shift from:

Fight-or-flight: sympathetic activation to
Freeze / shutdown: parasympathetic dorsal vagal dominance

This shutdown response could produce dissociative phenomena.

From a trauma framework dissociation could be understood as a survival adaptation when active defense fails.

Common Stress-Induced Dissociative Behaviors

1. Depersonalization

Feeling detached from oneself

“I feel like I’m watching myself.”
Emotional numbness
Robotic functioning

2. Derealization

Feeling detached from surroundings

World feels unreal, foggy, dreamlike
Sensory distortions

3. Dissociative Amnesia

Memory gaps during stressful events
“I don’t remember parts of what happened.”

4. Behavioral Auto-Pilot

Functioning competently but with reduced awareness
Emotional disconnection while performing tasks

5. Identity Shifts Under Stress

Sudden personality changes
Childlike states under overwhelm
Regression patterns

Neurobiological View

Under extreme stress:

Amygdala: hyperactivation, CONSULT A NEUROLOGIST
Prefrontal cortex: reduced regulation, CONSULT A NEUROLOGIST
Hippocampus: memory fragmentation, CONSULT A NEUROLOGIST
Opioid system: emotional numbing, CONSULT A NEUROLOGIST

This creates a protective analgesic state, emotional and sometimes physical.

Acute vs. Chronic Patterns

Acute stress dissociation

During accidents
During conflict
During panic episodes

Chronic stress dissociation

Trauma history
Attachment disruptions
Prolonged relational threat
Complex trauma patterns

Chronic forms may evolve into clinical conditions such as:

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Dissociative Identity Disorder
Depersonalization/Derealization Disorder

Why the System Does This

Dissociation is adaptive when:

The threat cannot be escaped
The person cannot fight
Emotional pain is overwhelming

It might reduce subjective suffering, but long term it impairs integration and embodied presence.

Clinical Markers to Watch For

Flat affect during intense material
Sudden cognitive fog
Rapid shifts in eye focus
Voice tone change
Time distortion reports
Memory inconsistencies

Treatment Considerations

Nervous system regulation (bottom-up) CONSULT A NEUROLOGIST
Somatic grounding
Trauma processing (carefully titrated)
Attachment repair
Strengthening executive functioning before deep trauma work

Premature trauma exposure without stabilization might increases dissociation.

Shervan K Shahhian

Bereavement Psychology, explained:

Bereavement psychology is the branch of psychology that studies how people mentally, emotionally, and behaviorally respond to the death of a loved one. It focuses on the processes of grief, mourning, and adaptation after loss.

1. What “Bereavement” Means

Bereavement: the objective condition of having lost someone through death.
Grief: the internal emotional response to that loss.
Mourning: the outward expression of grief (rituals, crying, funerals, cultural practices).

Some psychologists might study how these processes affect:

emotions
cognition
behavior
identity
relationships

2. Some Typical Psychological Reactions to Bereavement

Common reactions could include:

Emotional

sadness
longing or yearning
anger
guilt
loneliness

Cognitive

intrusive memories
thinking about the deceased constantly
difficulty concentrating
temporary disbelief

Physical

fatigue
sleep disturbances
appetite changes

Behavioral

social withdrawal
visiting meaningful places
maintaining symbolic bonds with the deceased

These reactions could be normal adaptive responses, not mental illness.

3. Some Major Psychological Models of Bereavement

1. Stage Model of Grief

Five commonly described reactions:

Denial
Anger
Bargaining
Depression
Acceptance

Modern psychology might emphasize that people do not experience these in a fixed order.

2. Attachment Model

Grief could be seen as a response to the loss of an attachment bond.

Typical phases:

Shock and numbness
Yearning and searching
Disorganization
Reorganization

This might model explain why grief might feel like separation distress.

3. Dual Process Model

Grieving people oscillate between two coping modes:

Loss-oriented

crying
remembering
longing

Restoration-oriented

rebuilding life
adapting to new roles
focusing on daily functioning

Healthy grieving could involve in moving back and forth between these modes.

4. Continuing Bonds Theory

Instead of “letting go,” some people might often maintain a continuing psychological relationship with the deceased through:

memories
dreams
symbolic communication
feeling their presence

Modern grief psychology could consider this normal and healthy.

4. Bereavement Hallucinations or “Grief Visions”

Some bereaved individuals might report experiences such as:

sensing the presence of the deceased
hearing their voice
seeing them briefly in dreams or waking states

Psychology typically could interpret these as:

Some research might suggest that some widowed people experience something like this.

normal grief phenomena
attachment-related imagery
memory activation during emotional stress

Parapsychology might study them as possible anomalous experiences.

5. When Grief Becomes Clinical

Most grief gradually softens.
But sometimes it becomes persistent and impairing.

This condition is called:

Prolonged Grief Disorder

Symptoms may include:

intense yearning lasting over a year
inability to accept the death
identity disruption
severe functional impairment

Treatment may involve grief therapy or specialized psychotherapy.

6. Goals of Bereavement Adaptation

Healthy adjustment does not mean forgetting the person.

Psychologically, the goals could be:

accepting the reality of the loss
integrating the memory of the deceased
rebuilding meaning in life
forming a continuing bond without disabling distress

There can also a fascinating overlap between bereavement psychology and anomalous experiences (after-death communications, grief apparitions, crisis visions).

Shervan K Shahhian

Tactile Hallucinations, explained:

Tactile hallucinations (also called haptic hallucinations) are false sensations of touch that occur without any external physical stimulus. A person genuinely feels something on or under their skin even though nothing is actually there.

In clinical psychology and psychiatry, tactile hallucinations might be classified as a type of somatic sensory hallucination.

Common Types of Tactile Hallucinations

People may report sensations such as:

• Bugs crawling on the skin (called formication)
• Something touching or tapping the body
• Burning or electric sensations
• Pressure or being grabbed
• Feeling something moving under the skin
• Water dripping or wind blowing on the skin

The experience can feel extremely real because the brain’s sensory cortex is producing the perception.

Conditions Associated With Tactile Hallucinations

In clinical contexts they may appear in several conditions:

1. Psychiatric Disorders

Common in:

Schizophrenia
Delusional Parasitosis
Severe Major Depressive Disorder with psychotic features

2. Substance Use or Withdrawal

Tactile hallucinations might occur during intoxication or withdrawal from substances such as:

Cocaine
Methamphetamine
Alcohol (especially during withdrawal or delirium tremens)

3. Neurological Conditions

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They might also occur in neurological disorders

Psychological vs Neurological Mechanism

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From a neuroscience perspective, CONSULT WITH A NEUROLOGIST, tactile hallucinations are thought to involve abnormal activation of the somatosensory cortex, the brain area responsible for touch perception.

Normally:

Stimulus: skin receptors: brain: touch perception, CONSULT WITH A NEUROLOGIST

In hallucinations:

Brain activity: perceived touch without stimulus, CONSULT WITH A NEUROLOGIST

Parapsychology Perspective

Some researchers have suggested other interpretations in certain anomalous experiences.

Some investigators discussed the possibility that certain tactile sensations in spontaneous cases might involve psychokinetic or psi-related processes, although this remains controversial and not widely accepted in mainstream science.

In the Super-Psi / Living Agent Psi model, unusual physical sensations might theoretically be produced unconsciously by psi processes rather than external spirits.

Key Point:
Tactile hallucinations are perceptions of touch without a physical cause, and they can arise from psychiatric, neurological, substance-related, or occasionally anomalous experiential contexts.

Shervan K Shahhian

Biopsychosocial Model, explained:

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The Biopsychosocial Model is a framework used in medicine, psychology, and behavioral science to understand health, illness, and human behavior as the result of three interacting systems: biological, psychological, and social factors.

Core Idea

The model proposes that no illness or psychological condition has a single cause. Instead, it emerges from the interaction of multiple layers of influence.

1. Biological Factors

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Physical and physiological processes in the body.

Examples:

Genetics
Brain chemistry and neurobiology
Hormones
Physical injury or disease
Sleep and nutrition

Example:
Depression may involve serotonin imbalance, genetics, or inflammation.

2. Psychological Factors

Mental and emotional processes that influence behavior and health.

Examples:

Thoughts and beliefs
Personality traits
Coping skills
Trauma history
Stress perception

Example:
Two people with the same illness may respond very differently depending on their beliefs, coping style, or resilience.

3. Social Factors

Environmental and cultural influences affecting a person.

Examples:

Family relationships
Culture and religion
Socioeconomic status
Social support
Life events

Example:
Strong social support can improve recovery from illness, while isolation can worsen outcomes.

Simple Example

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Consider chronic pain:

Dimension	Example
Biological	Nerve injury or inflammation
Psychological	Catastrophic thinking about pain
Social	Work stress or lack of support

All three together shape the severity and persistence of pain.

Why It Is Important

The model changed modern healthcare by encouraging holistic treatment.

Instead of only medication, treatment may include:

Medical care, CONSULT WITH A PSYCHIATRIST
Psychotherapy
Lifestyle changes
Social support interventions

This model could be strongly influenced fields like:

Health Psychology
Behavioral Medicine, CONSULT WITH A PSYCHIATRIST
Psychosomatic Medicine, CONSULT WITH A PSYCHIATRIST

Some Example in Grief and Anomalous Experiences

For example:

Level	Possible Influence
Biological	Sleep disruption, stress hormones
Psychological	Attachment to the deceased
Social	Cultural beliefs about the afterlife

Clinical psychology might explain these experiences through grief-related cognition, while parapsychology might, sometimes explores survival or psi hypotheses.

In short:
The biopsychosocial model might see human experience as the product of body, mind, and society interacting together, rather than being caused by only one factor. CONSULT WITH A PSYCHIATRIST

Shervan K Shahhian

Demonic Psychosis, explained:

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“Demonic psychosis” is not a clinical diagnosis in psychiatry or psychology. It is a cultural, religious, or spiritual interpretation of a psychotic state, most often used in faith-based contexts to explain experiences that clinicians would classify as psychosis.

Below is a clear, layered explanation that distinguishes belief language from clinical reality.

1. How the term is used (non-clinical)

In religious or spiritual frameworks, “demonic psychosis” typically refers to a state in which a person is believed to be:

Influenced, oppressed, or possessed by a demonic entity
Hearing voices attributed to demons
Experiencing intrusive thoughts perceived as external evil forces
Exhibiting drastic personality, moral, or behavioral changes
Showing intense fear, paranoia, or religious preoccupation

This language appears in:

Certain Christian, etc. , and some folk-religious traditions
Deliverance or exorcism ministries
Cultural explanatory models where spirits explain illness

2. Clinical understanding (what psychology actually diagnoses)

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From a psychiatric standpoint, the experiences labeled “demonic psychosis” could be most commonly explained as psychotic disorders or states, such as:

Schizophrenia spectrum disorders
Bipolar disorder with psychotic features
Major depressive disorder with psychotic features
Brief psychotic disorder
Substance-induced psychosis
Trauma-related psychosis or dissociative psychosis

Core features of psychosis:

Hallucinations (often auditory voices)
Delusions (fixed false beliefs, including religious or persecutory themes)
Disorganized thinking or speech
Impaired reality testing

Importantly:
The content of psychosis is shaped by culture and belief.
A religious person may experience “demons,” while a secular person may experience “surveillance,” “AI,” or “aliens.”

3. Why the “demonic” framing can be harmful

Interpreting psychosis as demonic influence can:

Increase fear, shame, and stigma
Delay medical or psychological treatment
Worsen symptoms through reinforcement of delusions
Lead to coercive or abusive practices (e.g., forced exorcisms)

Research shows that how voices or experiences are interpreted strongly affects distress. A threatening supernatural explanation often worsens outcomes.

4. Trauma and dissociation often play a role

Many individuals labeled as “demonically afflicted” have:

Significant trauma histories
Dissociative symptoms
Intrusive inner voices or parts (not entities)
High suggestibility or absorption

Trauma can produce externalized inner experiences, which may feel alien, malevolent, or “not me.”

5. A balanced, culturally sensitive view

Modern psychology uses a biopsychosocial model:

Biological vulnerability
Psychological factors (trauma, stress, cognition)
Social and cultural meaning systems

Clinicians might aim to respect spiritual beliefs without validating interpretations that increase harm or impair reality testing.

6. Key takeaway

“Demonic psychosis” is a belief-based label for psychosis, not a medical condition.

CONSULT WITH A PSYCHIATRIST

The experiences might be real and distressing.
The explanation of demons is cultural, symbolic, or theological rather than clinical.

Effective treatment might focuses on:

Safety
Stabilization
Trauma-informed care
Medication when appropriate CONSULT WITH A PSYCHIATRIST
Meaning-making that reduces fear rather than amplifies it
CONSULT WITH A PSYCHIATRIST
Shervan K Shahhian

Religious Hallucinations, explained:

Religious hallucinations could be sensory experiences involving religious or spiritual content that occur without an external stimulus. The person could believe they are hearing, seeing, or feeling a divine or supernatural presence.

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These experiences might occur in psychiatric disorders, extreme stress, bereavement, or sometimes in intense religious states. Because you study psychology and parapsychology, this topic is interesting since the two fields often interpret them very differently.

1. What Religious Hallucinations Look Like

They might involve religious figures, voices, or supernatural entities.

Common examples could include:

Auditory

Hearing the voice of God
Hearing angels or demons speaking
Commands believed to come from a divine source

Visual

Seeing Jesus, angels, saints, or demons
Visions of heaven, hell, or divine light

Tactile / Somatic

Feeling touched by a spiritual being
Sensation of possession or spiritual energy entering the body

Olfactory

Smelling incense, sulfur, or sacred fragrances without a source

2. Conditions Where They Commonly Occur

In clinical psychology, religious hallucinations might appear in several disorders:

Psychotic Disorders

Might commonly appear in

Schizophrenia
Schizoaffective Disorder

Some Typical features:

Commanding voices
Religious delusions (e.g., believing one is a prophet or chosen by God)

Mood Disorders with Psychosis

Such as:

Bipolar Disorder (during manic episodes)
Major Depressive Disorder with Psychotic Features

Example:

Hearing God condemning or judging them.

Neurological Conditions

CONSULT WITH A NEOUROLOGIST

Temporal-lobe disturbances are especially associated with intense mystical or religious visions.

3. Cultural and Religious Context

Some psychologists might emphasize that culture strongly shapes hallucination content.

For example:

Christians may see Jesus or angels
Hindus may see deities

The brain might often use the person’s belief system to interpret unusual sensory experiences.

4. Difference Between Religious Experience and Hallucination

Some Psychologists might usually distinguish them by several criteria.

Healthy Religious Experience	Religious Hallucination
Occurs during prayer or meditation	Occurs spontaneously
Person retains critical thinking	Person believes it absolutely
Not distressing or commanding	Often commanding or frightening
Does not impair functioning	Often disrupts life

5. Parapsychological Interpretations

In parapsychology, some researchers might argue that not all such experiences are pathological.

Two interpretations sometimes maybe discussed:

Psi-mediated perception: (telepathy/clairvoyance)
Super-Psi / Living Agent Psi model: unconscious psychic abilities producing the experience.

This perspective could be discussed by researchers at the
Society for Psychical Research and the
Parapsychological Association.

However, mainstream science still treats most of these cases as psychological or neurological phenomena.

In summary:
Religious hallucinations are sensory experiences with spiritual content that occur without an external source. Clinically they are often linked to psychosis, neurological disorders, or extreme emotional states, while parapsychology sometimes explores non-ordinary interpretations.

Shervan K Shahhian

After-Death Communications (ADCs), explained:

After-Death Communications (ADCs) could be experiences in which a living person perceives contact or communication from someone who has died. These experiences could be widely reported in grief research and are discussed in both clinical psychology and parapsychology.

1. What an ADC Is

An After-Death Communication is any subjective experience in which a bereaved person feels they receive a message, presence, or contact from the deceased.

They often occur spontaneously, without attempts to summon spirits, and are commonly reported during the early stages of bereavement.

2. Common Types of ADCs

Reports could tend to fall into several categories:

1. Sensed Presence

The bereaved person might strongly feels the deceased nearby.

Examples:

Feeling someone sit on the bed
Feeling watched or protected
A sudden emotional wave of the person’s presence

2. Visual Apparitions

The person briefly sees the deceased.

Features:

Often vivid and realistic
Usually short (seconds to minutes)
The figure may appear peaceful or younger.

3. Auditory Communications

Hearing the deceased’s voice.

Examples:

Hearing their name called
Hearing comforting words like “I’m okay.”

4. Dream Visitations

Very common ADC type.

Characteristics:

Extremely vivid dreams
Clear message or emotional closure
The deceased appears healthy and calm.

5. Tactile Experiences

Physical sensations such as:

A touch on the shoulder
Feeling a hug
Bed movement

6. Symbolic Signs

People interpret unusual events as communication.

Examples:

Objects moving
Electronics turning on
Meaningful coincidences.

3. How Common Are ADCs?

Some research might suggest they are surprisingly common.

Studies indicate:

Some of bereaved people report at least one ADC.
They occur across cultures, religions, and belief systems.
Many experiencers were not expecting them.

This is why grief researchers consider them a normal aspect of bereavement for many people.

4. Some Psychological Interpretation

In clinical psychology, ADCs could often interpreted as part of the grief adaptation process.

Possible explanations include:

Memory activation of the deceased
Dream processing
Emotional coping mechanisms
The brain maintaining a continuing bond with the loved one.

The model might argue that healthy grieving often includes maintaining an inner relationship with the deceased.

5. Parapsychological Interpretation

Some parapsychologists consider several possibilities:

Survival Hypothesis
The consciousness of the deceased survives death and communicates.
Psi-Mediated Experience (Super-Psi)
The living person unconsciously uses psi abilities (telepathy, clairvoyance) to create the experience.
Living-Agent Psi Model
The experience is produced by the mind of the experiencer rather than the deceased.

Some of these models are discussed in modern research organizations such as Parapsychological Association and the Society for Psychical Research.

6. Differences from Psychiatric Hallucinations

Some researchers emphasize that ADCs typically differ from pathological hallucinations.

Common differences:

ADC	Psychiatric Hallucination
Usually comforting	Often distressing
Occurs during grief	Linked to mental disorder
Rare and brief	Persistent or frequent
Person retains insight	Often loss of insight

Because of these differences, many psychologists view ADCs as non-pathological grief experiences.

Key Point:
For some people, ADCs are not considered mental illness but a subjectively meaningful experience during bereavement.

Shervan K Shahhian

Bereavement-Related Anomalous Experiences, what are they:

Bereavement-Related Anomalous Experiences (BRAEs) could be unusual perceptual or psychological experiences reported by people after the death of a loved one. They could be widely discussed in both clinical bereavement research and Parapsychology. These experiences might often feel very real and meaningful to the bereaved person.

What They Are

Bereavement-related anomalous experiences could be subjective experiences in which a grieving person perceives contact, presence, or communication from the deceased.

They typically occur during the early stages of grief but may also appear years later.

Some researchers in grief psychology might sometimes call them After-Death Communications (ADCs).

Common Types of Bereavement Experiences

1. Sense of Presence

A person feels the deceased nearby even though no one is physically there.

Examples:

Feeling the loved one sitting beside them
Sensing someone in the room
Feeling watched over

2. Visual Experiences

Seeing the deceased briefly or in dreams.

Examples:

Seeing the loved one standing in the room
A vivid waking vision
Extremely realistic dreams of the deceased

These are sometimes called grief visions.

3. Auditory Experiences

Hearing the voice of the deceased.

Examples:

Hearing their name called
Hearing them speak a brief message

4. Tactile Experiences

Physical sensations associated with the deceased.

Examples:

Feeling a touch on the shoulder
Feeling someone sit on the bed

5. Symbolic Coincidences

Events interpreted as meaningful signs.

Examples:

Unusual animal appearances
Objects moving or appearing unexpectedly
Music associated with the deceased playing suddenly

6. Dream Encounters

Dreams where the deceased appears alive, healthy, and communicating.

Some people might report these dreams as emotionally healing rather than disturbing.

How Common Are They?

Surprisingly, they could be very common.

Studies in bereavement research might suggest:

Some of widows and widowers report at least one experience
Many people might never report them because they fear being judged

Possible Psychological Interpretation

Possibly in clinical psychology, these experiences could often explained as:

Normal grief phenomena
Memory activation and emotional processing
Attachment system responses
Temporary sensory misperceptions during intense mourning

Importantly, they may not usually be considered symptoms of mental illness unless they are persistent, distressing, or impair functioning.

Possible Interpretation in Parapsychology

Some researchers in Parapsychology might sometimes explore other possibilities:

Survival hypothesis: consciousness continues after death
Super-Psi Hypothesis: the bereaved mind unconsciously produces psi information
Psychological coping mechanisms

Some parapsychologists acknowledge that multiple explanations may coexist.

Possible, Key Characteristics

Bereavement anomalous experiences might have these traits:

Brief and spontaneous
Occur during emotional vulnerability
Feel comforting rather than frightening
Do not typically impair reality testing

Example Report

A typical report might be:

“After my husband died, I woke up one night and felt him sit on the bed and place his hand on my shoulder. I wasn’t scared, it felt comforting.”

Experiences like this might be reported cross-culturally and throughout history.

Possibly Important Clinical Perspective

Some modern grief specialists might view these experiences as:

Common
Usually healthy
Often helpful in the grieving process

Unless they become persistent hallucinations with loss of insight, they are not treated as psychiatric disorders.

Shervan K Shahhian

Understanding Grief Hallucination:

A grief hallucination (often called a bereavement hallucination or post-bereavement experience) is a sensory experience of a deceased loved one that occurs during the grieving process. These experiences are very common and usually not considered a sign of mental illness.

Psychologists and parapsychologists might refer to them as bereavement-related anomalous experiences.

Common Types of Grief Hallucinations

People may experience the deceased in different sensory ways:

1. Visual experiences

Briefly seeing the deceased person
Seeing them sitting in their usual place or walking by

2. Auditory experiences

Hearing their voice
Hearing them call your name

3. Sense of presence

Feeling strongly that the person is nearby

4. Tactile sensations

Feeling a touch or pressure on the bed or shoulder

5. Olfactory experiences

Smelling their perfume, cologne, or cigarette smoke

How Common Are They?

Research in bereavement psychology shows they are surprisingly frequent.

Studies suggest some of the grieving people might report at least one such experience.

These might occur across cultures and age groups.

How They Might Differ From Psychiatric Hallucinations

Some psychologists might distinguish grief experiences from disorders such as Schizophrenia.

Key differences:

Grief Hallucinations	Psychiatric Hallucinations
Occur after a loss	Occur without bereavement trigger
Usually brief and comforting	Often distressing or threatening
Person knows the loved one died	Often involves loss of reality testing
Do not disrupt daily functioning	Often impair functioning

Some grief hallucinations fade might naturally as the grieving process progresses.

Some Psychological Explanations

Modern grief psychology suggests several mechanisms:

1. Attachment system activation
The brain is still expecting the loved one to be present.

2. Memory integration
The mind is reorganizing emotional memories of the person.

3. Sensory expectation
The brain briefly “fills in” expected perceptions.

Parapsychology Perspective

It’s worth something that researchers in Parapsychology sometimes classify these as crisis apparitions or after-death communications (ADC).

Three interpretations could be often discussed:

Psychological grief process
Psi-mediated experiences (Super-Psi model)
Actual survival-related contact

The field does not claim certainty, but it studies the experiences seriously.

Important Clinical Point

In some cases, grief hallucinations are:

Normal
Transient
Part of healthy mourning

They only might become a concern if they:

Persist for long periods
Cause distress
Impair functioning
Occur with other psychiatric symptoms

Interesting fact:

Many bereavement researchers now consider these experiences part of “continuing bonds”, where the relationship with the deceased psychologically continues in a new form.

Shervan K Shahhian