New man sees spirits and it freaks me out. AIBU?

[iseedeadpeoplehelp]

New guy, very sweet and kind, good job, interesting and sincere.
But he tells me he sees spirits and if he stays in an old house/building they can keep him awake. I don't like anything woo and it's making me uncomfortable. Thoughts?

It would be a bit like being stuck with Derek Acorah all day!
It seems very attention-seeking to me, possibly an act he puts on to seem powerful or wise?
But there may be people out there with these abilities, possibly we all have a touch of it..

I think this would be a dealbreaker for me.
I’m not woo - but could certainly entertain someone who say, believed in it.

But saying that he’s been kept awake etc. Imagine going to a country house and he’s yammering on about spirits etc.

@hoodathunkit
Why hypnotherapy? There have been studies ( actual scientific studies) on it. It has been used in place of anaesthesia for patients who cant tolerate it.

the isle of wight is one of the most haunted places in the uk especially at a place called knighton gorges on the site of an old manor house now demolished. It is world reknown for many things happening from car electricals packing up to people being taken ill.
Totally fascinating place.

No it isn't the truth. Some people believe, some don't. Just because you don't believe doesn't give you the right to say it doesn't exist. Thats your opinion, not fact.

Yet I cited the fact that they have never been proved to exist. If there was good evidence, there would simply be no controversy about it - it would be accepted as a fact just as much as people accept, say, the existence of gravity, bacteria etc. If you believe spirits/ghosts do exist, how about some factual, fully attested reliable evidence, @seashells11?

@Terhou

No it isn't the truth. Some people believe, some don't. Just because you don't believe doesn't give you the right to say it doesn't exist. Thats your opinion, not fact.

Yet I cited the fact that they have never been proved to exist. If there was good evidence, there would simply be no controversy about it - it would be accepted as a fact just as much as people accept, say, the existence of gravity, bacteria etc. If you believe spirits/ghosts do exist, how about some factual, fully attested reliable evidence, @seashells11?

Sorry can't help you.

Hmm interesting how quick people are to say “spirits do not exist,” but they won’t tell a Christian, Buddhist, Muslim etc that their Gods, angels and prophets do not exist. I bet they attend church funerals to pay respect to the dead. I bet they Christened/baptised their DC. Bunch of hypocrites!

spotcheck

There may very well be good, decent hypnotherapists.

However there is no statutory regulation / accreditation of the "profession", no public protection and a plethora of extremely dodgy acrediting organisations, many endorsing one another.

I have discovered multiple examples of networks of mutually endorsing hypnotherapy and therapy accrediting organisations that provide an illusion of professionalism and competency when in fact they are all founded and operated by the same person. This is not uncommon.

Then there is the plethora of life coach hypnotherapy / NLP mongers who operate on an MLM basis

So yes, you are correct that some hypnotherapists may be good and well intentioned. Fair enough. My concerns about the dodgy ones are serious.

There is even a fascinating case in France where the founder of a number of life coaching and hypnosis accrediting organsations, Marie-Hélène Dini, was the subject of an attempted assasination by a rival life coach.

It is fair to say that I have prejudices against hypnotherapists and life coaches. I cannot deny this

I wouldn’t date a religious person either. But I have no problem with what other people believe. I’m not saying they’re wrong, it’s just not for me. They’d probably say the same about me.

Well......when I was first with my bf, I used to 'see' a very tall man standing hunched in his hallway. In my peripheral vision.
It happened a few times, and made me feel odd.
After a while, I mentioned it to him. He asked me to describe the man, so I did. Along with the feelings that accompanied it.
I had accurately described his deceased uncle, who had been an important part of his life.

I'm glad I told him, and he's glad I explained.
We don't talk about it often.
Since he moved, it hasn't happened.

@Nextlevelnonsense

Well......when I was first with my bf, I used to 'see' a very tall man standing hunched in his hallway. In my peripheral vision. It happened a few times, and made me feel odd. After a while, I mentioned it to him. He asked me to describe the man, so I did. Along with the feelings that accompanied it. I had accurately described his deceased uncle, who had been an important part of his life.

I'm glad I told him, and he's glad I explained.
We don't talk about it often.
Since he moved, it hasn't happened.

He didn't explain anything, and you did not see his deceased uncles ghost. You aren't 5 years old, its time to move on from the magical thinking.

@Qwerty789 you sound really triggered. You okay? If people want to believe in ghosts, parallel worlds, time slips, angels watching over them, life after death… then leave them be.

I used to "see" a tall man in my peripheral vision

It turns out I had accurately described his deceased uncle

Sorry but that's a bit of a reach

I'm sure it gives people comfort to think their dead relatives are still around in spirit but I can't help laughing a bit at "woo" anecdotes.

It's probably more open minded to consider other explanations?

That said, some of the woo threads on here are fairly harmless and comedy gold

I’m not into all this stuff, but wouldn’t sneer at people who are.

@CutePanda

Hmm interesting how quick people are to say “spirits do not exist,” but they won’t tell a Christian, Buddhist, Muslim etc that their Gods, angels and prophets do not exist. I bet they attend church funerals to pay respect to the dead. I bet they Christened/baptised their DC. Bunch of hypocrites!

I don’t tell them that to their face because that is rude. But nope, they don’t exist either. And as an atheist why would I christen children? If I attend church weddings of funerals it’s because that person believed.

I’m not a hypocrite thanks.

I get that some people take comfort from believing in God(s), angels, etc. and so long as they don't try and force their believes on me or use them against me some way, it's none of my business.
OP is writing about some who claims to see 'spirits', not just believe in them. As many PPs have pointed out, there has never been a verifiable case of a 'spirit' being recorded, and no evidence to suggest they exist.
There's a big difference in believing in something and claiming to be able to see it. The latter suggests lies or some physical/mental disease.

I believe in God and I never try and force my beliefs on people. I think that's so wrong to do that. I equally think it wrong that those that don't believe try to convince the believers that they have it all wrong and that they're not right in the head. It's pointless and unnecessary.

I agree @seashells11

Hmm I'm not sure how I'd feel.
My DGM was very woo and superstitious she predicted death twice, she told my dad when he was 20 the neighbour died, he did not but he died the next day.
She'd read tea leaves for the adults not sure if she was taking the piss.
I know I was terrified of a banshee growing up from her woo stories.
I now know a banshee isn't real.

is it his hobby? Paranormal stuff?

Sorry can't help you

My point precisely, @seashells11. If spirits were real, for sure someone would have produced some decent evidence by now.

@CutePanda

Hmm interesting how quick people are to say “spirits do not exist,” but they won’t tell a Christian, Buddhist, Muslim etc that their Gods, angels and prophets do not exist. I bet they attend church funerals to pay respect to the dead. I bet they Christened/baptised their DC. Bunch of hypocrites!

I'm perfectly happy to discuss with religious types the fact that there is no evidence for their respective gods should the issue arise, and my children were not christened. I don't boycott church funerals despite my lack of belief, because that doesn't go against my conscience - it's not my fault that that is what the deceased or their relatives have chosen and I can't see that there is anything hypocritical about it; I can pay my respects whilst keeping silent during prayers and hymns.

@picklemewalnuts

Given that synesthesia exists, why dismiss someone perceiving things differently from other people? Some people do experience things that most people don't. They then have to come up with an explanation for it.

There was a bloke researching whether it was due to unusual sensitivity to subsonic sound.

There's really no need to be sneery.

I don't think anyone has an issue with people perceiving things differently. The problem lies with people insisting that what they perceive is real.

@CutePanda must be new here. I don’t know anyone of any religious faith that isn’t perfectly aware that I think their religion is a human carrot-and-stick construct made out of a combination of ‘them and us’ and fear of the unknown and mortality, and that, despite being from a devout Catholic background, I haven’t baptised my child, and have sent him to a secular school where kids are taught about religions, but not catechised in any faith.

It’s hardly a radical or unusual position.