Fear of ghosts - need help and advice!

[CrazyDiamond30]

Hi,

I feel ridiculous writing this but I need some advice. (please don't share any paranormal experiences, I'll worry for weeks 😩)

I'm nearly 31 years old - an adult - and I've been petrified of even the thought of ghosts since I can ever remember. There are loads of details I could share, but basically I've avoided any conversation about the paranormal and also avoided even leaving the bedroom at night. I sleep with my head completely under covers every night (even if totally sweating) even just as a habit now.

If I hear something (be it a story, or a noise that freaks me out - anything that triggers it really) it can affect me for weeks where I'm in a constant state of anxiousness and worry, and I have bad dreams and intrusive, vivid thoughts/imagery.

I've been particularly bad the last few weeks or so and I've noticed my hair has quickly started thinning - might be unrelated.

I've always been able to avoid having to face up to it head on really, but my daughter has recently moved to her own room since sleeping in our room since birth and it has set things off for me really badly. I don't mind getting up in the night (used to having no sleep now 😂) but going into a different, dark room and not being able to basically hide under covers has started to affect me in day to day life. I have anxiety before going to bed for hours now and every time the baby monitor goes off in the night I have a sheer flood of panic over my body.

Basically I need some help in how to combat this - I recently tried hypnotherapy which didn't really do much for me.

Advice very welcome 😩

Please get your vitamin B12 levels checked, post birth you're more at risk of a sudden drop in B12 levels & if you were already low pre pregnancy, you will feel it post birth.

Anxiety & hair thinning are both symptoms

Tracey Wittys B12 website is a good place for reliable information

@knittingaddict

MakeMineAdoubleChocolate I'm not going to quote your post because I think it should be buried as much as possible. It's awful and you are messing with the anxiety of someone with no thought for them at all.

I do agree with the bit about not watching horror films, playing with ouija boards and seeing mediums! And nothing wrong with saying a prayer asking God to protect you!

Although you didn't like the hypnotherapist, her analysis sounds like it could be pretty spot on.

I wouldn't do hypnotherapy though, I don't think it's hugely helpful for phobias (I'm a psychiatrist).

Something like CBT with a trained therapist could be much more productive. Good luck!

@furbabymama87

We all came from the spirit world and that's where we will return to. In fact OP, you are a spirit, in a physical body. It's not spooky or weird, it's more natural than people think. It's nothing to be afraid of.

Do we?

And what’s the set up then?

Where do we live as ‘spirits’? - I assume there’s no banking services as we always seem to living in and presenting ourselves in other peoples homes?

Hi OP, I used to get this feeling a lot when I was teen. I’m not sure why to be honest and I didn’t have any family difficulties.
I found what helped was imagining a gold light around me, every time I breathed it was like i was breathing out this gold light that wrapped around me and protected me. Obviously it wasn’t real but I found it comforting, a bit like a defence mechanism for my brain.
Also, phobias don’t have to be rational so ignore posters asking how you can be scared of something that isn’t real. Someone might be scared of heights because clearly if they fell from a great height, they could die. Makes sense. However, I’m terrified of spiders despite knowing full well there is nothing they are going to ‘do’ to me. Brains work in weird ways.

Well, since you do believe in ghosts, the best way to ensure you are safe is to have your home exorcised. An exorcism will remove any/all ghosts from your home if any are there, and also set up a spiritual barrier that protects your home from any future ghost trying to move in.
The Church of England and the Catholic Church has exorcist trained priests. Contact a vicar to arrange for one.

My 74 year old mother always barricades her bedroom door with a chair at night. I asked her about it once and she said as a child she slept in a room with her grandmother who was afraid of intruders.

70 years later it affects her still.

Also a quick question for the ghostie types - if a ghost is the spirit of a person, why do they have clothes?

Sounds like you have childhood trauma. I had and I've had EMDR and it's helped me immensely.
I would definitely recommend EMDR for you. Find a therpist local to you who would help.
Don't do it online as it is best done when in person.
Should only take a few sessions.
Best wishes

@Tempusfudgeit

Also a quick question for the ghostie types - if a ghost is the spirit of a person, why do they have clothes?

And why don’t the clothes get stuck on the door handles when they walk through the doors?….

Even if ghosts exist, which I'm undecided about tbh, I think something must happen because the world is as we perceive it and I can't comprehend the idea of not existing. What happens to that consciousness? Does it just...blink out?

Anyway, even if ghosts are real. They're just an echo, a consciousness at most, they can't interact with the physical world or we would have cast iron proof by now. They can't hurt you.

I do agree with the bit about not watching horror films, playing with ouija boards and seeing mediums! And nothing wrong with saying a prayer asking God to protect you!

So do I, but it was buried in too much unhelpful and potentially dangerous stuff to go unchallenged.

@knittingaddict I just had to not read that post. It wasn't going to make me feel good in any way!

@MeridasMum lol - that put it into a different light I guess for me. Yeah I completely agree, if there was anything in there or if I thought there really was I would never leave her in there. It's just like, a suspense walking into a room with a closed door in the dark. I think I've seen too many movies where ghosts are in babies rooms 🙄 but yes no headlines recently! 😂 I do try to think this stuff but when it comes to like 7pm my anxiety starts slowly building up. Im obviously creating my own anxiety, I'm just so used to it

Hi OP,

I am sorry you are feeling like this.

I saw a ghost once and I did jump out of my bloody skin at the time; but the poor soul also looked absolutely terrified of me and that was the last I saw of him. I genuinely think I scared him to the other side.

Now I dont think of ghosts as scary, bad or evil; to me they are just a random echo of time or light that got mixed up in this very complex world or they are sadly stuck here and never let go to make it over the threshold.

I dont think they are everywhere invisibly and just pop out from time to time. I think its a very short rare event (a split second cosmo mix up if you will) and it is extremely unlikely to happen to you. If it does, its likely to never happen again. I dont expect to ever see a ghost again. But if I do I wont be scared.

So please dont worry like this. They cant harm you.

@PlanDeRaccordement can't tell if you're being serious or what there 🤨 but I'm okay for the exorcism thanks..

@CrazyDiamond30
I was being serious.

Seems I need to be addressing some deeper traumas/issues. A lot went on in my childhood but it becomes your normal, so I guess you don't question it. Plus, I'd say I've only really started to realise some of the effects of this in say the last 5 years or so. I will definitely get onto getting some help in that way.

@AndSoFinally I don't disagree with her diagnosis, it was just the way she did it. She just wasn't very confident in what she was saying and kept making mistakes etc (I know we're all human). It felt like more of a guided meditation when I think I'm looking for something more than that, something that directly addresses the problem. What type therapy do you recommend?

@PlanDeRaccordement 😐

@JustAnotherPoster00 😂

Well, since you do believe in ghosts, the best way to ensure you are safe is to have your home exorcised. An exorcism will remove any/all ghosts from your home if any are there, and also set up a spiritual barrier that protects your home from any future ghost trying to move in.

You actually believe this nonsense?

Sleep with lights on. I leave the landing light on and have a lamp in the corner of my room. It's still dark enough to be restful. Portable night light for if you have to walk around the house. I got a really cute one shaped like a cat. There are many opinions on ghosts. Do what you have to do to feel ok.

@DillonPanthersTexas

Well, since you do believe in ghosts, the best way to ensure you are safe is to have your home exorcised. An exorcism will remove any/all ghosts from your home if any are there, and also set up a spiritual barrier that protects your home from any future ghost trying to move in.

You actually believe this nonsense?

It doesn’t matter what I believe, because many people do believe in ghosts. It’s not such an unusual belief because as I say, the CofE and Catholic Churches do in fact have trained priests that do exorcisms. I thought OP had this belief too, because she said she is terrified of ghosts...but then she’s clearly dismissing exorcism...which indicates she does not really believe in ghosts.

So I am now questioning whether she is actually terrified? How can you be afraid of something you believe does not exist? . Maybe the whole point of the thread was to mock people who do believe in ghosts? Which is a bit unkind imho.

@PlanDeRaccordement to be honest with you, your first post came across like you were mocking me, or taking it to the absolute extreme.

Firstly - this is an irrational fear, I get that. I'm not asking you personally to relate to that. I get how it looks to other people.

I haven't said I've seen something or beleive that my house is "haunted", I'm trying to address a fear.

Op, would you be able to desensitise yourself by watching funny/loveable ghost type characters? The Ghosts series on BBC has really likeable characters. It might be anxiety provoking at first but with prolonged exposure, and given the lightness of the characters it might help you to change your narrative of what ghosts mean to you, from something frightening to something more likeable.