Most people contact the dead: scientific study

Sophie Freeman (Daily Mail, 3-11-16); Dhr. Seven, Ashley Wells, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly 
(FactFaction) I'll believe it when I see it! No, wait, I won't believe it until science says I see it.
("Ghost") Researchers, whose study was published in the Journal of Affective Disorders, came to their conclusions after compiling results of all previous peer-reviewed research in English.

"American Gothic" couple alive, 1930 (artist Grant Wood/artnaz.com/omghype.com/WQ)

   

"I see dead people." Where am I now?

A majority of people have had contact with a dead partner: Bereaved people sense the dead or, as researchers rationalize, experience high levels of "hallucinatory experiences" such as seeing a loved one in an old chair.

• University researchers found "strikingly high" prevalence of sightings of the dead.
• Many never reveal experience for fear of ridicule or being labelled crazy.
• Experiences may be similar to PTSD flashbacks.

Nancy Reagan, Ray Charles, Willie Nelson (AP)

A scientific study from the University of Milan found that an amazing six out of ten people report having contact with a loved one who has passed away.

These experiences,* they say, can include sights, sounds, smells, or sensing the presence of their departed loved one.

• 

  Nancy, I'm still with you.

  *PBHE: "post bereavement hallucinatory experience." ECP: "experience of continued presence."

Despite the apparent prevalence of such events, the researchers reason that most people do not report them because they are afraid of being judged or ridiculed.

Although many would say that these encounters constitute evidence for life after death [immediate rebirth into another body, often in temporary spirit (subtle matter) form before further rebirths], the study appears to discount that possibility by labeling them "post-bereavement hallucinatory experiences."
 

Tibetan pretas during "ghost dance" of the dead in Ladakh, Himalayas, Buddhist India, Hemis Gompa Vajrayana Buddhist monastery (Stella Peters/newlotus.buddhistdoor.com).

 

Go toward the light; there's more to come.

Similarly, a London academic who has studied the phenomenon calls it "experiences of continued presence" and theorizes that it is caused by post-traumatic stress surrounding the death of a loved one.

I love death. Wish I would die.

Some researchers have theorized that the experiences are similar to flashbacks experienced by sufferers of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but Dr. Hayes said they are more complicated than that.

"[Experiences of Continued Presence or 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."
 

You'll be fine, honey pie. I'm sure of it.

Many who have had positive encounters with their deceased loved ones say they have been soothed to sleep or been given the encouragement to achieve a difficult task.
 

Beauty fades: age, ill, dead, rebirth

Some say they have even been helped to complete a mundane chore, such as a man whose grandmother -- who had been dead for four years -- told him to fix the kitchen waste disposal system for his grandfather who was finding the task very stressful.

Dr. Hayes added: "The form [that ECPs] take also fits the relationship with the deceased. It’s like they walk on to the stage, on cue, and play the part the bereaved would expect them to." More

After-Death Communication
(Coast to Coast AM) The phenomenon has a name, its paranormal nomenclature, "after-death communication" (ADC), coined by pioneering researcher Bill Guggenheim.
 

Guggenheim studied ADCs for over 30 years and documented over 3,000 accounts of the phenomenon, leading him to conclude that these experiences are, in fact, "modern day evidence for life after death."

I'll be back. We all will. Life goes on and on.

The source of these experiences remains debatable, but the Milan study indicates that they are far more common than previously believed.

With time goes and more research, the social stigma surrounding the phenomenon will lessen and answers about their origin may be determined.

• Mother Teresa of Calcutta to become saint on Sept. 4, says Vatican Corporation [on a PR campaign to appear more "merciful" and gainer more followers]