Wednesday 11 March 2015

Paranormal "Experts" Must Never Ignore Possible Mental Health Issues.

A major concern I've had with the behaviour of certain paranormal groups in the past, is their willingness to go into a family home and declare the presence of some form of paranormal happening. This is often done with little regard for the potential impact this has on the individual being told this. The impact is obviously greater for more vulnerable individuals such as those suffering from mental health or substance abuse issues.

I know of a few diligent teams who even after ensuring their does not suffer from these particular issues by speaking to them directly, will send a member of the team to the client's bathroom to check the medicine cabinet for prescription medication that indicates the presence of a sufferer of one of these conditions. To be clear: not sure I'd actually endorse this myself.

This may seem unscrupulous, even underhand, but its important to bear in mind that this done because the team is passing some form of judgement on those with mental health issues, or that these issues make their experiences less credible, its the consideration that performing an investigation in this person's home may be perpetuating a delusion that they are suffering from, or perhaps cause an unbearable amount of stress or anxiety to this person.

Its responsible. These groups don't what to harm people and they are aware of the potential to do so.

Unfortunately many paranormal groups are operated by individuals who are deluded themselves. When they offer help to others they aren't looking for rational explanations, they aren't looking to dismiss these things. Both parties are colluding, albeit subconsciously in many cases, to join together to perpetuate their MUTUAL delusion.

The danger in this is, some people can't switch the delusion off. They can't return to normality, can't compartmentalise their belief that paranormal entities are affecting their lives. Its these people that paranormal groups and "experts" who aren't also mental health professionals, should avoid dealing with, the potential to do harm is to great.

So, at some point last week this message appeared in my Facebook news feed:

I have to admit, I was intrigued. Proof? Legal reports? Of the haunting itself? That WOULD be most unusual indeed!

In the past I've become involved with "cases" (and I use that word extremely loosely)  such as this and its simply involved a few photographs that could be easily debunked, experiences that could simply be described as "interesting" but little else. The promise of "proof" and "legal reports" was definitely new. 

I contacted Jo and offered any help with the occurrences in question as I could. My thinking was I would offer the rational explanation, that may not be forthcoming from others involved.

 I was then included in a private Facebook conversation with "Joseph". It was immediately clear to me from reading the earliest posts and Jo's introduction, Joseph had not had the easiest life. In fact he'd seemingly suffered some quite unspeakable abuse as a child.



Apparently Joseph's parents were Satanists
who subjected him to ritual and sexual abuse as a child. They were also heavy drug users. Joseph evidences this with a news clipping about himself from a Canadian newspaper (I'm omitting details here to preserve Joseph's anonymity as much as possible), he also includes a doctor's report which mentions the abuse but only in terms of what Joseph has reported to the doctor. This certainly isn't documentation of anything paranormal, and I'm sure the term "ritual Satanic abuse" will raise many eyebrows.

If you are unaware of the link between satanic abuse allegations and false memory syndrome there are a wealth of articles available on-line. Here are a selection of links to reports on the topic. Joseph's age would certainly mean he was alive and a young man during the height of "Satanic panic" that spread throughout the US and Canada during the 80's and 90's. Whether Joseph's experiences are connected to this I don't know, what is undeniable is that he is extremely disturbed by what he claims to have experienced.

Joseph also has an unhealthy obsession with the paranormal. During the conversation he posts a multitude of extremely mundane "paranormal" photographs, many of them are absent of anything that could even be described as photographic anomalies. This strongly implies that Joseph sees the paranormal in almost everything. Opposite are a few of Joseph's photos that according to him display paranormal phenomena to illustrate this point:







Joseph's obsession with the paranormal also extends to believing that he has several "attachments". Ranging from the spirits of dead children to demonic entities, Joseph claims these entities physically and sexually assault both him and other people, including his ex-girlfriend. This is the issue that Jo was initially asking other individuals to help with. 














Below Joseph describes in his own words the entities which plague him:



































He also describes the nature of the attacks he alleges he has suffered at the hands of these beings. 





As you can see the response to this by one of the individuals "helping" Joseph is to suggest that he is suffering this abuse because his parents "opened the door to hell". This is clearly encouraging the delusion Joseph is suffering from, and even if you believed that was true, why state it? Did this person not question for a moment that maybe the impact of such an idea on Joseph could be damaging to his well being?

You'll notice that in the first segment I reproduced there Joseph states that his doctor can vouch for the events he states occurred. He reproduces documents from his doctors,that, while not providing evidence for the supernatural nature of these claims, do strongly indicate what the underlying issues are here:




In case you missed  that:




So Joseph suffers from dissociative personality disorder? The key symptom in this condition being the adoption of multiple personalities that control the sufferer's behaviour at times! Surely that explains Joseph's "attachments" who he believes control his behaviour? If the individuals involved in this conversation had any ethics they would've pulled out of this conversation as soon as they read this. Surely they must realise that discussing these "entities" as if they are real has the potential of being very damaging to Joseph?

A letter from a rehabilitation centre further confirms Joseph's mental health issues alongside his history of substance abuse:


Despite this the participants in the conversation continue to speculate on what demonic forces are at work in Joseph's life, what form of spiritual rescue he needs, all seemingly oblivious to the harm they could be doing to Joseph: They almost seem to be enjoying themselves. Why not? Its enjoyable to lose yourself in a little in fantasy world, where you are an "expert" or posses amazing abilities and gifts. But this clearly isn't what Joseph is experiencing.






He needs a least three "demonists" to visit him! In Jo's "expert" opinion one just won't do the trick! And true to her word she introduces a "Warren" (not the official term for a group of two of more self proclaimed "experts" in demon studies... but it should be) of demonologists into the conversation.

The first is a founding member of RAPS paranormal, Vivian. RAPS were recipients of a 2014 "Casper" for a hilariously faked ghost photo, and are a group that seemingly sees no ethical issue in walking into people's homes and telling them that they have demonic lodgers.

Its at this point in a conversation that I notice a trend in what is being said to Joseph. The paranormal "experts" often out right state that Joseph's ordeal is somehow his fault. He isn't strong enough, they say. He doesn't want this to be over enough.







Can you imagine a mental health professional handling this situation in this way? By blaming the victim for their condition? It wouldn't happen.

This individual then decides that the course of action here is to confront and challenge Joseph's "attachments".  Eventually this begins to warrant an angry response from Joseph:

As is clear Joseph begins to speak as one of his alternate personalities now. It has to be pointed out now that Joseph may well be trolling this person, he maybe enjoying this game and the attention it brings. But the danger is that with his medical health history, Joseph maybe experiencing an episode brought about by this discussion or the direct confrontation.

If this occurs to Vivien it doesn't change her approach. Not even the threat of self-inflicted physical harm seems to give her pause. She continues to goad Joseph.

This leads almost inevitably to Joseph threatening to take his own life:

 Not even this stops any of "experts" who just want to help Joseph from questioning him, or from enforcing his delusions. More "demonologists" come into the conversation. They seem completely unconcerned about Joseph's mental health.

Well. I was.

At this point I contacted Joseph's local mental health authority, I believed that given Joseph's history he maybe known to them, and indeed he was. They assured me he would be contacted to ensure his threats of self -harm were not legitimate.



Joseph's last message indicated that he had been told not to communicate with anyone on the thread any more, that they weren't his friends, and weren't trying to help.

My hope is he was told this by the professional involved with his case and not his "attachments".

I wish Joseph the best and really hope he gets all the help he needs.

I feel terribly sorry for what he experienced in this exchange.The individuals involved here, were at best, completely and utterly reckless and irresponsible. The stupidity at allowing this to continue after Joseph threatened suicide is breath-taking.

  At worst they exploited Joseph's problems to construct a fantasy for themselves were they were the gifted individuals who were going to save this poor wretch from his literal demons.

They totally ignored Joseph's mental health disorders to prolong this scenario. That's unforgivable whatever the motivation.





Some accusations from the instigator of the post I blogged about here that I didn't stay until the end of the thread. She insists the correct help was given after I left. I maintain that the "correct help" would come from mental health professionals not self proclaimed demonologists.

Here's the last post I received from the thread. You'll clearly see Joseph had left and didn't seem like he had the demeanour of a man who had been helped.





Sunday 1 March 2015

Going Viral.... How A Paranormal Story Develops On Social Media.


Is it me or has the "DERP" level reached maximum in the paranormal world this week?

There's that Baby video that is just spreading like a virus. Which no one with HALF a brain could describe as paranormal in any way shape or form. Now there's a "skeptical" theory circulating about it that the baby was pulled by fishing line!

That's almost as unnecessary a mechanism to add to the story as a ghost is! If there is one thing worse than no skepticism, its bad skepticism!
A hell of a lot of this stupidity is down to social media how its used, and what kind of stories and opinions gain traction.

On Friday 27/02/15 I posted this photo on several paranormal pages on Facebook. The reason I chose this picture is, initially it seems very spooky, but it only takes a moment of close examination to see that this is a camera strap hanging in front of the lens of the camera. The big clues are reflection of the flash from the metal clasp of the strap and the fact the its immediately in the foreground of the picture.




I gave additional clues as to the identity of object by describing the time period in which the photos were taken. 

So what was my reason for doing this? Was I just basically trolling the paranormal community on Facebook?

My intention was to see how a "paranormal" thread develops from the outside, what happens to commentators that hit on a rational explanation early on in the thread? Why do the threads continue after a rational explanation is offered? Does the rational explanation have a major baring on the rest of the thread?


The bigger question being would any of this tell me why a community filled with intelligent reasonable human beings, spreads rubbish like the recent "Baby falls over" post  and the creepy but easily explained Hampton Court Grey Lady, after a rational explanation had been offered?


Before I go any further I would like to thank anyone that commented, whatever their opinion happened to be. I hope no one feels to "tricked" by this, and understands why I couldn't be totally honest about the post.
I have to say the results were pretty impressive. On the majority of pages there was an immediate skeptical response, many of the commenters knew exactly what the image in the picture was, and some went into great detail expressing this. 




These were just a few of the impressive skeptical responses early on, in various groups. There were many more.

I admit I was a little disappointed. I thought my photo had been debunked immediately, and that was that. Then an all too familiar thing started to happen. The paranormal explanations for the photo started to pile up.






The early skeptical responses were buried in the threads, simply by the weight of numbers of the paranormal responses, and by the very nature of how social media threads work. Very few people have the patience to read a whole thread before commenting. Some took note of the skeptical explanations and simply poured scorn on them.

My favourite example of this was the chap above who insisted camera straps didn't exist in the 90's!



 Then of course there were the commenters who claimed special abilities that allowed them to "know" that the photo was paranormal in nature:



This highlights an issue that skeptics have when they debate believers, especially believers claiming special skills or powers which have yet to be proven in any way shape or form.

The skeptic knows that she cannot claim anything with utter certainty. She is bound by likelihoods and probabilities. Certainly she can reach for Occam's Razor and select the most parsimonious explanation, but this still doesn't constitute certainty. The best we can offer is "beyond reasonable doubt". Even with the most open and shut cases.

Add to this the fact that skeptical explanations often require linking to additional sources, a scientific paper perhaps. If the person, or more often than not, the people you are debating aren't prepared to go and look at this, the skeptic's point goes unmade.

Now, if your opponent is claiming preternatural abilities they can dispense with this. Their abilities allow them to cite absolute certainty. This can be especially frustrating when the concept of the burden of proof is misunderstood or misapplied.

"Prove that this ISN'T a ghost" is a cry that I'm all to familiar with. To many the reasonable response "I can't. But I don't NEED to." sounds like a cop out, and i've often met with the smug "See! They admit they can't prove its not a ghost."

The skeptic is almost always hamstrung in the court of public opinion.

Take for example the moron who decided to respond to a well produced experimental paper regarding the
validity of the Ghost Box by Nyack Paranormal, with a YOUTUBE VIDEO! A "debating" tactic straight out of creationist playbook. Now while the response is moronic, no one can argue that its far easier to digest. Reading that well-produced paper takes time and effort that watching a Youtube diatribe just doesn't. That's why creationist do it. It plays directly to their spoon-fed lazy audience.

Again note here, this chap making the rebuttal claims special abilities so he KNOWS the ghost box is a valid method of communicating with the dead. 

Unfortunately that's about all he knows. He is clearly unaware of the power of suggestion, and that telling people what they hear on the recording is what leads their brain to interpret the random audio in that way. Interesting that he did this and I still didn't hear much of what he claimed was there.

Of course, often where a skeptical explanation is offered its met with anger, accusations and name calling. I actually had to pull the thread on one group, because of the aggression that ensued. 



So what did I conclude from this. The paranormal community has good strong skeptical voices, and in that I am including many "believers" too. But these voices are too easily overcome. Its a case of empty cans rattling the loudest, unfortunately. The very nature of social media is simply more conducive to the loudest and most often heard voices, and in the paranormal community, this relates to the hard-core, unquestioning believer, who simply accepts anything posted to their group as paranormal.

That's what click-baiters like Before its News, the Paranormal Examiner, The Daily Mail and the Daily Mirror are, quite literally, banking on. They know its these people that will facilitate the sharing of their utter garbage. That fact that these stories have often been resolutely debunked won't matter as long as there are those prepared to ignore the debunkings and continue to share.
As I write this several groups and sites are going potty over seance photos released by the "Vivaldi Psychic Circle" displaying tricks debunked almost a hundred years ago! The cheesecloth is just a bit glowy now that's all.


Nothing ever happens. A sprit "manifesting" in a seance now....





..... and then. 



























I have little to no doubt that if these Vivaldi group images continue to spread, they will be picked up by a UK tabloid, which to some may lend the air of credibility to them.

That is what happens with these types of stories now, they circulate on social media until they are picked up by a news site turned into an article, which is dumped back on social media to circulate again, this time generating money for the organisation in question.

And the paranormal community, skeptics and believers and all shades between, will get to look like laughing stocks all over again.