Parapsychology & Bereavement and Grief

I. Pseudo Psychology: a subcategory of pseudoscience; material that does not adhere to the standards of psychology as a formal scientific, academic, or practice-based discipline (a.k.a. “fake” psychology). A. Parapsychologists: people who study paranormal (i.e. supernatural) phenomena, including psychic abilities; a subcategory of pseudo psychologists.

B. Common areas of interest among Parapsychologists include… 1) Telepathy: reading minds or communicating with another’s mind. 2) Precognition: foretelling the future. 3) Extrasensory Perception (ESP): sensing the world by means other than the 5 senses. 4) Psychokinesis: moving objects solely with one’s mind. 5) Communication with the Dead 6) Communication with Aliens from other Dimensions or Outer Space 7) Near-Death Experiences 8) Apparitional Experiences (a.k.a. ghost encounters) 9) Doppelgänger Experiences: a paranormal double of a living person, typically representing evil or misfortune. Seeing one's own doppelgänger is an omen of one’s impending death.

C. Electronic Voice Phenomena: electronically generated noises that resemble speech, but are not the result of intentional voice recordings or renderings. Common sources of EVP include static, stray radio transmissions, and background noise. D. Auditory Pareidolia: a situation created when the brain incorrectly interprets random patterns of noise as being familiar patterns of noise, such as voices. E. Psychics: people who profess an ability to perceive information hidden from the normal senses through extrasensory perception (ESP), or who are said by others to have such abilities. F. Financial or Material Exploitation: illegal or improper use of someone’s funds, property, or assets.

II. Bereavement and Grief A. Bereavement: loss, due to the death of someone to whom one feels close and the process of adjustment to the loss. B. Grief: an emotional response experienced in the early phases of bereavement. C. Losing a Child A parent is rarely prepared for this loss. Generally feels like a cruel and unnatural shock. Parents may feel they have failed the child & thus guilty. If marriage is strong, the loss may draw a couple closer. If marriage is weak, the loss may tear the couple apart.

D. Grief Work: common pattern of working out of psychological issues connected with grief, in which the bereaved person accepts the loss, releases the bond with the deceased, and rebuilds a life without that person. E. The Three Stages of Grief Work 1) Shock and Disbelief 2) Preoccupation with the memory of the dead person. 3) Resolution F. Patterns of Grieving 1) Commonly Expected Pattern: grief pattern in which the mourner goes from high to low distress. 2) Chronic Grief: grief pattern in which the mourner remains distressed for an unusually long time and may impact the mourner’s long term psychological and physical health.

G. Grief Therapy: treatment to help the bereaved cope with their loss. I. Kűbler-Ross’s Five Stages of Coming to Terms with Death 1) Denial: This can’t be happening to me or to my loved one! 2) Anger: Why me or my loved one?! 3) Bargaining for extra time If only I can… I won’t ask for anything else. 4) Depression 5) Acceptance H. Ambiguous Loss: a loss that is not clearly defined or does not bring closure.

J. Suicide Women are more likely to consider suicide. Men are more likely to successfully commit suicide. This is at least partially due to the fact that men are more likely to use guns, while women are more likely to ingest substances, such as sleeping pills.