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Monsters Under the Bed
(Photo by D Sharon Pruitt via Wikimedia Commons)
It’s every child’s main reason for not going to bed. They heard a noise, the boogie man is in the closet or of course there is a monster under my bed. This then proceeds to some parents having to resort to crawling on hands and knees looking in all sorts of nooks and crannies in the room. To which to their dismay the only thing they might find terrifying is how dirty the floor or closet can be. The child feels better and finally goes to sleep.
But maybe there is something more to this. Children have been known to be more perceptive of ghosts, demons and other things we tend to ignore or disbelief when entering adulthood. Maybe as adults our sensors are not up to par as they once were as when we were young. There are some whose sensors became much stronger as they grew into adulthood.
Caron Goode has written many books on the subject and she says:
A child usually sees a ghost or spirit for the first time during their early years, when their brains are proportionately 135 percent larger than an adult brain. Young childhood is a time of vivid imagination, extended brain functions and easy shifting from one brain wave state to another. By interacting with the environment, a child’s brain activates and develops only the potential neural networks that match or prove to be useful in his or her environment.
From age two to six, a child’s brain cannot distinguish between conception/perception that is inner-generated and that which is outer-generated. In other words, there are no filters or boundaries of perceptions. To a toddler, people on television look the same as people in real life and so does the spirit of Grandmother who watches over her grandson. It is during this time of the unbounded and expanded brain that children are most likely to experience and develop relationships with invisible friends, ghosts, angels and fairies.
So could it be during this very important developmental stage, it becomes easier for beings to connect and contact children over adults.
On their website the American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry call these events Hallucinations:
“Hallucinations are when one has heard, seen or experienced something that is not there. They can occur in any of our senses including sound, sight, touch, taste and smell. An auditory hallucination is when one has heard something that is not there. It is the most common type of hallucination. A visual hallucination is when one has seen something that is not there. Hallucinations may occur as part of normal development or may be a sign that your child is struggling with some type of emotional problems. This may be related to issues at home, school, with friends, or from experiencing upsetting thoughts and feelings.”
So maybe its just stressed or emotional trauma that causes the episodes. But Aletha Solter, Ph.D. Offers an even simpler explanation:
“Fears are very common in children between the ages of three and eight years of age. Often, they are triggered after hearing a scary story or seeing a movie. Children this age have a growing awareness of death and their own vulnerability. They feel small and powerless in a big world that is sometimes confusing and frightening. Furthermore, many children have a vivid imagination, which further contributes to their fears. Monsters become a tangible symbol for everything that is confusing and scary and that might harm children.“
So what is going on here? Is it the childs brain picking up things during the initial growing stages, Stress and Emotional trauma or simply just watching a scary movie. The answer is probably all of the above. Sometimes children will make an imaginary friend up to help fight Isolation and depression. To create a friend and companion. Could be a poisonous reaction to a drug or food allergy. Creating Hallucinations that child thinks is real. Maybe its because they happen to catch 5 minutes of Nightmare On elm Street while a parent or older Sibling was watching it. The reasons are endless.
But its suggested that parents should also check their own surroundings. Before they say its just a piece of undigested cheese, Check to see if there is cold spots. If there is a unfamiliar feeling of someone else is in the room. Things totally out of place. If these things keep happening, its normally suggested to have the house “blessed” or have someone cleanse the house.
Sources:
http://bellaspark.com/articles/entry/kids-who-see-ghosts-a-guide-for-parents1/
Caron Goode
http://www.aacap.org/cs/root/facts_for_families/hearing_voices_and_seeing_things
American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry.
Apollo Belenus is the Paranormal editor for Before its News,
Follow on Twitter: @B4INparanormal and Facebook
