Can you really be scared to death?
shm - We like a good fright, but can you actually be scared to death?
It turns out that, yes, a good-enough scare can be the cause your demise - but probably not if you're of normal health.
"If it were to happen it would be someone with a precondition, a weak heart or an aneurysm in the brain," says Brian Hurlbut, who teaches psychology at Southern Connecticut State University.
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"When you're scared, and scared badly, a part of the nervous system - the sympathetic nervous system - prepares your body for violent activity..." It's what's commonly known as the fight-or-flight reflex.
There have been cases in which criminals have been charged with murder or manslaughter because their victims died from heart attacks. But death certificates aren't likely to reflect that.
"I rather doubt that a physician would write out 'scared to death'," Hurlbut says.
When there's a sudden threat of danger, your system "dumps adrenaline into your bloodstream," so that it goes to your muscles.
At the same time, blood vessels in the skin and digestive system constrict so that blood will also be directed to your muscles.
That's partly why people lose their appetite when they're nervous or scared.
What happens in the body while watching a horror movie or finding your way through a haunted house at a theme park is similar to what happens during physical exertion - for instance, long-distance running.
Once the threat has diminished, the part of our bodies known as the parasympathetic nervous system then brings everything back into order.
But for those in weakened condition, the damage may have already been done by the time the danger has gone away.
"People do die of over-exertion, but usually they have a pre-existing condition that no one knew about," he says.
"There's the force on their body, the extra effort and the pressures can cause some weakened part of the body to give out."
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The Burning Bush They’ll Buy, but Not ESP or Alien Abduction
Practically anything goes at the American Academy of Religion’s annual conference, where scholars of dozens of religions convene annually to debate, relate and on occasion mate. Conversation ranges from the Talmud to tantra, from Platonism to Satanism. This year, from Oct. 30 to Nov. 1 in Atlanta, nearly 5,000 people attended panels including “Seeking New Meanings of God and Dao” and “Madness, Smallpox, and Death in Tibet.”
What was almost impossible to find, at this orgy of intellectual curiosities, was discussion of the paranormal: ESP, premonitions, psychic powers, alien abduction and the like. This is a conference concerned with all sorts of supernatural and metaphysical claims. In panels, over coffee and during cocktail-hour quarrels, they talk of Moses at the burning bush, the virgin birth, Muhammad’s journey on a winged horse. So why nothing about, say, mental telepathy? Continue reading at NY Times - The Burning Bush They’ll Buy, but Not ESP or Alien Abduction
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Abandoned Farm House in Canada...Your Thoughts?
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Translated narrative:
“A young man decides to spend the night in an abandoned home, where it is said that no one has stayed in the house overnight due to reports of ghostly visions and poltergeist phenomena.
Once inside, his cameras were witnesses to something unexplainable. He admits not having seen anything unusual until reviewing the tapes.”
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Spirit Rescue International - Surrey, UK House Haunting
From Irene Block: The activity in the house continues, shadows have been seen moving across the landing at the top of the stairs, noises such as dragging and scraping similar to a chair being pulled across floorboards have been heard.
The couple have heard feedback through the baby monitor of a woman talking even when the monitor has been turned off. A woman has been heard laughing in the house by both father and mother at separate times, usually when one or the other is in the house alone. The disembodied voice of a woman talking somewhere in the house is heard, always it is difficult to work out what is being said.
Movement is often seen from the corner of the eye and smells of perfume or at times a musty smell appears and is quickly gone. There is a constant feeling of being watched.
Audible knocking on the stairs can be heard often accompanied by drastic temperature drops.
The child's toys seem to have a life of their own, switching on for no particular reason,the batteries have all now been removed.
On one occasion the father woke early one morning, 5.30am.to see a White light near the bed, instantly he became pinned down and unable to move, which for anyone can be terrifying. (This could of course be night terrors but at the moment we have not had the chance to talk to him of his experience)
Yesterday during the day while the mother was in the master bedroom she witnessed a dark shadow move along the wall behind the babies cot,thinking it may have been her that cast the shadow she shifted her body in different directions but her form did not throw out any shadow.( The baby is sleeping in the parents room while his bedroom is being decorated)
The night before as the father was watching television he witnessed what he described as a White ball shape move (Orb) from one side of the room across and disappear on the other side, this orb must have been bright as he saw it with the naked eye.
When asked if there had been any changes in the mood swings in the family the mother told me she was feeling more tired, low and unhappy. The father was showing signs of being more stressed and at times touchy. Seems to me that this is beginning to take a toll on them.
From what I can gather the majority of the activity is centred on the staircase, landing and Master bedroom.
There is a sad and tragic story attached to this house that will be told at a later date.
Obviously the happenings in this house are very worrying for this young family they feel as if the house is not their own and cannot understand fully why it is happening to them, they just want it gone so they can get on with their lives. Two of the SRI team will visit the house this coming Wednesday to attempt to get picture's EVPs etc as we want to get control of this before the activity escalates.
Next time I will post on how the happenings in the house are affecting the child.
Lon and Judy have been doing a lot of research on the house and its vicinity.
NOTE: Irene and I have been discussing this case since we received photographs of the interior of the house. As Irene stated above, we have some concern for at least 2 areas of the property but want to wait and see what the SRI team comes up with on Wednesday. In the meantime, Irene and I are going to conduct a remote view on Tuesday. We do have some scant history of the previous residents and word of mouth concerning events that took place there but we want to see what the RV reveals and hope tangible records are found. Stay tuned. Also, Dr. Barry Taff has recently become an associate of SRI as a paranormal advisor. Dr. Taff's research has been published in numerous journals, periodicals, magazines and books over the last 40+ years. He has been the principal investigator on more than 4,500 cases of poltergeists and hauntings, one of which became the bestselling book and motion picture 'The Entity'...Lon
Follow the investigation at Surrey, UK House Haunting. You must register in order to read the SRI Cases forum. Go to the Spirit Rescue International website and see what our unique services provide. Need help? Then take the first step towards genuine peace of mind...contact us at SRI Contact Form.
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THIS WEEK'S PARANORMAL / SPIRITUAL LINKS
Cheney Mansion's clanking chains
Learning the Mysteries of The Tarot
Paranormal Investigation of Titanic Site: Legitimate News or "Utter Crap"?
Protect Your Kids From Twilight!
Ghost hunters investigate rotary jail and are "pleasantly surprised"
Pagans are on the march - but are they harmless eccentrics or a dangerous cult?
Speakeasy / Brothel Roadhouse 'Story' of a Little Boy Child Spirit
The Haunting Experience in Camino, Ca.
Conference takes serious approach to supernatural
Orbs, moans, voices revealed in ghost hunt
