Squiffy Teddy Does… What to do when you have a ghost in the house
For the unbelievers, people who claim a ghost is in their home making their lives an absolute misery are nothing more than deluded. They are obviously attention seeking for their five minutes of fame, or creating an opportunity to get a better council house.
But for those families who suddenly find themselves living with the dead, it can be terrifying. There is no official body you can go to for an eviction. There is also the risk that if you start asking people for help, they will think you are mad.
But according to a study carried out in February 2011, 23 per cent of adults in the South West aged 18 years and above claim to have experienced paranormal activity.
In the UK overall, 25 per claimed to have experienced a ghost. Some 31 per cent of women admitted experiencing the phenomenon compared to just 18 per cent of men.
The number of people experiencing the paranormal has either increased, or people are no longer afraid to admit it.
In the 1950s, a survey by Geoffrey Gorer, found just 7 per cent of people aged 16 years and over had experienced paranormal activity.
In 1998, a MORI survey found this had risen to 14 per cent, and in 2003, an Ipsos MORI survey found this had jumped again to 19 per cent.
The 2011 research was led by psychologist and paranormal investigator Professor Richard Wiseman.
The findings came from an online survey which queried 2040 adults aged 18 years and older. This was translated into population percentage based on figures published by the Office for National Statistics in 2009.
Richard Wiseman believes one thing, and that is paranormal phenomena does not exist.
He is attributing the increase in reports of paranormal activity to the popularity of ghost hunting television shows. He indicates screamfest camera up the nostril’s Most Haunted attracts a large number of fans. But also blames Ghost Hunters, a more respected programme by The Atlantic Paranormal Society who work by debunking a paranormal presence before showing their final evidence.
Wiseman says: “My only thought is that, because there have been a lot of ghost shows on TV, people may just be more likely to attribute certain experiences, like hearing creaky floorboards, to ghosts. All these shows are feeding off the perception that these things actually exist and not looking at the psychological perspective.”
But he admits that television shows do not explain the regional differences in his Ghost Map of the UK.
According to his Ghost Map, created by the survey’s findings, Yorkshire and the Humber and the East Midlands have the highest number of ghost sightings at 30 per cent of the population. People in London are the least likely to see ghosts, with just 20 per cent of the population experiencing the paranormal.
So what do you do when granny comes back from beyond, there is a gateway to hell in the baby’s bedroom, an Indian burial ground appears beneath your up-market semi in Surrey, or your child starts seeing dead people?
Is it a ghost or is there a logical explanation?
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