Pollution can affect our state of mind

Ghosts and the paranormal have been on my mind a lot this last week. Why, I hear my readers ask (well, alright, I don’t, but it seemed a good thing to write and I’m going to tell you anyway)?

What started it off was an article (“Seen a ghost? Then you may have inhaled toxic mould”, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3022735/Seen-ghost-inhale...) which said that some cases of hauntings could be caused by inhalation of indoor moulds that affect the brain. That poses some questions: exactly how much does the physical environment affect our state of mind? Does pollution make us hallucinate?

According to Professor Shane Rogers of Clarkson University, New York, “Experiences reported in many hauntings are similar to mental or neurological symptoms reported by individuals exposed to moulds.” Among the known effects of some moulds are mood swings, irrational anger and memory loss, as well as increased anxiety and fear.  What about “magic mushrooms” too, a type of fungi, which are known to be hallucinogenic when cooked?

So much for biological pollutants; what about the others?

A more controversial idea is that people who suffer from electrohypersensitivity (EHS), a type of allergy to electronic devices, sometimes experience what seem to them to be paranormal or supernatural events. Also, according to Philips & Philips (see below), “[EHS sufferers] may also be able to access information from the nervous system of others, much like an electric fish can detect impulses from other living organisms in  its environment.” To me, this sounds like something akin to telepathy

So, maybe pollution can have a noticeable effect on our state of mind.

By the way, there’s a deathly pale figure watching me from the doorway as I write this – and it somehow looks angry.
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Electrical Hypersensitivity, A Modern Illness  (the above quote is from the 2007 edition) by Alasdair & Jean Philips, a report available from EM Fields, www.emfields.org