Unhappy Spirits or Mental Inventions?

The word "poltergeist" comes from the German language, and, quite literally, means "noisy ghost." Events commonly associated with poltergeist activity include - but are not limited to - movement of furniture, opening and closing of doors and drawers, throwing of objects of varying sizes, seeing unexplained shadows, and hearing voices. The question of whether a poltergeist is actually an unhappy spirit, or a mental creation of a teenager is interesting, because poltergeists can actually be both.

Generally speaking, poltergeists most often occur in situations in which there is tremendous stress or constant and intense negative energy and emotions. The raging hormones of pubescent teenagers is most often cited because such unexplained events most often occur among teenagers. However, poltergeist activity has been known to occur during menopause or after childbirth, when some new mothers experience post-natal depression (commonly known as the "baby blues"). So, to suggest that poltergeist activity is strictly a mental invention or an unhappy spirit is not entirely feasible, as there are too many variables to consider.

The interesting thing about poltergeists is that they can, in fact, be a combination of both an unhappy spirit and a mental creation. On one hand, there may be ghost or spirit residing in the home that is unhappy and when negative emotional levels in the living are high - such as during menopause, puberty, or after childbirth - that entity then has more negative energy upon which to feed. In turn, this gives the unhappy spirit more strength to be more aggressive in expressing itself.

Conversely, intense and prolonged negative energies can manifest as an unhappy spirit. This is a type of emotional projection, in that the person suffering is separating themselves from their emotions as a means of coping with whatever is occurring in their lives at that time. Divorce, the loss of a job, extreme peer pressure, abuse of any kind - these are just a few potential catalysts which can create a poltergeist. Determining whether one is creating such an event, or there is actually an unhappy spirit feeding off negative emotions, is something which requires a great deal of compassion, patience, and education.

So, is poltergeist activity a spirit event, or the manifestation of a troubled teen's mind? In this writer's opinion, it could be one or the other, or it could be both. The only way to know for sure is to examine all the possibilities and go from there.