Sneaky Bastard

I fell asleep last night during the Dallas / Heats game. When I woke up I was sitting in the very end of this long, oval table. "Who won the game?" There was about 40 people there and they just looked at each other and did not say a word. I figured that I was having another crazy-ass dream so, I started to get up. The chair was about 500 lbs. , it seemed, and I could not budge it. I looked around at everyone and they were all wearing the same white robe. Do you remember that old man in Lord of The Rings? That is what they all looked like. I mean every last one of them. "Has any of ya'll seen the colonel, lately?" I asked. They were staring me down. Started giving me a creepy feeling. Then I remembered how the colonel left me. I showed him no fear. I was wondering if it would work with these guys. "Look, ya'll are just about to piss me off, so, someone better start talking." Shit, that didn't scare them in the least. They just kept on staring at me. I was starting to feel real uneasy when the dude at the far end of the table stood up and introduced himself. He was responsible for fighting all bad in the celestial world. "Are all these guys your helpers"? I had to know cause we were gonna have some problems if that is all he had. "These are a small part of my armies we use to stop evil." That's good to know. Cause what I was kooking at could not whip up a on bunch of women. The next thing I know I am being moved at a fairly good clip without the use of airplanes or any other mechanical devices. This has got to be the dream of all dreams. We were traveling the universe, not just the world. I had no idea how it would be possible other than in a dream. As fast as we took off we were standing in a beautiful field with an enormous waterfall cascading down from heights that were enormous. As I was taking in the beautiful scenery he told me that I did some good work when I occupied the body that ended Colonel DeBarge's pain and suffering. I had no idea how he knew all that he knew but he was impressive. "I also understand that the act itself has given you much grief." he said. "Who are you, and how do you know all this?" I asked. "That is not important at this time." Was his response. He had the most caring and loving aura about himself that I wanted to hang out with this guy. "You see, there is a lot of things I know about you and there are a lot of good in you."  He must have missed the Ted Nugent concert. I could not figure out exactly where I was, nor, could I figure out how the hell I got there. The whole crew in the flowing white gowns were standing there, too. I could feel nothing but a satiated feeling from being around them. I was not scared, at all. "What is your name?" I asked. "I am the truth, the light, I have many names. They are not important." Was this a dream? I could not honestly tell if it was a dream or reality. As I was trying to figure it out the man with the robe approached me. There were others wearing robes but I guess he was the leader of the bunch. When he reached me he outstretched his hand and quicker than a heartbeat I was standing in my living room, the light fading. I could hear a voice in the distance saying that we will meet again.Cool.       theblogmeister 

Something in Common

About 5 years ago I started hearing strange voices and seeing things. I would turn my TV to one channel, come back from the bathroom, and my TV would be unplugged but still on. I know it was my TV because it's the only plug in the electrical outlet.
  Fast forward to this year. I am still hearing things at 14 and I think it's done nothing but grown. Everywhere we move (my dad's job causes us to move about once everyone three months) things seem to be attracted to me.
  Why the paranormal would want to bother me when I was nine and keep attacking me now is a wonder to my parents. At first they thought I was going insane when they would come into my room and find me in a fetal position screaming my head off. They took me to the doctor on several occasions.
  Now like I said, it's done nothing but gotten worse. I will have nightmares every night. Everyone but this major paranormal freak hates me. We have to move to Colorado soon, so I will lose him pretty quick.
  At school ghosts love to visit me when I'm alone. They will knock things over harshly. They especially love to make the speakers do that feedback thing, and call my name.
  At home they will turn the TV on, off, turn the channels. Turn the water on and off in the bathrooms and kitchen. Mostly they attack me in my sleep. The most recent dream I have had is a little girl being drowned in my pool and then a hurricane destroying my home, even though we live no where near the ocean!
Well anyways, thanks for reading my story. Maybe more will happen in Colorado I will tell you about next week, or whenever this is up.



It seems that the author of this story and I have something in common. We both have had visits or strange events that happened to us when we were young. These events are still happening, today. It seems that the last time that I saw the colonel and showed anger it scared him off. Well, I do not know if that is why he left but it is coincidental that fear motivated him to try manipulating me and when I got pissed off and showed my anger the colonel left. We have digressed in our relationship. It is know like it was 30 years ago, or so it seems. It is back to my having nightmares that he chooses not to be seen as much. Our relationship has definitely changed after he asked me why did I fear him. That really got me. You dumb son of a bitch, why do you think I am afraid. That question he asked me just set me off and I think he knows it. Hell, maybe I scared his ass for a change. When he felt like he had the power and could make me react to some of his images and unexpected sounds he seemed to get bolder and try more intimidating things. When I got pissed and yelled at him, he lurked away. Now, he is slowly trying to do whatever his plan is. I do not have a clue as to what he is trying. Don't get me wrong, the nightmares do have an effect on me. I am not immune to them. They are terror filled and very uncomfortable for me to endure. Maybe that is what he wants, I do not know. Where ever this thing goes, I will keep you in the loop. Thanks for stopping by,      theblogmeister 

Shadows

Late last night I was sitting in my living room and kept seeing something out of the corner of my eye. The object was coming from my office where I had left a lamp on. From my position on my recliner I could barely see into my office. While watching TV on several occasions I saw a shadow move across my line of sight. I got up, went into the office and could not find anything out of the ordinary. These shadows kept appearing for close to an hour. I showed no fear and let the shadows know it. I did not see anymore shadows. That convinced me, again, that showing no fear will make the spirits uncomfortable. For years all I showed was fear and what I got in return was more visits. I want to face the colonel, once again, but I do not think he will show himself because he knows that I am not afraid of him. I need to do some research on these visits and their strengths. I worked in the hospital when I met the colonel. I have found a story that you may be interested.


While workers in the medical field have to be some of the most rational and logical individuals of any field, if you spend some time with anyone who deals with death and dying you will eventually come across some very strange and odd stories.
Whether it be care assistants, nurses or even physicians themselves there are many in the medical field that have an amazing story to tell.
The problem is getting them to tell it.
Like in any other field of work there are many of those who doubt and mock the stories of the unexplained. And perhaps those in the medical profession are more suspect of such stories; since many are surrounded by death and dying constantly but few ever have an unexplained experience. And unless you are a good friend most of those who experience the paranormal at the medical workplace will keep quite about their experiences.
But if you are fortunate to have them share their brief encounters with the unexplained, you often find they are some of the most heartwarming and assuring you have ever encountered.
Pearl had worked at the hospital for more than 20 years, and was used to switching shifts. When she was younger she hated the night shift if only for the reason that she had a young family to care for and she hated leaving her children with a sitter. But now as she was older and her children were in college, she saw the night shift as a relaxing and peaceful time to care for her patients and have the ability to actually finish all of her paperwork. Being a floor that was home to many terminally ill patients, it did have its times of stress and chaos. But most of the time she would be at her desk or assisting some of the other nurses in caring for those who were about to cross the mortal veil.
Many times she became very close to the patients that she tended, especially with those who still had their mental abilities unimpeded during their stay on the ward. It was very hard to get to know and appreciate these patients only to loose them within a few weeks, but that was the nature of the job.
Roger had terminal cancer, but was still coherent and mobile when he came to the floor. Even though walking was very difficult for him, he took at least two or three walks around the hall during Pearl’s shift. He would walk around and joke other patients and flirt with all the pretty nurses. With his cordial attitude and carefree humor he won the hearts of all he socialized with. Sometimes he was the only friendly face and comforting voice besides the faculty that some of the other patients had seen all day.
When he became too sick to do his daily walks, the other patients sorely missed him. His inability to be mobile also had an effect on his morale and he deteriorated very quickly. It was less than a week later that he was dead.
A few days after Roger’s passing Pearl head one of the patients carrying on a conversation by himself, intermingled with uproarious laughter. This in and of itself was nothing too uncommon, many of the clients on the floor had dementia and often relived their past or carried on an existence living in an unseen fantasy world. But Pearl knew this patient to never have an incident of dementia; he had a clearer mind than she did most of the time. So she entered the room to investigate. When asked what all the commotion was the patient told Pearl that Roger had been ‘a card’ tonight and he cheering him up. The man pointed at the chair next to his bed and then sat up with surprise.
“Where did he go?” he asked looking quickly left to right for his friend, “He was sitting right here…”
When she informed him that Roger had passed away days ago the man was insistent that there had to be some kind of mistake, Roger was there just moments before and he had seen him for the last few days. “He said he was feeling a lot better, I was worried because I hadn't seen him in a while.”
The staff normally did not notify any other patient if there was a death on the ward, those who remained did not need to know and it would cause their morale to drop. And some of the patients were clinging on by a sliver of hope. So the man had no idea previously that Roger had died. He insisted that the he had visited him.
Within the next coming weeks the man’s condition also declined. He passed quickly. The nurses heard him carrying on conversations all the time with an unseen guest. One night shortly before he passed Pearl visited him once again and asked how he was doing. The man told her that he was alright, everything would be fine. Roger had visited him and told him that even though he would be passing soon there was nothing to fear.
The next shift Pearl worked she found that the man had indeed passed. As she talked to another nurse about the incident the nurse reported that on the night of the mans death he had been carrying on a conversation with someone who was not there. According to the nurse the last words he had said were, “OK Roger, I’m ready.”
Did the Roger continue his rounds cheering up a fellow patient and escort him onto the other side?



It is shown that experiences come from all walks of life. These paranormal experiences have been reported for centuries. I believe that something that has been written about for so long has to be true. I know it is true. I have lived it for over thirty years. I do not understand it and I will keep trying to figure it out. Thanks     theblogmeister

An Unknown Visit

Usually when I am in the midst of a visit from the colonel it is he that visits me. Many times I have awakened to strange noises only to be met by the colonel himself. I still have not figured out what message he is trying to relay to me. At first, the message was clear, fear. It is like he wanted me to know that he could instill pure terror when he chose. He has been good at that, too. For the longest, he did not say a word to me, he just wanted me to experience fear. Is he doing that to pay me back? All I did was do something that he was too afraid to do himself. The first few years after I had done what he had wished, the nightmares were frequent and terrifying. It has been that way up until about five years ago. I really believe that is when things started changing. I would be awaken from a deep sleep to a loud noise. Things began to be more reality than fantasy. I would be awake and hear the bathroom door close, thinking it was my wife I would go check on her. The bathroom light would be on with the door closed and I would call out her name without an answer. I would then check the bedroom and find her sleeping, peacefully. This was something new. Never before had the colonel manipulated an inanimate object. I would open the bathroom door to find it empty. I did not open the door or turn on the light. My wife did not do it, either. This began many strange things that happened in our house. It reached a point where I would see someone out of the corner of my eye and could tell that someone was watching me. My fear was for my wife. I had a talk with her about it and she was not afraid. I believe that fear was its motivator, its fuel. Most of the strange things happened to me and did not involve my wife. I am a man but I gotta tell you that some things scared the living shit out of me. This must have gone on for a couple years before the night came when I made contact with the colonel. He looked as he had in 1978 and his breath smelled like the cancer that ate him up. He was standing in my living room and asked , "Why do you fear me?" My heart was beating so fast. I asked him what he said. He repeated his question. My fear turned to anger. I was about to cuss his ass out when he disappeared. The chickenshit. All these years he had been scaring the hell out of me and my wife and he had the balls to ask me why I feared him. I figured that anger is his kryptonite while fear is his fuel. I had times to test my theory. I am not as smart as I thought I was.   theblogmeister

The Colonel ; Happier Times

I have spoken so much about the bad and dark side of the colonel I thought it only fitting I share some of his more positive attributes and give you how I dealt with the colonel, the man. I met the colonel when I was 19 years old and he was in his seventies. Those first days of his admission were mostly getting to know each other and, most importantly, getting to know his disease. The reason for going into medicine had a little to do with the fact that I had a gregarious and extroverted personality. I enjoyed to meet people and the colonel and I hit it off immediately. Bunny, his wife, and the colonel had no children and their closest friends were from Kansas. Their last names, coincidentally, and my last name were the same. I had the good fortune to meet them on three occasions while the colonel spent his final days in the hospital. The colonel, full bird, retired, enjoyed the respect I gave him by addressing him as The Colonel and sir, the general military respect that was given to officers at that rank. He was also a fighter pilot and a good one in his day. I met quite a few pilots and they are an A personality type. I enjoyed letting the colonel talk about his fighter squadron and some of the combat missions he was a part of. He was also an avid golfer and as I, would tell him of my most recent outing. He wanted all the details, too. He would ask me why I chose a certain club for a specific shot. I better have a good reason for that 7-iron on a 180 yard par-3. He was a lot of fun to be around. Even when he was going through the chemo and radiation he tried to get strong and not let me see it affect him. He was a tough son- of -a bitch. Long and lean, which is unusual for a fighter pilot. His mind was sharp, at first. It was painful to see him when he could not remember a word or forget what he was talking about. We developed a very close personal friendship. I was repeatedly warned by my supervisors that I was getting too emotionally attached to him. They, too were my friends who did not want to see me hurt when the colonel finally dies. Guess I fooled them, huh? I really appreciated it. They were looking out for me. The colonel was a very intelligent man. I guess you would have to be to operate a $40 million dollar fighter. I spent a lot of my spare time with the colonel. We talked a little about death. Very little, he did not want to go there. It was painful to watch a 6' 170 lb. man shrivel up to almost skin with bones. His wife, Bunny, was a wonderful human being, too. They loved each other very much. It had to be hard on her trying to learn to live without your soul mate of 50 years. I just wanted you to know a little about the colonel before he changed and made The Decision. I had no idea that I would become an integral part of that decision and the results of it would haunt me for the rest of my life. It is hard for me to remember when he was a great man. What he decided to do for himself only created a monster for me to deal with. I am still fighting him, today. I wish the other colonel crossed that plane of consciousness. Things may be a different world, today. I will never know, unfortunately.      theblogmeister

Fact or Fiction; You decide.

I tried to find some stories that were similar to mine. I read some that were way out there and others that may be true. This one I found interesting. I do not know if it is true or a result of some college freshman's English Lit course. Or is it English comp. ? Hell, it has been a long time ago. The writer was believeable, so, I wanted you to see for yourself. Good reading.

When I was 17, I opened a door that should have remained closed. I was at the public library and checked out a book about demons. I was always an avid reader and to me, it was just another "horror" book, I checked out for 2 weeks. I really had no concept of demons, I believed in God, but just not so much in the other end of things. I had the concept of God and angels, and if they were truly in Heaven, then nothing bad could be there. They protected us, right? That very concept changed forever. Hello, crash course in freewill. I ended up reading the book, and the next thing I know, I started seeing the shadows. The dark ones, some looked like crows, some black cats, and then the smaller humanoid types. There was one, more human, who was taller, dark and he was everywhere. If I was reading, I could see his shadow, leaning over my shoulder as if reading with me. He would also be on the roof, hanging down peering into my window. I could see his form, blocking out light, and hanging there upside down, like a crouching bat. He had pointed ears, and I will never forget that silhouette against the starry sky, watching me. My sister began seeing these things, too. We both saw what looked like fighting, bolts of blue and white lightening that streaked across darkened rooms at each other. The most amazing occurrence was when we were at the movies and the whole theater was a "battle ground", with us being the only ones who could see the lights. In retrospect, I do believe it was "good & evil" fighting. I think I was more curious and mesmerized, than concerned by all of this going on. Until one evening, I was lying across my bed, reading as usual, and I felt a hand touch my foot. Hard pressure on the sole of my foot, grasping. That scared me... Whatever this was could touch me. The end came quickly to this situation, a couple of days later. Late one Friday night, I was home alone, and my mom and sister drove up. In the headlights of the car, my sister saw a huge demon, hairy & tall, like a buffalo on its hind legs, and it was running around the house, trying to escape the headlights. My mom didn't see it, nor did she or my dad ever see any of these happenings. My sister thought it had been after me, and she was terrified. Her fear was palpable as she told me what she saw, she told me to take care of this, and get it the hell out of our home. I was horrified. The very next morning, a Saturday, I found myself home alone, a godsend in a house where Saturday mornings were the optimum time for everyone being home. I cleansed the house, blessed the house, and got that book the hell out of there. I never saw it again at the library, even though the section of horror I perused was near where I found it. I hope it was removed from the shelves and destroyed. Funny thing, I have a feeling it never made it back to the shelves... I have a strong feeling it was never supposed to be there in the first place. The thought of burning the book never crossed my mind. I just wanted things sent back to Hell where they belonged, and all things in my world back to where they had been before. I succeeded in clearing the house of all evil, no more shadows, lights, touches, or seeing anything EVER AGAIN. The downside is I will always regret having my sister feel that horror and fear, the upside is that my faith in all that is good, was strengthen beyond all that I could have imagined. I know now what's out there, and I will use my belief to send it away every chance I get. I hold that faith close to this day.
  These things were getting stronger, more brazen, and I never want to even consider opening ANY doorway again. I was uninformed, stupid for doing that, and utterly ignorant for bringing that into my home. This all occurred in a 2 week period, and I thank God, my faith was intact. I was considerably blessed that I realized the problem was growing beyond me, and that I had the strength to send it back. I hope someone learns from this... It's not a game, it is REAL. And it is awful.

Is it real? do you believe? I cannot say that the writer is basing his words on fact or fiction. What I do know, however, is the strange events in my life are true. That is what I do know.   theblogmeister

The Humming

I had to find out where or the origin of the humming sound. It came from everywhere. I stepped outside to see if the noise was caused by a helicopter. Where ever I went the sound remained the same. I did not wake up my wife. She has been through enough dealing with my two worlds. I slipped on my shoes and walked around the house. The sound stayed the same. There was one thing that intrigued me while I was outside. I have a dog that is attached to a dog run. I looked over towards her and I could see her sleeping peacefully. If the humming was of this world she would have been barking loudly. My question has been answered; it is not from this world. I walked back out on my porch, sat down, and considered what I should do next. Five minutes later and the sound suddenly stopped. I tried to figure out the reason behind the sound. I had no answer. I walked toward the kitchen to get something to drink and noticed that the bedroom's light in the front of the house was on. I know I had not turned that light on and I also am sure that it was not on, before. This bedroom has a long history in my dealings with the colonel. I had a dream that involved this room on several occasions. On one of those dreams I woke up in the middle of the night to find a bright light coming from behind the bedroom door. It was not the light mounted on the ceiling giving off the brilliant light that was coming from behind the door. That light was not capable of putting out such brilliant light. I reached for the doorknob and slowly opened the door and what I saw caused me to scream so loud that it woke up my wife. You can find the story in my past posts, I am not gonna re-tale it, here. Maybe this room has some sort of meaning to it. Possibly a portal to another plane. I slowly opened the door, once again. It made the hair on the back of my neck stand up because of the past history with this room. I did not know what would be behind the door. I could feel my pulse pounding in my ears, my breathing increasing. A part of me wanted to close the door and go climb in bed with my wife. I know I could not stop. For whatever reason the colonel has for trying to instill fear in me I was not going to let him win. I'm no hero. To be honest, I was scared shit less. This is my house. I cannot let what I do not understand create fear that drives me away. I opened the door all the way and there was nothing in there. The light suddenly started to dim and it was back to its normal lumen. How the hell did that light put out such an intense light? I stared at the light and ceiling fan until I noticed his smell. It was the colonel. I could smell him. This is the first time he has not confronted me. Now I am really confused. This shit is driving me crazy. I said out loud, "Come out you chicken shit son- of- a- bitch." No answer. I did not have an answer, either.     theblogmeister

I am on a Roll

This is the way it happens. Maybe it is because I am spending too much time thinking about the Bastard. I can't help it. This morning at about 3am I was woken up by a very loud humming sound. It was loud enough to rattle my windows. I fell asleep at some point in my recliner, so, when I was trying to find the origin of the humming I walked in to check on my wife asleep in the bed. The noise did not interrupt her sleep. I walked back out on the back porch, where my recliner and TV is located, and sat down to figure out if the humming was coming from inside me or from reality. How can the noise transfer from one consciousness to another by rattling my windows? It would be easier for me to write it off had it not been for noise from this plane. I don't mean airplane, I am talking about two separate planes of consciousness. One would be a dream or nightmare, the other plane is one that exists that allow the spirit world to survive. I know I am sounding like a quack but I am a regular guy that just so happens to have experienced some strange things that cannot be explained by our laws of physics. It is another level of consciousness. There are examples of it happening to regular people like me every day. A woman gets a strange feeling the exact moment her daughter dies in an automobile accident. Another loses a family member and they are visited that night by their deceased loved one. This is not hocus pocus, palm reading shit that I am talking about. You know exactly what I mean. You may know someone who has had unexplainable things happened to them. There is a show on A&E called Celebrity Ghost Stories. Let me say that I am not the kind of person that watches every ghost show or believe everything I read about the occult. Most of it is bullshit. I watched that show the other night and you could tell these people saw what they said they saw. I know they are actors, but watch the show and see for yourself. There are things that we, as a people, do not know. The only thing that I know and understand, to a point, is my experiences. I do not who told me, when I was eleven, the things to save my mothers life. I can say with fact that I sat in front of someone that has been dead over thirty years and could smell his breath. Was it a dream? I don't know. There are some questions that I do not have the answer to. There are a lot of things that I can't answer. My brother was killed in 1989 and I have seen him, since. Was that a dream? My mother died in 2008 and she has been to check on me. Was that a dream? The professionals will tell you, of course, it was a dream. Like they know. I have been dealing with Psychologists and Psychiatrists for a long time. They do not have the answers. So, who the hell does? When you find him give him my email. Thanks, I'll have some answers, soon.    theblogmeister

Night Terror

The battles I have do not compare to nightmares. I have a specific demon that tries to break my soul. This demon is probably self-created. Let me say that in another way. My demon has a name, Col. DeBarge. This was a real person. I killed him in 1978 and my mind has given him life ever since. There was a point in time that I was not quite sure if the Colonel was dead. I was, and still am being haunted by this demon. If he is not of God, then he is of Satan. Therefore, he is my demon. God would not put me through this much torment for this long. That is why I am convinced he is a demon. This is no where near the nightmares that I spoke of, earlier. I have been told by the professionals that he is a creation of my sub-conscious. I, being filled with guilt and shame, am trying to punish myself because no one else did. I kept this secret for over twenty-five years. I am the reason that the colonel is dead and I have been punishing myself since that time. It is hard for me to understand that I have created something filled with so much evil. I have been terrorized by him in ways that no one should have to go through, and yet, I am being told that he is my creation. Why would I put myself through all this? That is the hardest for me to understand. Why can I not make him stop? I do not enjoy putting my wife through the horror of his evilness. She sometimes wakes up to a blood curling scream and has to spend time calming me down. She has escorted me through the house, room to room, making sure we are alone. She, at times, has to unlock and re lock each door in the house for my benefit. She has wiped my brow to rid my body of the sweat generated during my meetings with him in another world, whispering in my ear like a small child that heard something go boom in the night. She has seen the terror, been a part of it. She did not ask for any of this. I am being told that the terror is coming from myself. I am the creator of this demon that causes havoc in my house in the dark of the night. I must be hallucinating when I am face to face with his death mask. This is what the professionals are telling me. It is hard for me to believe. I will go to bed not even thinking of the colonel and several hours later will be awoke by a door slamming. I'll get up out of my bed to see where the noise came from and meet him in the middle of the night. I am not dreaming when I get out of my bed. My reality will change or I will cross into another plane of consciousness. It is not possible for us both to exist in the same world. So, I must cross into his world. What if I cannot make it back into my world? Is that how people vanish from the face of the earth? So far, I have been able to get back into my world. Will a day come that the celestial door slams in my face and my existence on this earth is over? I do not have that answer. I wish that I knew for sure.     theblogmeister

What You Can Do If You Have Nightmares

A nightmare is a dream that occurs during sleep that brings out strong feelings of fear, terror, distress, or anxiety. Nightmares usually happen in the second part of the night and wake up the sleeper, who is able to remember the content of the dream.

•Generalized anxiety disorder

•Night terror

•Post-traumatic stress disorder

•Sleep disorders

ConsiderationsNightmares tend to be more common among children and become less frequent toward adulthood. About 50% of adults have occasional nightmares, women more often than men.

CausesAnxiety and stress are the most common causes of nightmares. A major life event occurs before the nightmare in some cases.

Other causes of nightmares include:

•Abrupt alcohol withdrawal

•Breathing disorder in sleep (sleep apnea)

•Death of a loved one (bereavement)

•Excessive alcohol consumption

•Illness with a fever

•Recent withdrawal from a drug, such as sleeping pills

•Side effect of a drug

•Sleep disorder (for example, narcolepsy or sleep terror disorder)

•Eating just before going to bed, which raises the body's metabolism and brain activity

Home CareIf you are under stress, ask for support from friends and relatives. Talking about what is on your mind can help.

Follow a regular fitness routine, with aerobic exercise if possible. You will find that you will be able to fall asleep faster, sleep more deeply, and wake up feeling more refreshed.

Learn techniques to reduce muscle tension (relaxation therapy), which will help reduce your anxiety.

Practice good sleep hygiene. Go to bed at the same time each night, and wake up at the same time each morning. Avoid long-term use of tranquilizers, as well as caffeine and other stimulants.

If your nightmares started shortly after you began taking a new medication, contact your health care provider. He or she will let you know whether to stop taking that medication, and may recommend an alternative.

For nightmares caused by the effects of "street drugs" or regular alcohol use, ask for advice from your doctor on the safest and most successful ways to quit.

When to Contact a Medical ProfessionalContact your health care provider if:

•You have nightmares more than once a week

•Nightmares stop you from getting a good night's rest, or from keeping up with your daily activities for a long period of time

What to Expect at Your Office VisitYour doctor will examine you, ask you questions, and possibly recommend tests. You may be asked any of the following questions:

•Time pattern

◦How often do you have nightmares?

◦Do they occur in the second half of the night?

•Quality

◦Do you wake up suddenly from sleep?

•Other issues

◦Do the nightmares cause you intense fear and anxiety?

◦Can you remember a particular nightmare (one with vivid images and a story-like plot)?

•Aggravating factors

◦Have you had a recent illness?

◦Did you have a fever?

◦Were you in a stressful situation recently?

•Other

◦Do you use alcohol? How much?

◦What medications do you take?

◦Do you take "street drugs?" If so, which ones?

◦Do you take natural supplements or alternative remedies?

◦What other symptoms do you have?

Tests that may be done include:

•Blood cell measurements

•Liver function tests

•Thyroid function tests

•EEG (which painlessly measures brain waves with electrodes placed on the head)

If reducing stress, medication side effects, and substance use do not improve the nightmares, your health care provider may want to send you to a sleep medicine specialist for a sleep study (polysomnography). In some cases, certain medications may help reduce nightmares

My nightmares are the result of PTSD. As you can see there are several causes of nightmares. If you have nightmares as a result of a traumatic event that happened in your life you will need to see a professional. Don't live with nightmares, they can be controlled. If you are not having success with a therapist change therapists, do not give up. I still struggle with nightmares today and sometimes it is hard for me to distinguish them from reality. Live in the moment and have a good life. Thanks,  theblogmeister

Somnambulist, That's me

This is a tame set of symptoms that I go through. I am reliving the traumatic event that happened over thirty years ago. My nights are filled with events that are difficult to define as dreams or reality. The past nine years have been rather calm but the first twenty years were so bad that I became addicted to any narcotic that I could get my hands on, whether benzodiazepines or Quaaludes, Sopors, and the drug of choice; narcotic pain meds. That was the only way I could live with what I had done. The adverse effects of abusing these meds was incarceration in the state prison, among others. Prison was, by far, the most difficult time in my life. I was fortunate and got the best job at every prison I went to. These symptoms of sleep walking are a mild form of post traumatic stress. These were a cakewalk compared to the most severe symptoms of PTSD and that is the drug abuse. Through a process of rewiring my brain I have been able to cope and live a somewhat normal life. I had to learn a new way to think and it is the hardest task I have ever performed.


Walking during sleep; Somnambulism


Sleepwalking is a disorder that occurs when a person walks or does another activity while they are still asleep.

Causes, incidence, and risk factors

The normal sleep cycle has distinct stages, from light drowsiness to deep sleep. During rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, the eyes move quickly and vivid dreaming is most common.

Each night people go through several cycles of non-REM and REM sleep. Sleepwalking (somnambulism) most often occurs during deep, non-REM sleep (stage 3 or stage 4 sleep) early in the night. If it occurs during REM sleep, it is part of REM behavior disorder and tends to happen near morning.

The cause of sleepwalking in children is usually unknown. Fatigue, lack of sleep, and anxiety are all associated with sleepwalking. In adults, sleepwalking may be associated with:

•Mental disorders

•Reactions to drugs and alcohol

•Medical conditions such as partial complex seizures

In the elderly, sleepwalking may be a symptom of an organic brain syndrome or REM behavior disorders.

Sleepwalking can occur at any age, but it happens most often in children aged 4 - 8. It appears to run in families.

Symptoms

When people sleepwalk, they may sit up and look as though they are awake when they are actually asleep. They may get up and walk around, or do complex activities such as moving furniture, going to the bathroom, and dressing or undressing. Some people even drive a car while they are asleep.

The episode can be very brief (a few seconds or minutes) or it can last for 30 minutes or longer. If they are not disturbed, sleepwalkers will go back to sleep. However, they may fall asleep in a different or even unusual place.

Symptoms of sleepwalking include:

•Eyes open during sleep

•May have blank look on face

•May sit up and appear awake during sleep

•Walking during sleep

•Performing other detailed activity of any type during sleep

•Not remembering the sleep walking episode when they wake up

•Acting confused or disoriented when they wake up

•Rarely, aggressive behavior when they are awakened by someone else

•Sleep talking that does not make sense

Signs and tests

Usually, people do not need further examinations and testing. If the sleepwalking occurs often, the doctor may do an exam or tests to rule out other disorders (such as partial complex seizures).

If you have a history of emotional problems, you also may need to have a psychological evaluation to look for causes such as excessive anxiety or stress.

Treatment

Some people mistakenly believe that a sleepwalker should not be awakened. It is not dangerous to awaken a sleepwalker, although it is common for the person to be confused or disoriented for a short time when they wake up.

Another misconception is that a person cannot be injured while sleepwalking. Sleepwalkers are commonly injured when they trip and lose their balance.

Most people don't need any specific treatment for sleepwalking.

Safety measures may be needed to prevent injury. This may include moving objects such as electrical cords or furniture to reduce the chances of tripping and falling. You may need to block off stairways with a gate.

In some cases, short-acting tranquilizers have been helpful in reducing sleepwalking episodes.

Expectations (prognosis)

Sleepwalking usually decreases as children get older. It usually does not indicate a serious disorder, although it can be a symptom of other disorders.

It is unusual for sleepwalkers to perform activities that are dangerous. However, you may need to take care to prevent injuries such as falling down stairs or climbing out of a window.

Complications

The main complication is getting injured while sleepwalking.

Calling your health care provider

You probably won't need to visit your health care provider if you are sleepwalking. However, discuss the condition with your doctor if:

•You also have other symptoms

•Sleepwalking is frequent or persistent

•You perform potentially dangerous activities (such as driving) while sleepwalking

Prevention

•Avoid the use of alcohol or central nervous system depressants if you sleepwalk.

•Avoid getting too tired and try to prevent insomnia, because this can trigger a sleepwalking episode.

•Avoid or minimize stress, anxiety, and conflict, which can worsen the condition.


•Find a local Psychiatrist in your town




There is a distinct difference in nightmares and sleepwalking. Millions of Americans experience sleep walking but only those with PTSD are tormented by nightmares. They are not exclusive to PTSD but PTSD diagnosis are more likely to suffer nightmares.
Nightmares refer to complex dreams that cause high levels of anxiety or terror. In general, the content of nightmares revolves around imminent harm being caused to the individual (e.g., being chased, threatened, injured, etc.). When nightmares occur as a part of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), they tend to involve the original threatening or horrifying set of circumstances that was involved during the traumatic event. For example, someone who was in the Twin Towers on Sept. 11, 2001, might experience frightening dreams about terrorists, airplane crashes, collapsing buildings, fires, people jumping from buildings, etc. A rape survivor might experience disturbing dreams about the rape itself or some aspect of the experience that was particularly frightening (e.g., being held at knife point).
Nightmares can occur multiple times in a given night, or one might experience them very rarely. Individuals may experience the same dream repeatedly, or they may experience different dreams with a similar theme. When individuals awaken from nightmares, they can typically remember them in detail. Upon awakening from a nightmare, individuals typically report feelings of alertness, fear, and anxiety. Nightmares occur almost exclusively during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. Although REM sleep occurs on and off throughout the night, REM sleep periods become longer and dreaming tends to become more intense in the second half of the night. As a result, nightmares are more likely to occur during this time. I have had some that were pure terror filled. I would not wish that on my worse enemy. Getting a little tired so I'll close by saying that drug abuse is only a temporary solution for a complex set of attitudes. Thanks,  theblogmeister

Discombobulated

I can't sleep with a brain that seems to be in overdrive. I do not take any medication that has a side effect stronger than my pain meds. Unfortunately, that side effect happens to be insomnia. I have to admit that it works in my favor. Why? It just so happens that sleep is my enemy. I wish the body could go without it. I would never have to face the colonel in his element. My subconscious mind is a beacon for the vessel of fear. Someone said that fear is a great motivator. I guess you could say that the fear of failure is a better motivator but, then again, the fear to fail may be a barrier to success. It seems to me that success is a series of failed attempts. One is not born successful. It takes risks and failures to learn what works to be a success. If you want to be good at something it takes knowledge and repetition. Knowledge is power. I am filled with cliche's. It is after midnight and I should be in bed with my legs entangled with my wife's legs. The problem is that my mind will not stop thinking. I know why Michael Jackson overdosed on the Diprovan. I have epidurals done every other month on my back and that is what they use to put me to sleep. I call it milk of amnesia. It looks like milk and you do not remember shit after you wake up. It is some amazing stuff. I do not know if MJ was fighting any demons and had to have it to get rest. Hell, if I looked like MJ I would use something like Diprovan, too. He probably scares the hell out of himself when he looks in the mirror. He got it wrong with Man In The Mirror, it should have been Parrot in the Mirror. I apologize to my loyal readers. I have read your emails. Sometimes I can't even sit in this chair long enough to post. I guess I need to get me a lap dance. That was a Freudian slip. I meant a laptop. I would not have any excuses to make. I could say Arthur came to visit. Arthritis? Ha Ha. I do enjoy writing. It is therapeutic. When I have one of those nightmares that I would put my hand on the Bible and swear they were real it helps me to come in my office and vent. The lines are getting blurred when it comes to my visits from the colonel. Fact or fiction. Sometimes I do not know. I have had paranormal happenings as early as eleven. Could the colonel be real? I swear, sometimes I question myself. Had it not have been for Lorri, I am afraid of what could have been. I do not think I could handle this on my own. My meds need to be re-evaluated, I believe. Anyway, I wanted to apologize for being AWOL these past few weeks. I'll buy a lap, almost did it, again, top and keep you more informed. Thanks for hanging in there.       theblogmeister

Can't Sleep

I never figured out what he wanted. I just sat there with him asking a bunch of dumb questions. I am sitting on my porch with a dead guy and many of you are asking what the hell I am smoking. We went over that, already. There is a reason that I am telling all this to you. Maybe I could get a little help, here? It is in no way the same as sitting with a human being. He is there but he is not there. I can see him. He just looks at me. I cannot push him or pick him up or he would not be on my back porch. He never sits down. I can't recall him ever sitting, always standing. Like he is scared of something. Let me put it to you like this; If you were at a stranger's house and you do not know how you got there. There is no way to communicate. You know that you don't belong but you can't leave. How would that make you feel? Hell, you wouldn't sit. Would you try to get back to where you had come? You do not know the way and there is anyone there that can tell you. In my case, I know the colonel and he knows me. I think he knows that he fucked-up and is trying to make things right. He does not know how to do that. I do not know where he goes when he leaves me. He has never taken anything. No flying dishes or objects. That rules out a lot. No UFO's. I have never seen him make noises but I know that he does. It used to scare the living daylights out of me. Not anymore. He makes incidental noises. Creaky floor, closing door, that sort of stuff. He seems to be aware that and tries to be quiet. Is that stupid, or what? I'd be screaming and throwing shit. I'd have new neighbors every other week. I am being stupid. There is a real sense that he needs me to do something. I just do not know what it is. The more I think about the colonel and what I did to him the more I feel that he is trying to reward me, somehow. It doesn't make any sense. This shit will keep a brother up all night. He wanted what he got, and he got what he wanted. Now, it is my turn. I'm getting tired of the game. It is not gonna stop, though. I have an eerie feeling that something is about to give, too. We will see.       theblogmeister

Others Among Us

I caught a glimpse of him out of the corner of my eye. He was moving fast enough for me not to see him. I could still smell him, though. I had gotten out of bed a few minutes before the news went off and heard my wife in the bathroom. I reached over to grab the remote and realized that Lorri was still in the bed. I must have left the water running a slow drip. As I started towards the bathroom the light went out. That's when I smelled him. My sense of smell is very good for someone who is a smoker. Yeah, I am one of those. Smoking or non-smoking? I do not ask if you fart. Farting or non-farting? Hell, it is getting to where us 'smokers' are having a hard time to find a place to light up. I'm getting off the subject, I know, he ain't going anywhere. What I was trying to say is that I could smell him and it would not be long before I could see him. He don't stink, to the contrary, he smells like a damn hospital. Aseptic. Those chemical smells you may find in Chem 1, look under the lab table and you will find that fucker hiding under there. The only time I ever saw him while he was alive was in the hospital so I guess he inherited the aseptic smell when I killed him. I know it could be worse. The Col. died of colorectal cancer, if I had not intervened and played God with him, and if you have ever smelled anyone that had cancer you would know what I mean. That is the worst smell imaginable. There should be a chart for smells like they have in chemistry's periodic table. Dsh-dog shit, CKsh, chicken shit, RE-rotting egg. I am not sure the winner of the periodic table in chemistry would be but I do know who wins by a landslide on our smell chart; that is cancer. To make matters worse is where the colonel had his cancer. In his colon. The tube that holds shit. This is a smell I cannot put into words but I can easily find a man that has been dead for a long time. Stay with me, I do not want to confuse you. The dead guy smells like antiseptic and it is bearable. I ask my wife if she can smell a hospital and she just looks at me thinking I need to be in one, a mental one. I know what the colonel wants. He wants me to go out on the back porch and sit with him. I have just reached the point that I am not wigging out by the appearance of a ghost and he has had a lot of practice being dead. He finally got my attention. I guess it has been a couple years, maybe? I think he wants me to do something for him. If he gives me the numbers to mega-millions when it gets way up there I'll do what ever he wants. He always does this when he needs me to do stuff. He will wait until everyone is asleep and when I get up to take a piss The bathroom light goes off before I reach it and then the back door slowly creeps open. I have just recently learned of this. We have had our times, though. Scared the shit out of me, literally. Had to change. Now I will go back there and try to figure out what it is exactly, this is an important word, Exactly, just what the hell am I doing up in the middle of the night trying to figure out what he wants me to do. Hell, he needs to get busy and give me some help. I could probably think a lot clearer if I were sitting in 105 degree sauna with some Jimmy Buffett coming out of the speakers. I do not have a hot tub and I don't feel like spending time on the porch tonight. Maybe later.        theblogmeister 

Mind or Body; What Breaks First?

  The psychological problems that I suffer are well documented in the pages of this site. The major problem is the Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome diagnosis. Not only is it the more prevalent of my mental disorders it is also the one problem I have had to deal with the longest, over thirty years. My body also has its share of problems. While serving in the military, I injured my lower back and suffered in silence for many years. I have a way of denying that age may be playing a part in my body crying out for some help. While I was a young buck I was a daredevil. We had a place where we used to spend a lot of time during the summer. It was a huge hole in the mountain filled with the most beautiful blue water. Hence the name, the blue hole. I was one of a few that would do crazy shit at that place. It was not crazy, then. Looking back, I wonder how I survived some of the stunts accomplished. We had different cliffs that we named. Three point, because of the three rocks that jutted out and was a great launching pad to clear the rock ledges beneath it. Three point was about 50 feet from the water. The one that only a few had the nuts to conquer, or the lack of brains, however you want to put it, was called first drill bit. The name came from what it sounds. It was a straight line from top to the water and was used in blasting the quarry many years ago. This was about an 80 foot jump where you had to wear tennis shoes to keep from blistering the bottom of your feet. After several people died from jumping into the water the place was gated and closed. It broke the hearts of many of the locals. We had some memories of the blue hole. I could handle all the wild stuff, back then. When I reached the age of forty I payed the price of all those idiotic stunts. That is when the pain in my back really started. At age 47, my wife and I were a team operated commercial driver. We had been driving long hauls for several years when my wife, who is suffering from fibromyalgia, had to stop driving. I did not make it but a couple more years before I had to have a spinal fusion of my lumbar vertebrae. My days of sports, diving, any hard labor were over. I have had a total of 4 back surgeries and I have epidurals bi-monthly. That is the reason I have become cyclic in my postings. There are days when I just cannot sit at the computer for any length of time. This has been the hardest, psychologically, for me to accept. My body has screamed UNCLE. I was having my epidural done last month when I told Susan, the nurse anesthetist, that she should adjust the diprovan, the same drug that Michael Jackson overdosed, because of my recent weight gain. When I started out with these epi's my weight was a mere 175. Now, I am at 217. When Susan listened to what I had to say she said we would do a little experiment. After I was given the diprovan, I was to count one Mississippi, two Mississippi, etc. She said that I should be out of it by the time I reached 5. I made it to 18 before the lights went out. The recovery room nurse said I woke up counting 21 Mississippi, 22 Mississippi. They all got a good laugh about that. Susan did promise me that the next time I came back she promised me that I would not make it to five. Thus the 64 dollar question. What will give out first, the mind or the body? God only knows.   theblogmeister

Genius and The Brain

  According to research findings released in 2004, smokers and former smokers did not perform as well on tests as nonsmokers. Four hundred sixty-five subjects had taken a test that measured cognitive ability in 1947 at age 11. They took the test again between 2000 and 2004. Based on the results, smoking appeared to cause a one percent drop in cognitive function. A possible explanation for this correlation is that smoking-related lung damage caused less oxygen to reach people's brains. Your brain regulates your body's organ systems. When you move around, it sends impulses along your nerves and tells your muscles what to do. Your brain controls your senses of smell, taste, touch, sight and hearing, and you experience and process emotions using your brain. On top of all that, your brain allows you to think, analyze information and solve problems. But how does it make you smart?
  Scientists haven't figured out exactly how all the gray matter in your brain works, but they do have an idea of which part lets you think. The cerebral cortex, which is the outermost part of your brain, is where thought and reasoning happen. These are your brain's higher functions -- the lower functions, which relate to basic survival, take place deeper in the brain.
  Your cerebral cortex is the largest part of your brain, and it's full of wrinkles and folds that allow it to fit in your skull. If you removed and stretched out an adult human's cerebral cortex, it would be about as large as a few pages of a newspaper. It's divided into several lobes, and different regions within these lobes handle specific tasks related to how you think. You can learn about them in more detail in How Your Brain Works, but here's a quick overview of what each lobe handles:

•Frontal: speech, thought and memory

•Parietal: sensory input from your body

•Temporal: auditory information from your ears

•Occipital: visual information from your eyes

Your cerebral cortex has a big impact on how you think.It's obvious that your cerebral cortex has a big impact on how you think. But studying exactly how it makes you smart is a little tricky, because:

•Your brain is hard to get to -- it's encased in your skull.

•Tools for looking at the brain, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines, can require a person to be partially or completely still. This can make it hard for doctors to observe people's brain activity during real-life activities.

•Brains, like all organs, undergo changes after a person dies. These changes may make it difficult to tell how some one's brain compared to other brains while that person was alive. In addition, postmortem examinations cannot evaluate brain activity.
  In spite of all those challenges, researchers have figured out a few things about how the brain affects intelligence. A 2004 study at the University of California, Irvine found that the volume of gray matter in parts of the cerebral cortex had a greater impact on intelligence than the brain's total volume. The findings suggest that the physical attributes of many parts of the brain -- rather than a centralized "intelligence center" -- determine how smart a person is.
  A 1999 analysis of Albert Einstein's brain also seems to support this theory. Einstein's brain was slightly smaller than the average brain. However, parts of his parietal lobe were wider than most people's brains. The larger areas in Einstein's brain are related to mathematics and spatial reasoning. Einstein's parietal lobe was also nearly missing a fissure found in most people's brains. Analysts theorized that the absence of the fissure meant that different regions of his brain could communicate better.

 One explanation for the effect is that music makes people more awake and alert. Another is that listening to Mozart and mathematical or spatial reasoning tasks rely on the same neurons within the brain. However, none of the studies involving Mozart's music have used babies as test subjects, and the Mozart effect in adults is usually temporary.
  A 2006 paper in the journal "Nature" theorized that the way the brain develops is more important than the size of the brain itself. A person's cerebral cortex gets thicker during childhood and thinner during adolescence. According to the study, the brains of children with higher IQs thickened faster than those of other children. Studies also suggest that, to some extent, children inherit intelligence from their parents. Some researchers theorize that this is because the physical structure of the brain can be an inherited trait. In addition, the process of becoming really good at something both requires and encourages your brain to wire itself to handle that particular task better.
Even though scientists are not sure exactly how or why it happens, it's clear that the human brain plays a part in determining a person's intelligence. But what's the difference between genius and intelligence? And what makes one person more intelligent than another? We'll look at how intelligence relates to genius next.


I have decided that if you were able to travel faster than the speed of light, you could go some where and turn around to watch yourself coming.  theblogmeister

Who's Minding The Mind?

  In a recent experiment, psychologists at Yale altered people’s judgments of a stranger by handing them a cup of coffee.The study participants, college students, had no idea that their social instincts were being deliberately manipulated. On the way to the laboratory, they had bumped into a laboratory assistant, who was holding textbooks, a clipboard, papers and a cup of hot or iced coffee — and asked for a hand with the cup. That was all it took: The students who held a cup of iced coffee rated a hypothetical person they later read about as being much colder, less social and more selfish than did their fellow students, who had momentarily held a cup of hot java.
Findings like this one, as improbable as they seem, have poured forth in psychological research over the last few years. New studies have found that people tidy up more thoroughly when there’s a faint tang of cleaning liquid in the air; they become more competitive if there’s a briefcase in sight, or more cooperative if they glimpse words like “dependable” and “support” — all without being aware of the change, or what prompted it.Psychologists say that “priming” people in this way is not some form of hypnotism, or even subliminal seduction; rather, it’s a demonstration of how everyday sights, smells and sounds can selectively activate goals or motives that people already have.
More fundamentally, the new studies reveal a subconscious brain that is far more active, purposeful and independent than previously known. Goals, whether to eat, mate or devour an iced latte, are like neural software programs that can only be run one at a time, and the unconscious is perfectly capable of running the program it chooses.
The give and take between these unconscious choices and our rational, conscious aims can help explain some of the more mystifying realities of behavior, like how we can be generous one moment and petty the next, or act rudely at a dinner party when convinced we are emanating charm. “When it comes to our behavior from moment to moment, the big question is, ‘What to do next?’ ” said John A. Bargh, a professor of psychology at Yale and a co-author, with Lawrence Williams, of the coffee study, which was presented at a recent psychology conference. “Well, we’re finding that we have these unconscious behavioral guidance systems that are continually furnishing suggestions through the day about what to do next, and the brain is considering and often acting on those, all before conscious awareness.”
Dr. Bargh added: “Sometimes those goals are in line with our conscious intentions and purposes, and sometimes they’re not.”

Priming the Unconscious

The idea of subliminal influence has a mixed reputation among scientists because of a history of advertising hype and apparent fraud. In 1957, an ad man named James Vicary claimed to have increased sales of Coca-Cola and popcorn at a movie theater in Fort Lee, N.J., by secretly flashing the words “Eat popcorn” and “Drink Coke” during the film, too quickly to be consciously noticed. But advertisers and regulators doubted his story from the beginning, and in a 1962 interview, Mr. Vicary acknowledged that he had trumped up the findings to gain attention for his business.
Later studies of products promising subliminal improvement, for things like memory and self-esteem, found no effect.
Some scientists also caution against overstating the implications of the latest research on priming unconscious goals. The new research “doesn’t prove that consciousness never does anything,” wrote Roy Baumeister, a professor of psychology at Florida State University, in an e-mail message. “It’s rather like showing you can hot-wire a car to start the ignition without keys. That’s important and potentially useful information, but it doesn’t prove that keys don’t exist or that keys are useless.”Yet he and most in the field now agree that the evidence for psychological hot-wiring has become overwhelming. In one 2004 experiment, psychologists led by Aaron Kay, then at Stanford University and now at the University of Waterloo, had students take part in a one-on-one investment game with another, unseen player.
Half the students played while sitting at a large table, at the other end of which was a briefcase and a black leather portfolio. These students were far stingier with their money than the others, who played in an identical room, but with a backpack on the table instead. The mere presence of the briefcase, noticed but not consciously registered, generated business-related associations and expectations, the authors argue, leading the brain to run the most appropriate goal program: compete. The students had no sense of whether they had acted selfishly or generously.

In another experiment, published in 2005, Dutch psychologists had undergraduates sit in a cubicle and fill out a questionnaire. Hidden in the room was a bucket of water with a splash of citrus-scented cleaning fluid, giving off a faint odor. After completing the questionnaire, the young men and women had a snack, a crumbly biscuit provided by laboratory staff members.

The real-world evidence for these unconscious effects is clear to anyone who has ever run out to the car to avoid the rain and ended up driving too fast, or rushed off to pick up dry cleaning and returned with wine and cigarettes — but no pressed slacks.
The brain appears to use the very same neural circuits to execute an unconscious act as it does a conscious one. In a study that appeared in the journal Science in May, a team of English and French neuroscientists performed brain imaging on 18 men and women who were playing a computer game for money. The players held a handgrip and were told that the tighter they squeezed when an image of money flashed on the screen, the more of the loot they could keep.
As expected, the players squeezed harder when the image of a British pound flashed by than when the image of a penny did — regardless of whether they consciously perceived the pictures, many of which flew by subliminally. But the circuits activated in their brains were similar as well: an area called the ventral pallidum was particularly active whenever the participants responded.
“This area is located in what used to be called the reptilian brain, well below the conscious areas of the brain,” said the study’s senior author, Chris Frith, a professor in neuropsychology at University College London who wrote the book “Making Up The Mind: How the Brain Creates our Mental World.”
The results suggest a “bottom-up” decision-making process, in which the ventral pallidum is part of a circuit that first weighs the reward and decides, then interacts with the higher-level, conscious regions later, if at all, Dr. Frith said.
Scientists have spent years trying to pinpoint the exact neural regions that support conscious awareness, so far in vain. But there’s little doubt it involves the prefrontal cortex, the thin outer layer of brain tissue behind the forehead, and experiments like this one show that it can be one of the last neural areas to know when a decision is made.
This bottom-up order makes sense from an evolutionary perspective. The subcortical areas of the brain evolved first and would have had to help individuals fight, flee and scavenge well before conscious, distinctly human layers were added later in evolutionary history. In this sense, Dr. Bargh argues, unconscious goals can be seen as open-ended, adaptive agents acting on behalf of the broad, genetically encoded aims — automatic survival systems.
In several studies, researchers have also shown that, once covertly activated, an unconscious goal persists with the same determination that is evident in our conscious pursuits. Study participants primed to be cooperative are assiduous in their teamwork, for instance, helping others and sharing resources in games that last 20 minutes or longer. Ditto for those set up to be aggressive.
This may help explain how someone can show up at a party in good spirits and then for some unknown reason — the host’s loafers? the family portrait on the wall? some political comment? — turn a little sour, without realizing the change until later, when a friend remarks on it. “I was rude? Really? When?”
Mark Schaller, a psychologist at the University of British Columbia, in Vancouver, has done research showing that when self-protective instincts are primed — simply by turning down the lights in a room, for instance — white people who are normally tolerant become unconsciously more likely to detect hostility in the faces of black men with neutral expressions.
“Sometimes nonconscious effects can be bigger in sheer magnitude than conscious ones,” Dr. Schaller said, “because we can’t moderate stuff we don’t have conscious access to, and the goal stays active.”
Until it is satisfied, that is, when the program is subsequently suppressed, research suggests. In one 2006 study, for instance, researchers had Northwestern University undergraduates recall an unethical deed from their past, like betraying a friend, or a virtuous one, like returning lost property. Afterward, the students had their choice of a gift, an antiseptic wipe or a pencil; and those who had recalled bad behavior were twice as likely as the others to take the wipe. They had been primed to psychologically “cleanse” their consciences.
Once their hands were wiped, the students became less likely to agree to volunteer their time to help with a graduate school project. Their hands were clean: the unconscious goal had been satisfied and now was being suppressed, the findings suggest.

What You Don’t Know

Using subtle cues for self-improvement is something like trying to tickle yourself, Dr. Bargh said: priming doesn’t work if you’re aware of it. Manipulating others, while possible, is dicey. “We know that as soon as people feel they’re being manipulated, they do the opposite; it backfires,” he said. And researchers do not yet know how or when, exactly, unconscious drives may suddenly become conscious; or under which circumstances people are able to override hidden urges by force of will. Millions have quit smoking, for instance, and uncounted numbers have resisted darker urges to misbehave that they don’t even fully understand.
Yet the new research on priming makes it clear that we are not alone in our own consciousness. We have company, an invisible partner who has strong reactions about the world that don’t always agree with our own, but whose instincts, these studies clearly show, are at least as likely to be helpful, and attentive to others, as they are to be disruptive.


This was first published by Benedict Carey in July of 2007. I found it so fascinating I reprinted it for you to read. I wanted to find an example of the difference between the brain and the mind. Although they are considered one in the same, you will understand why I find the difference of the two the reasons for some of the strange things that I have experienced in my life. I hope you enjoy it as much as I.    theblogmeister

The Human Brain

   The human brain is a mysterious and almost uncharted realm. Despite the many technological advances and discoveries human beings have made, the human brain is still a mystifying entity. It is the most complex of most organs, the most powerful among them, as well. So many questions regarding the human brain are still left unanswered. We sometimes underestimate the power of the human brain, of the many potentials and capabilities it can do. Human brain power is almost impossible to describe and discern. What is it really, and how important is it to human beings?
  Brain power is the source of a person's intelligence, talents and potentials which is hardwired into one's brain. It has the power to do millions of things: it has the power to learn a language, perceive right from wrong, assess beauty and remember thousands of things all at the same time.How powerful is human brain power really? It is almost impossible to answer that question, but the closest estimation may be that of a supercomputer.
To improve brain power, we must have a general understanding of how our brains work. Our brains are built for novelty. Learning new skills and information is actually fun for our brains. But once the novelty of a certain stimulus becomes familiar, we tend to become bored and treat we begin to treat that a certain stimulus as a routine. This can be explained by a learning pattern that we humans learned long ago through habituation. For our complex minds, once a certain activity becomes a regiment, it simply isn't fun anymore.
  We can learn the different ways on how to use our mentality properly through Mind Power Training. The popularity of the brain's ability is now as powerful and as in demand as the training itself. There are many different training programs we can find from a lot of resources. Learning these will help us control our life. If we would learn the different techniques of brain power, we will be able to get what we want. It is much easier to fulfill our goals now if we get to learn how to use the abilities of our mind.
  What can our mind powers actually do? There are a lot of things about our mind that we have yet to be discovered. Many researches have been conducted and some hypotheses were already proven. The brain is the main control center of our body. It has the capacity to do many things. It controls our body and directs us what the body should be doing.
  The brain power that we humans possess is one of the most helpful and formidable tools at our disposal. No other animal has the potential to achieve the things that the human mind has created. Paintings, musical compositions, computers, and automobiles are just some of the things that we take for granted but would not have had we been, well, dumber. We only have a few genetic differences from apes, but that difference gives us Einstein, Mozart, and Shakespeare.The performance measure of the brain goes up to millions of suspended point operations per second. Certainly computers can do faster computation and mathematics than humans, but this does not make them any more superior to the human brain. For starters, the computer brain is mainly computational and operational, which acts on a task that they were programmed for. The human brain is cognitive, built primarily for the purpose of learning. In terms of other factors such as psychology and physiology, no one does it better than the human brain. Of course, brain power varies from person to person.
  There are a lucky few who are blessed with supernatural memory and extraordinary intellectual abilities. True, there are some who are born with superior intellectual abilities, but it doesn't mean that the rest of the human population cannot develop or awaken one's brain potential. Superior brain power does not depend on one's brain structure, inheritance of intellect from parents, or more. Rather, it is on learning how to tap your brain's unlimited potential and capabilities into activation or dormancy.
  Most people assume that human brain power decreases and wanes as one gets older. They just assume that this 'weakness' of brain power is a natural part of aging, but this isn't exactly the case. There are many ways to keep your brain alert and sharp even at a much older age. Fend off forgetfulness and memory loss by practicing simple brain techniques regularly. One technique to maintain brain power is to by learning a lot of things you previously do not know. Learn a new language, take up a new skill or hobby, and enroll yourself to a new course. By learning something new, your brain creates new neuron connections and stimulates the brain. Another technique is by challenging one's mind. Keep your mind active by performing mental tasks everyday. If you want to improve on a talent or ability, repeat and practice over and over many times a day to strengthen one's mind. Lastly, maintain a healthy diet and regular exercise to improve brain power.
  Brain injury can sometimes cause permanent changes in physical abilities, behavior and cognition. These changes are related to the area of the brain that is injured. The following outlines some of the common changes in behavior that may occur as a result of brain injury.


Frontal Lobe Brain Injury:

Paralysis

Difficulty performing tasks in sequence

Decreased spontaneity in interactions with others

Inability to think flexibly

Perseveration (a persistent single thought)

Problems with attendance (focusing on task)

Mood lability (changes in mood)

Social behavior changes

Personality changes

Decreased ability to problem solve

Brocas aphasia (difficulty expressing language)


Parietal Lobe Brain Injury:

Inability to pay attention to more than one object simultaneously

Anomia (inability to give an object its appropriate name)

Agraphia (inability to find the appropriate words for writing)

Alexia (difficulty reading)

Difficulty drawing objects

Difficulty in distinguishing left from right

Dyscalculia (difficulty in performing math activities)

Apraxia (lack of awareness of surrounding space or body parts)

Inability to focus attention visually

Decreased hand/eye coordination


Occipital Lobe Brain Injury:

Visual defects

Difficulty in finding objects in the environment

Color agnosia (difficulty differentiating colors)

Hallucinations

Illusions (seeing objects inaccurately)

Difficulty recognizing words (word blindness)

Inability to recognize objects that are drawn

Movement agnosia (difficulty in recognizing an objects movement)

Deceased ability to write and read


Temporal Lobe Brain Injury:

Prosopagnosia (inability to recognize faces)

Wernickes aphasia (inability to comprehend spoken words)

Difficulty recognizing objects

Short term memory loss

Difficulty remembering long term effects

Increased/decreased sexual interest

Persistent talking (only in damage to right temporal lobe)

Increased aggression


Brain Stem Injury:

Difficulty breathing/dependence on mechanical ventilation

Dysphagia (difficulty swallowing)

Balance/movement problems

Vertigo

Sleep difficulties


Cerebellum Brain Injury:

In coordination of fine movements

Inability to walk

Tremors

Vertigo

Inability to change directions rapidly

Slurred speech

Sometimes it can be difficult to sort out symptoms related to brain injury and symptoms which may be due to other factors that may be affecting the patient, such as use of medications, the loss of employment, financial stressors, ongoing legal issues, personal relationship issues and other health problems.


I thought it would be important since I am talking so much about the brain that I should give a little lesson on how our brain works.        theblogmeister

The Brain or The Mind: What's The Difference?

The brain is a structure with billions of cells that communicate with each other by means of neurotransmitters. It is made up of different sections that are responsible for certain duties. The brain learns more information in the first 3 to 4 years than it does its entire life. There is so much the medical profession has learned about the physiology and how the brain can re-learn to take up the slack if another portion is damaged. I have read a story of a child with a traumatic brain injury that required an hemispherectomy. That is a complete removal of half of the brain. Sounds like a death sentence, to me. What they found was remarkable. The half that remained learned to do the work of the missing portion of the brain. That is incredible. When there is a traumatic brain injury doctors now are able to surgically repair the trauma. The mind is something totally different. What makes someone a sociopath? Someone that has no conscious, whatsoever. Psychiatrists are spending time interviewing mass murderers to find out why their brain does not work like a normal individual. Personally, I believe the difference lies in the mind. My brain works as good as the average bear. I may have some memory problems due to my lifestyle at an early age. Other than that, it works okay. I cannot say that about my mind. At age eleven when I was told by a voice inside my head to skip school I saved my mothers life. When I called the plant that my dad worked the operator asked me for his extension. That same voice told me that my dad worked at extension 36. Now, if I would have been told beforehand the extension of my dad that would be the work of my brain. Retrieving information that I had been told would be the job of my brain. Making statements that I had no idea where they had come from was the work of my mind. I do not believe in fortune tellers or palm readers, that is just a money making scam. However, there has been many things that have happened in my life that defies logic. Webster defines logic as a system or principles of reasoning applicable to any branch of knowledge. Things that my mind has done has no principle of reason. That is the key word: reason. Now, check this out. Webster defines the mind as the totality of conscious and unconscious mental processes and activities. That is totally different than the brain. What is an unconscious brain? It is damn near coma, to me. So, my problem is what is responsible for knowing things I had not even heard? Hell, at eleven years old I didn't know an extension from extraction. I do, know, because I learned it in school. How did I know it at eleven? Something else that happened to me at a later age when I was thirty and had some knowledge, wasn't a dumb ass. My best friend and brother was killed in a car wreck. A couple days after he died something woke me up and my brother was standing at the foot of my bed. He looked a lot better than when I saw him in the ER after he died. I was not dreaming. I have had a lot of problems with nightmares because of my PTSD, so, I know when I am dreaming or not. This was most definitely a not. He stood there and told me to tell mom and dad that he was okay and happy, for them not to worry. Go back and read those two definitions. Which does it fit? Exactly, the mind. I know there is a difference and I will talk more about this at a later date. Thankx            theblogmeister

Incidence and Causes of the Near-Death Experience and Life Review Among the Elderly and Non-Elderly

Abstract:

One-hundred and seven elderly and non-elderly participants were recruited from the university setting and the senior setting. Questionnaires were filled out which examined the near-death experience (NDE) and life review. A Fisher exact test indicated no significant differences in the incidence of the NDE between the elderly and non-elderly. A small sample size did not allow for a statistical analysis of the incidence of the life review and the rate of onset of the NDE among the elderly and non-elderly. However, tentative speculation was made about the eight reported NDEs. In future research, either a recruiting method should be employed or a larger sample should be drawn.

Proposal for Incidence and Causes of the Near-Death Experience and Life Review among the Elderly and Non-Elderly

The near-death experience (NDE) has been around for centuries. Famous figures such as St. Paul and Gregory the Great have captured the public’s attention with accounts of what it is like on the other side (Zaleski, 1987). Much of the recent interest in the NDE began following Raymond Moody’s (1975) book, Life After Life, which described the phenomenon that people frequently experience when coming close to dying based on about fifty people who were interviewed in great detail. Through these case studies, Moody found anecdotal evidence that humans survive bodily death (Moody, 1975).
Soon, other researchers wanted to validate Moody’s work with more scientific approaches. One such researcher was Kenneth Ring. Describing many of the same stages that Moody did, he described the “core experience” of the NDE in five stages including peace and a sense of well-being, body separation, entering the darkness, seeing the light, and entering the light (Ring, 1980). However, not all NDEs follow that exact pattern. Some NDEs skip stages and certain aspects can be quite distinct from the typical NDE (Serdahely, 1989; 1995). Additionally, the core experiences do not occur with equal frequency. In one study, sixty percent experienced the “peace” stage while only ten percent “entered the light” (Ring, 1980). Other characteristics of the NDE include a sense of timelessness, a sense of death, and ineffability when trying to describe it (Sabom, 1982).
The NDE is defined as: “An altered state of consciousness occurring during an episode of unconsciousness resulting from severe trauma or other life-threatening condition, in which a series of well-defined characteristics are present. It is identified by self-report on a questionnaire using standard questions and by content analysis of anecdotal data using the Near-Death Experience Scale (NDES) (Greyson, 1983b) with a score of seven as an indication of a near-death experience” (Olson & Dulaney, 1993).
The life review is defined as: “a naturally occurring reminiscence; may be formalized into an intervention designed to assist the elderly to achieve ego integrity or may occur in other contexts, such as a near-death experience” (Olson & Dulaney, 1993). One question from the NDES, “Did scenes from your past come back to you?” was used to determine if a life review was present. If the participant indicated that they had remembered many past events or their past had flashed before them, out of their control, they were considered to have had a life review.
Ring (1980) found the life review to be a relatively common phenomenon that occurred in about twenty-five percent of his sample. Other studies have found this percentage to be as low as three percent (Sabom, 1982) and as high as over fifty percent (Atwater, 1994).
Life review in a non-NDE context has been found to be therapeutic. For example, people who reminisce have a better self-concept of themselves and their past (Lewis, 1971). Those who reminisce have also been shown to have higher morale than those who don’t (Coleman, 1986).
Erik Erikson’s final stage in human development is ego integrity vs. despair. In it, the integration of self becomes a goal for those in their final stage of life (Erikson, 1950).
The life review occurs more in the aged during life because of an older person’s actual nearness to death, because an older person is retired and has more time for self-reflection, and “the customary defensive operation provided by work has been removed” (Butler, 1963).
Two common theories of the NDE are a psychological explanation and a physiological explanation. Proponents of the psychological explanation believe that the threat of imminent death is so great that the NDEer is forced to depersonalize and create a story as a defense mechanism to help them cope with the trauma of nearly dying (Noyes & Kletti, 1977). Adherents of the physiological explanation maintain that the phenomena reported by NDEers is a result of a dying brain.
There are some aspects of the NDE that cannot be readily explained by these theories, however. Some people who were apparently “unconscious” at the time of their death report extremely detailed descriptions of doctors in the operating room, what surgery was being done to them, how the surgery was being done and what the doctors were saying (Sabom, 1982). It is common for a NDEer to find himself or herself hovering above their body, a calm bystander who often has little desire to reenter the physical body. Some people even have NDEs while being subjected to an autopsy and remember what was being done to them (Atwater, 1994).
Sometimes, this phenomenon is dispelled with claims that it is merely a hallucination, induced by drugs being administered at the time of death. There is good reason to doubt this. The NDE occurs even in the total absence of drugs. Additionally, many drugs result in a variety of experiences that are rarely similar to NDEs (Audain, 1999), although a few drugs, such as ketamine and DMT, have produced NDE-like phenomena. Indeed, NDEers who have also experienced hallucinations consider their NDE to be “more real” than ordinary reality which, in turn is “more real” than hallucinations they have experienced (Greyson, 2000).
The veridicality of some observations made by people during a NDE also creates greater doubt of the physiological and psychological explanations. Kenneth Ring and Sharon Cooper examined near-death experiences in blind people. Fifteen out of the twenty-three blind NDEers were able to see during their NDE. The verdicality of some of these visions were corroborated by others (Ring and Cooper, 1997).
Regardless of one’s personal philosophy regarding the explanation for NDEs, a closer examination of them is warranted. The NDE changes the lives and attitudes of these people drastically (Ring, 1980). Whatever the explanation is for the NDE, a better understanding of them is of importance to the scientific community.
In this study, I will attempt to determine whether a difference exists in the NDEs of the elderly and the non-elderly. Olson and Dulaney (1993) found that none of their elderly NDEers encountered a life review. This finding was surprising, as other research has shown that there appeared to be no distinct differences in the incidence of the NDE according to such categories as age, area of residence, size of home community, religious background, or frequency of church attendance (Sabom, 1982). Why should the incidence of the life review be any different?
Noyes and Kletti found that twenty-nine percent of their subjects had experienced a life review during life-threatening incidents. Those percentages become higher still when the near-death experience involved a near drowning (forty-three percent) or an auto accident (thirty-three percent) (Ring, 1980).
Ring speculated that a possible determinant of the incidence of a life review is the suddenness or unexpectedness of the near-death crisis. For instance, he found that the life review was reported by fifty-five percent of accident victims, while occurring in only sixteen percent of those in his other two categories, illness and suicide (Ring, 1980). Others have found the life review to be more common when the rate of onset is sudden rather than gradual (Stevenson & Cook, 1995). Could it be that the elderly, having already had time later in their life to reminisce, no longer need to review their life after they die? Could it also be that people who nearly die of illness have more time to review their life before they undergo a NDE? The elderly may undergo a NDE following an illness more frequently than the non-elderly who may experience more accidents or suicide attempts.
In order to determine possible causes of the absence or infrequency of the incidence of a life review in the elderly compared to the non-elderly, the rate of onset (sudden or gradual) of the NDE was examined. This may give some insight about whether the incidence of the life review within an NDE is a function of age or whether suddenness is also a determining factor. In order to remain consistent with Olson and Dulaney, the elderly are operationally defined as fifty-five or older. The non-elderly are thus younger than fifty-five.
In this study, the following questions will be addressed: Is the incidence of the NDE greater for the non-elderly than the elderly? Is the incidence of the life review greater for the non-elderly than the elderly? Does the rate of onset of a NDE correlate with the incidence of a life review?
Granted, even if a correlation would be found between the rate of onset of the NDE and the incidence of a life review, a causal relationship cannot be inferred. However, through future examination and different studies, this relationship can be more thoroughly understood.
Three hypotheses were developed. First, the incidence of the near-death experience would not be significantly greater for the non-elderly than for the elderly. Secondly, the incidence of the life review would be greater for the non-elderly than for the elderly. Finally, the rate of onset of the NDE would be correlated with the incidence of a life review.

Method

Participants

The target population included one group of people aged fifty-five and older and another group of people below the age of fifty-five. A total of twenty-three elderly people were recruited from local nursing homes and a senior center in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. These participants ranged in age from sixty-two to one hundred. Their mean age was 77.1 with a standard deviation of 8.67. A total of eighty-four students were recruited from six classes at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. These participants ranged in age from nineteen to fifty-one. Their mean age was 22.7 with a standard deviation of 5.6. Five of the classes consisted of traditional students. One class had a high percentage of non-traditional, older students. Participants from all settings were of the intended age for that group. In other words, all participants at nursing homes and the senior center were age fifty-five and older and all participants at the university were under fifty-five.

Apparatus

A five-page survey was distributed in addition to a cover letter. The first part contained an initial page that all participants filled out in order to get demographic information and to determine which participants might have had a near-death experience. Writing utensils were administered when needed. By answering yes to two questions, participants were asked to proceed in filling out form one. On form one, Greyson’s NDES (Near Death Experience Scale) (1983b) was used to asses the incidence of an near-death experience. The NDES has high internal consistency, split-half reliability and test-retest reliability Greyson (1983b). A score of seven or over indicated a near-death experience. A score of lower than seven did not necessarily mean that certain aspects typical of the near-death experience did not occur. It meant that there was not enough evidence to label the experience as a near-death experience. If participants did not indicate that they might have had a near-death experience, they filled out form two which consisted of questions about their knowledge and beliefs about near-death experiences, but was not be used in this particular study. One reason for this form was so participants who indicated that they might have had a NDE would not feel isolated when filling out form one.

Procedure

Most participants filled out the questionnaires in a group setting. Six participants filled out the questionnaires at their leisure after picking them up from a stack of questionnaires that was left for a week and a half period. At the university, the questionnaires were filled out at the beginning of class. First, a general explanation of the study was provided for them. They were informed that they did not have to participate and could stop at any time. Then, they were given the questionnaires and instructed to read and tear off the cover letter before proceeding. If they indicated on the first page of the questionnaire that they had a “close call with death” and had an unusual experience during this “close call” (Olson & Dulaney, 1993), they were directed to fill out form one. If they did not indicate both of these, they were directed to fill out form two. Participants were instructed to wait until everyone else had finished, although this did not always happen and was irrelevant in one of the senior settings in which everyone was waiting for a meal.
Although a standardized procedure was intended in order to prevent extraneous variables from affecting the results, this was not always possible. In the L. E. Phillips Senior Center, questionnaires were distributed to seniors who were waiting for a meal. The setting was informal and the seniors were approached one table at a time. Time constraints restricted a standardized introduction to the study. At one nursing home, the questionnaires were dropped off and seniors were able to fill them out at their leisure if they desired. Six questionnaires were obtained this way.
The seniors sometimes required assistance in filling out their packets. If they did not understand a certain question and asked for help or if they were taking an inordinate amount of time, assistance was provided. This was done by re-reading particular questions or telling them which packet they were supposed to fill out as indicated by their previous answers. Almost all university students had no problems in filling out the survey.
When participants were finished, their questionnaires were retrieved. In the case of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire classes, teachers were allowed to present their students with extra credit for completing they questionnaires if they so desired.

Results

An analysis of 107 participants from the university and senior settings was performed in order to better understand certain features of the NDE, specifically the incidence of the NDE, the incidence of a life review and the rate of onset. Of the 107 respondents who had adequately filled out the questionnaire, 90 (84.1%) were female, 16 (15%) were male and 1 (0.9%) neglected to select a gender. Of the 84 non-elderly participants, 72 (85.7%) were female and 12 (14.3%) were male. Of the 23 elderly participants, 18 (78.3%) were female and 4 (17.4%) were male. The elderly population (M=77.1, SD=8.7) was much older than the non-elderly population (M=22.7, SD=5.6). It was hypothesized that the incidence of the near-death experience would not be more common in the elderly, life review would be more common in the non-elderly and incidence of life review and rate of onset of NDE would be correlated.
Of all respondents, (10.3%) indicated that they had had a close call with death and that they had an unusual experience at that time. Of these 11, 8 (7.5%) had a NDE as indicated by a score of 7 or more on the NDES (M=11.1, SD=3.1). In the elderly sample, 4 of 23 respondents (17.4%) had had a NDE. Two of the elderly did not respond as to when they had had their NDE. Of the two that did respond, one had their NDE 62 years ago at the age of 19. The other’s NDE occurred 39 years ago at the age of 34. In the non-elderly sample, 4 of 84 respondents (4.7%) had had a NDE. For the non-elderly, the average of 2 years had elapsed since their NDE. A Fisher exact test supported the null hypothesis that incidence of the near-death experience was not more common in the elderly than the non-elderly (p > .05, p = .063). Of the 8 NDEers, 5 (62.5%) experienced a life review. Of the 4 non-elderly NDEers, 3 (75%) had a life review. Of the 4 elderly NDEers, 2 (50%) had a life review. All 8 NDEers had a sudden rate of onset (100%). This data is presented in figure 1. The small number of NDEers prevented any specific statistical analysis to be done among that particular group. Tentative speculation about this population will be mentioned later.

Discussion

An overall NDE incidence of 7.5% is consistent with previous findings. A 17% incidence of the NDE in the elderly and a 4.7% incidence in the non-elderly might seem like a great discrepancy, but due to the few NDEers, a more powerful statistic was used which did not result in a statistically significant difference. Maybe a larger study from which a greater number on NDEers could be obtained which would provide better insight as to whether or not differences exist between the two groups.
Due to few NDEs with which to analyze and because none of the seniors had had a NDE after the age of 55, it is difficult to speculate on differences between the NDE in the elderly and the non-elderly. However, insights can still be extracted from the data. Perhaps there are longitudinal effects among the different generations. One major factor that may play a role in the differences is that the NDE has only become more recognizable, if not more accepted in the general public in the past two decades.

An Australian sample of 173 respondents showed positive attitudes toward the NDE (Kellehear & Heaven, 1989). Perhaps younger people are more comfortable with their near-death experiences because they already heard about them before they experienced one themselves, or maybe they received support from people who understood what they had gone through. Perhaps the elderly people who had their NDE several decades ago were treated coldly by medics and loved ones when they told of their experience, causing them to either repress them or withhold from telling about them.
The data from the present study does not seem to indicate that the elderly have repressed memories of NDEs. The percentage of NDEs among the elderly (17.4) was actually much greater than the percentage of NDEs among the non-elderly (4.7).
One explanation for this finding is that the elderly people who had NDEs when they were much younger were not affected by any negative feedback if they in fact received any. A second explanation is that they have kept their experiences to themselves but were willing to relate them in an anonymous, relatively non-obtrusive format that the questionnaire provided. Yet another explanation is that these elderly people suppressed their memories of their NDEs, only to have them resurface after hearing about the phenomena following a resurgence in their popularity in recent times. A follow-up questioning of these people might inform this issue. Another obvious reason for the much greater incidence in NDEs among the elderly in this study is the greater number of years living that the elderly have had with which to experience a NDE.
Although the sample size was too small to be able to draw any conclusions from, a greater percentage of non-elderly people experienced a life review (75%) than non-elderly people (50%). This is in agreement with the hypothesis. Yet, it may be of even greater interest that two of the elderly NDEers did experience a life review. This runs contrary to the findings of Olson & Dulaney (1993) who found that none of the elderly NDEers had experienced a life review. They also indicated that through personal communication with them in 1986, NDE researcher Bruce Greyson also did not find the life review to be present among any of his elderly NDEers (Olson & Dulaney, 1993).
Although the two elderly participants indicated a life review by reporting that scenes from the past came back to them, they were not interviewed, which previous researchers of the life review have been able to do. An interview would help to confirm or disconfirm whether they had a life review.
A limitation of this study is that a non-random sample was used. Participants all lived or went to school in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. In addition, specific groups were selected in a non-random manner. However, generalization was increased by the selection of several different groups. Classes in different departments were selected and seniors were approached at three different senior settings. While the extremely high female percentage (84.1%) was somewhat representative of the populations being approached, it is quite unrepresentative of the general population. Reasons for such a high rate of female participation include the high percentage of females attending UW-Eau Claire, especially in library science classes, and the greater longevity of females in the senior setting.
Extraneous variables may have had an effect on this study. While the non-elderly all completed the questionnaire in a similar, classroom setting, the same cannot be said for the elderly. Where the questionnaires were completed was limited to the most convenient or practical place available. One group was approached table by table while they were waiting for a meal. Another group filled out questionnaires on an individual basis at their leisure by picking them up from a stack of questionnaires that was left at a nursing home for a week and a half.
Regrettably, an in depth analysis of the life review and the rate of onset of the NDE is impossible due to the small number of NDEers. This problem was complicated further in that all NDEers who responded reported a sudden onset. This finding is understandable considering that they all were non-elderly at the time of their NDE. This does not allow for any speculation as to possible correlation between the rate of onset and the incidence of a life review.
Future research is needed to determine what relationship exists between the rate of onset of NDEs and the incidence of life reviews. Perhaps in an interview setting, participants might be asked why they think they did or did not encounter a life review. Elderly NDEers could be asked whether or not they had gone through a reminiscence similar to that described by Lewis (1971) and Coleman (1986). If they had, it might be hypothesized that they would encounter life reviews less frequently than elderly who had not reminisced before their NDE.
A primary limitation of this study was the small sample size of NDEers. A detailed analysis of NDEers as well as adequate measures of incidence the NDE and life review are difficult to obtain simultaneously. In future research, one of two methods could be employed. Either NDEers could be recruited through various methods or much larger samples could be used. Recruiting NDEers would be easier to do, but the generalization of these samples would be less. Using larger samples would increase generalization, but such large samples may be impractical because of economic or time restraints.



This study was done by Benjamin Linzmeier
 from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire


 This is some of the most in-depth studies I have found concerning NDE. It is amazing what the human mind is capable of. Stunning.    theblogmeister