Viewing of ghosts has been a controversial issue that can be attributed to real supernatural occurrences or a product of psychology and environment. Psychological causes propose that human brain may create misinterpretations of the sensory data in the situation of stress, fatigue or fear that creates the sensation of the paranormal. Such situations as sleep paralysis when people wake up and cannot move and claim that they see dark shapes are usually confused with the ghost experiences. Also perception can be affected by cultural beliefs and previous exposure to ghost stories which makes individuals more prone to explaining ambiguous occurrences with a supernatural factor.
Environmental factors also have major role to play. Faulty wiring or an electronic device can release high electromagnetic fields (EMFs) that initiate a feeling of discomfort, nausea, or in some cases hallucinations. Below the level of human hearing are the infrasound sound waves, which are capable of causing dizziness, anxiety, and visual distortions. bad air quality, mould or carbon monoxide, can cause problems with thinking and hallucinations or dread. Such environmental settings are common in old abandoned buildings- which are normally tagged as haunted.
What is more, social factors should not be overlooked. We can attribute ghost sightings to group psychology and suggestibility whereby people hear tales of ghosts or they go on ghost tours, and they end up reporting ghost sightings. It also involves memory distortion, in which unremarkable events are recollected as paranormal after passing some time. Among the anecdotal experiences and paranormal investigation pointed out by the believers, a number of scientists claim that most of the sightings can be explained by psychological and environmental factors. In the end, it is usually mind, environment, and culture that interact and influence the sightings of ghosts rather than supernatural presence.
