Formication – Feelings of Cobwebs on the Skin

 

Some people report the sensation of feeling as though they have just walked through a cobweb, only to find no cobweb present.

 This is a common sensation felt by many ghost hunters in the paranormal community. The explanation expressed by experienced ghost hunters is that the sensation is caused by an ion change in the atmosphere, but there is no empirical data to verify this claim. However, psychology explains the phenomenon as Formication (sometimes known as Paraesthesia), which is a type of tactile hallucination. It is most commonly reported as a feeling of 'bugs walking on or under the skin'. In more recent times it has been reported as the sensation of one’s mobile phone vibrating in a pocket against the skin when no phone is present. [1]

 

Formication is also a common side-effect of amphetamine usage with many heavy users reporting instances of it. Sometimes referred to as “meth-mites”, formication can lead to sores, gouges in the skin and ulcers. The wounds come from the drug user picking, scratching or digging at their skin trying to remove the imaginary insects they feel walking across their body.[2]

 

Formication can sometimes be experienced in other ways, such as skin itching, pins and needles, and tingling sensations.  It is also claimed that sometimes the cause can be static electricity, but in most cases of Formication, there are no physical triggers for the sensation.

Researched and written by Allen Tiller © 2018

---

 

[1] Tim Jewell & Timothy Leg PhD, (2017), Formication, Healthline Red, https://www.healthline.com/health/formication

[2] Jerome Litt M.D, (2009) Formication: So What’s Bugging You?,  Psychology Today, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/odd-curious-and-rare/200911/formication

Contagious Behaviour

Contagious Behaviour

When Karen and I led ghost tours through the North Kapunda Hotel, we set up the tour to be an experience for our guests, not just "another tour".
The idea was to slowly build anticipation for the finale of the tour, The Hallway to Hell. We did this by starting slowly with the history of the town, then some ghost stories, a short video from Haunting Australia, then a walk around the town telling ghost stories.

We were priming our audience intentionally (and sometimes unintentionally), getting them hyped for their experience and for the finale. We wanted everyone to have a good time, get value for money, learn some history about Kapunda and hopefully see a ghost, or at least have some kind of “Personal Experience”.

More often than not, people would come away with at least one personal experience, or an experience they personally attributed to the paranormal.

What we noticed during our two years as tour guides was that the smaller the group, the less likely a “paranormal experience” was to happen. The tour didn’t change, we delivered our information with the same passion and high standards we set for ourselves each week, but for some reason the fewer in the tour group, the less “paranormal activity” felt on the tour.

I now believe what we were experiencing was a form of contagious behaviour. Perhaps this explanation via anomalistic psychology accounts for the higher number of anomalies during tours, or public “ghost hunt” events that are actually personal experiences and NOT genuinely “paranormal” in origin?

What is contagious behaviour?

Contagious behaviour is a type of social influence. The most common form is yawning. See someone else yawn, and more often than not, you will do the same, some of you may even be yawning as you read the word 'yawn' or think about someone else yawning!

Other contagious behaviours can include: smiling, laughing, rudeness, happiness, shivering, fear, anxiety and even risk-taking!

Contagious behaviour is seen within the demographics of protests quite often, when one person begins to punch/kick/ or struggle against authority, their behaviour can lead to others doing the same, and before you know it, you have a riot on your hands!

 In a situation like a ghost tour, it is a little bit different. As the person leading the tour, you are seen as an authority on the subject, so when, as a paranormal investigator,  you tell your own ghost stories, it adds credibility to the experience. When you speak about others experiences and paranormal events that have happened on previous tours, you begin to prime the audience for their own paranormal experience.

 In some guests, you're installing fear, or bringing out subconscious fears. That fear is contagious, and the people around that person will begin to react to it, some will challenge the fear, (the fighters), others will embrace it and become fearful as well (the flee-ers) – their natural “fight or flight” instinct is working away deep in their subconscious. The more people you have on the tour (especially if they are known to each other), the more this fearful energy travels through the group – and as they are there to feel/see/hear a ghost, and are not aware of the many natural explanations (xenonormal) for sounds, smells, etc,  more often than not, they will come away with a ghost story or experience…

…This, of course, lends to the next tour, as they go tell their friends about their ghostly experience, so the friend is pre-primed before they’ve even done the tour!
 It also adds to the mystique of the location, and to the spreading of urban legend…and so, what was once just another pub like any other, becomes a legendary haunted location with portals to the ghost realm!

So, next time you are on a ghost tour, have a look around at the people you are with, and see who is scared the most, then watch to see if those around them begin to get frightened too.

Thanks for reading – want to comment or ask a question, do so in the box below, or visit the Haunts of Adelaide on Facebook and find this post.

Bibliography

Ogunlade, J. O. (1979). Personality characteristics related to susceptibility to behavioural contagion. Social Behavior and Personality: an International Journal, 7(2), 205.

Holt N & Simmonds-Moore C & Luke D & French C, 2012, Anomalistic Psychology (Palgrave Insights in Psychology). Palgrave Macmillan

Nicola Holt, Christine Simmonds-Moore, David Luke, Christopher French. (2012). Anomalistic Psychology (Palgrave Insights in Psychology). Palgrave Macmillan

Hyperesthesia

Hyperesthesia

Hyperesthesia, or why drinking coffee or energy drinks during a paranormal investigation could lead to a paranormal attributed sensation that is explainable through medical science.

 Most paranormal investigators like to ply their trade at night, there are a number of very good reasons for this. The darkness adds a spooky factor, some locations are closed to the public at night, giving the investigator free range of the location without interference or interruption. Others like the quietness, and the fact that the cooler air temperature allows sounds to travel further, some work during the day, and the night is the only time they have to ghost hunt – whatever the reason, almost all will use a stimulant, like coffee or energy drinks to help them stay awake during their investigation.

Excessive consumption of caffeine can induce Hyperesthesia[i] in humans (this is not the only cause, but the one I am focusing on for this blog). The caffeine creates stimulation of the spinal cord, the cortex and the medulla in the central nervous system, thus bringing about a temporary state of hypersensitivity where an investigator may have an elevated height of senses.

 Why is this bad you ask, wouldn’t heightened sense be preferred on an investigation to better hear/feel/see something paranormal?

  No, as you’re leaving yourself open to experience sounds, touch or smells that are minute and normally indistinguishable, experienced at a much higher level (or in a more concentrated way) than normal, thus giving a “personal experience” that is not quantifiable.

A person may have a twitch in their body, on a daily basis this twitch happens irregularly and is often not noticed by a person, but introduce hyperesthesia and a paranormal investigation, and suddenly that twitch, which is now felt at a heightened level, along with the psychological priming of expected paranormal phenomena via being on a ghost hunt, and you have a person sensing they are being touched by a ghost when in actual fact, it is the same muscle twitch they’ve always had, but just didn’t notice without the heightened senses. 

Another example could be a person walking through an old haunted hotel, a place they are familiar with. As they walk through in the hypersensitive state, they begin notice begin to notice the smell of tobacco, a smell that is there normally, but unnoticed when not in the heightened state, that heightened state of sensitivity and the smell of the tobacco then invokes the idea that a spirit may be present, and therefore the person has a ghostly experience – but it isn’t real, as the smell is always present, but not usually noticed in the person's natural state.

Hyperesthesia works in other ways too, such is in psychic “readings”. In this case, the psychic maybe someone who can manipulate their own mind (or through other means) to gain a level of hyperesthesia.

 While in this state, they can perceive useful information, via their now heightened sense, such as subtle facial expression, body movement, or voice tones, that in a normal state one would not notice. They can then answer questions, or change the course of a “reading” via their interpretation of their hyperaesthetic state.

I know a number of questions are going to arise from this blog, so I am going to try and answer the ones that have popped into my head already – and if you have more questions, please pop them on the thread for this post on the Facebook page.

1.      If two people smell the same “tobacco smoke” smell, does that rule out one person’s hyperesthesia?

No. simply because the power of suggestion is incredibly strong. For example, in 1899, Slosson presented a study on the spatial-temporal spreading of ambiguous perceptions among a group of observers. In a classroom demonstration, he poured unscented distilled water over a small white cotton ball and led his students to believe that a chemical odour, one never smelt before, was being emitted. Within 15 seconds, the students in the front row claimed they could smell the odour, then came the students at the rear, within a few minutes three-quarters of the class could smell the odour. Are the students suffering from olfactory hallucinations or bowing to peer pressure, not wanting to be “left out by”, or “be different” to their peers? Whatever the reason, Slosson’s study concludes that hallucinations of smell are easily induced by suggestion.

2.      So, if we cannot rely on our senses, how do we quantify paranormal phenomena during investigations?

 Quite simply, you can’t. The truth is no ghost has ever been confirmed, caught and examined, studied or measured by anyone. If it had, the scientific community would be all over it, and all us amateur ghost sleuths would be pushed out of every supposed haunted location so scientific research teams, with endless Government and private sector funding, could recreate the capture, then study the ghosts. Whether you like that explanation or not, it is the truth, there is absolutely no hard evidence for ghosts existing.
That should not stop you from going out and investigating and trying to find a ghost. Just make sure if you do so, that your evidence, and the way you collected it, stands up to scientific scrutiny…otherwise, ghost hunt for the thrill and fun, and for personal experience, not everyone gets to go into big spooky places after dark!

I am sure there will be many questions other than the two I’ve answered here. If you do have a question, please post it on the Haunts of Adelaide Facebook page, and I will try my best to answer it.

Allen Tiller

www.allentiller.com.au

researched and written by Allen Tiller  © 2017

Bibliography and Footnotes.

Donnelly K, 2011, Hyperesthesia, Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology, p 1279, viewed 12 Mar 2017, http://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007%2F978-0-387-79948-3_742

Gertrude Schmeidler (schmeidler, 1952, Schmeidler & McConnell, 1958) demonstrated that attitudes effect psi performance. If you believe, you are more likely to encounter a paranormal experience.

Glicksohn J & Alon A & Perlmutter A & Purisman R, 2001, Symbolic and Syncretic Cognition Among Schizophrenics and Visual Artists, Creativity Research Journal, Vol 13, Iss 2, viewed 13 Mar 2017, http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/hcrj20/current

Molto K, 2008, More True Tales of the Paranormal: Ghosts, Poltergeists, Near-Death Experiences and Other Mysterious Events, Dundurn, Canada.

 Peyron, R., Laurent, B., & García-Larrea, L. ,2000, Functional imaging of brain responses to pain. A review and meta-analysis. Neurophysiologie Clinique, 30(5), 263–288. Review. PubMed PMID

 Robinson, M. D., & Shannon, S. 2002. Rehabilitation of peripheral nerve injuries. Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Clinics of North America, 13(1), 109–135. Review. PubMed PMID: 11878078.

Saleen, S 2012, Hyperesthesia: Causes, Diagnosis and Treatment, Medicalopedia, viewed 13 Mar 2017, https://medicalopedia.org/2462/hyperesthesia-causes-diagnosis-and-treatment/

Slosson, E. E., 1899, Shorter communications and discussions: A lecture experiment in hallucinations. Psychological Review, Vol 6(4), Jul 1899, 407-408. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/h0071184
 

Schmeidler GR, & McConnell RA 1958, ESP and personality patterns, New Haven, CT:Yale University Press,

Schmeidler, G R, 1952, Personal values and ESP scores, Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 47, 757-761

Schmeidler, G R, 1966, Quantitative investigation of a “haunted house” Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research, 60, 137-149

Thalbourne MA & Dunbar KA & Delin PS 1995, an investigation into correlates of belief in the paranormal, Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research, 89, 215-231

Thalbourne MA 2000, Transliminality, a review, International Journal of Parapsychology, 11, 1-34

Thalbourne MA, 1996, An attempt to predict precognition scores using transliminality-relevant variables, Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, 61, 129-140

Thalbourne, MA, 1998, Transliminality: further correlates and a short measure, Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research, 92, 402-419

---

[i] Hyperesthesia is an increased sensitivity to stimuli. It could be elevated sensation of touch, hearing, smell or vision, sometimes referred to as “Hyper-sensitivity”

The Brutal murder of Pirjo Kempannein

The Brutal Murder of Pirjo Kempannein by a 14-year-old boy

“My wishes are killing more and more people, I wish I had a catapult that would hit someone on the head and then they would all be dead!” – Would you believe these words sprang from the mouth of a seven-year-old boy talking to a psychologist?

It wouldn’t be too long until this young boy got his wish to kill; when, at the age of 14, he murdered pensioner Pirjo Kemppainen, bashing her, and stabbing her over 120 times.

This young man, whose identity has been suppressed due to his age, is only identified as “B” in newspaper stories and court documents.

B was born in August 1996. Not long after his birth, his parents separated. By the age of seven, he was watching violent horror movies, and by the age of ten pornography. He had a lifelong love of video games with extreme violence. (He was quoted during his trial as saying with the extreme enthusiasm of a teenage boy "In Gears of War, you can cut people in half with your gun (which) has a chainsaw on it, you can blow people in half with a shotgun, strap grenades to people, use people as human shields, pretty well make mincemeat out of people.”)

B was obsessed with death and violence and was quoted as saying "I was obsessed about killing

62-year-old former nurse, Ms Pirjo Kempannein

people - from Year 1 to Year 8, I've just had thoughts about killing people. I still think about it."

B and his friend “A”, who was also his co-accused, (referred to as A in court documentation) were inseparable for the most part. They spent a lot of time at B’s dad's house on weekends playing video games. When they weren’t playing games, they would terrorise neighbours in the Callington area, by throwing rocks on people's roofs, and causing general mischief.

A few days before the murder, B said to his teacher "How good would it be to see someone die?"

"I'm gonna stab someone, I wish I had a gun ... how good would it be to see someone being shot?"

The school arranged a psychological appointment, but it never happened, as resources in the area were sparse. Only a day later, B was seen to be staring at a child across the playground at school. B was heard to say “I hate that kid and I’m going to kill him!” before sprinting across the playground and punching the kid in the head.

B was suspended from the school, and upon his punishment, he stated to the teachers

"If you do this, people will die."

A day later he brutally attacked and killed Ms Kemppainen.

A Forensic Psychologist, Dr Luke Broomhill, began working with B during his stay in prison leading up to his trial.  He assessed the teenager as having mild retardation and year 2 intellectual function. He stated that B was unable to compute alternative solutions to problems and that if he had something he wanted to achieve, he could not discern the consequences of his actions.

B’s aggressive nature began to manifest distinctly after his Father moved to Kanmantoo in the Adelaide Hills when his mother moved interstate. 

An incident occurred at the new house where some local boys knocked over the bin outside of B‘s house; B’s reaction was to grab a meat cleaver and wave it at the youths.
This caused friction with his Father’s partner, who chastised the boy, his reply "I should have capped their motherfucking asses."

His Father’s relationship broke down, and eventually, the family moved to Callington, where B became the subject of bullying.

Ms Pirjo Kempannein's house in Callington where her brutal murder occured.

THE MURDER (WARNING “GRAPHIC CONTENT" )

With no guilt in his voice and not an iota of remorse, B recounted the events of Ms Kemppainen’s death, as he remembered it, to the court.

"I walked up to the victim's house alone, walked up to the sliding door and the victim came out through the wooden door, she asked why I had thrown the rock (through her sliding door window). I said I was drunk and I put the knife in her stomach." B then paused to mime the action.

"I tried to stab her twice in the stomach and then I repeatedly stabbed her in the head, she tried to hold her arms up to keep me from stabbing her, she was screaming. She was about to shut the door on me, so I threw the rock at her door," B recalled calmly.

"It was a big chunk of rock, about 30cm across. I ran through the door and continued to stab her until she was on the floor making no sound. The last thing I did was throw the slab of concrete at her head," 

“I felt like God,” he said.

According to forensic reports, B had inflicted 58 stab wounds in total on Ms Kemppainen and struck her 69 times with the concrete rocks. Strikes had been so ferocious, that they had left gouge marks in the victim’s skull.

B was arrested 3 days after the brutal crime. More evidence of the youth's troubled mind came to the surface during the court case with evidence put forward of talks to guards and his psychological assessors, where B had stated

"If I had my phone I could've gotten away with it, I could've gone in (to the house) and said `oh, there's a dead body.' I would have gotten $100 or $500 for finding a dead body."

THE COURT CASE

A, B’s co-accused was eventually acquitted by a jury, as the evidence against him, most of which was supplied by B, was unreliable, or did not make sense
B was sentenced to life in prison with a non-parole period of 15 years, which means he can be released from gaol in September 2025, at the age of 29.
 A teenage murderer will have the rest of his life ahead of him, but for the 62-year-old pensioner: death; and her family having to live with the brutality of the murder. 

B was transferred from youth detention in 2015 to Yatala Gaol to serve the rest of his term. He was charged with an assault in youth detention and is said to have exhausted his options in regard to rehabilitation. 

 researched and written by Allen Tiller © 2017

www.allentiller.com.au

Bibliography

Fewster S, 2012, Youth who confessed to killing Callington nurse Pirjo Kemppainen jailed for at least 15 years, Perth Now, viewed 6 Mar 2017, http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/youth-who-confessed-to-killing-callington-nurse-pirjo-kemppainen-jailed-for-at-least-15-years/news-story/c6259982fea2275d75fa4b3d5b1983fe

Fewster S, 2013, Inside the mind of the teen killer who murdered Pirjo Kemppainen, The Advertiser, viewed 6 Mar 2017, http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/inside-the-mind-of-the-teen-killer-who-murdered-pirjo-kemppainen/news-story/f66d17e2a8622c91293c397434bd4a2d

Fewster, S, 2015, SA court authorises transfer of teen who killed Pirjo Kemppainen to adult prison to serve out sentence, The Advertiser, viewed 6 Mar 2017, http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/sa-court-authorises-transfer-of-teen-who-killed-pirjo-kemppainen-to-adult-prison-to-serve-out-sentence/news-story/0279aa9b2ee25bcd54014f57fe3b1f97

Grace L 2014, The Most Notorious Crimes that Shook and Horrified South Australia, The Advertiser, Viewed 6 Mar 2017, http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/some-of-the-most-notorious-crimes-that-shook-and-horrified-south-australia/news-story/44fe98668d454c5dc1f7c7a3c71ff269

Marcus C 2013, Jury finds teenager not guilty of murder over Pirjo Kemppainen's brutal killing, ABC News, viewed 6 Mar 2017, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-07-11/murder-jury-verdict-trial-of-teenager-over-pirjo-kemppainen/4814324

Marcus C, 2015, pirjo-kemppainen-teenage-killer-due-for-adult-prison, ABC News, viewed 6 Mar 2017, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-02-11/pirjo-kemppainen-teenage-killer-due-for-adult-prison/6085806