My DD is scared of ghosts--help

[Anonymous]

Op, your DD might be a bit old for this to work, but my 7 yo was terrified of clowns and kept imagining them everywhere. Like Pennywise, etc. I let him buy a very gory clown costume and we went around to everyone “pranking” them with the costume for a couple of days. It worked and he hasn’t said a peep about clowns since. Best $20 I ever spent! Not sure if you can take something away but if just randomly occurred to me that demystifying it might help, and it did. I am sure you could come up with something similar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Get her some sage smudge sticks and help her go around and cleanse your home of negative energy. It’s kind of weird but you aren’t going to just talk her out of this fear with reason, so why not find a way to ease her anxieties and show her you are taking her feelings seriously and that you’ve got her back unconditionally.

I think you can still make it clear you don’t really believe this yourself but that for people who believe in ghosts and spirits, this is said to help.

When I was a teenager, I played Oui Ja board in my room with friends and we all got freaked out. I was scared to even be in there, much less sleep. I fessed up to my Mom and she had her spiritual friend cone over to sage and bless my room. She told all spirits to leave and go to the light. I swear the air felt different afterward and the room looked brighter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She's probably a natural medium. She needs to know how to shut them out/ask them to leave her alone. Sage and palo santo sticks for smudging. I'd also hang a dream catcher.

I agree she’s probably a medium. Poor girl, I heard it’s more of a curse than a gift.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She's probably a natural medium. She needs to know how to shut them out/ask them to leave her alone. Sage and palo santo sticks for smudging. I'd also hang a dream catcher.

I agree she’s probably a medium. Poor girl, I heard it’s more of a curse than a gift.

Do not put that idea into her head, at least not yet!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She's probably a natural medium. She needs to know how to shut them out/ask them to leave her alone. Sage and palo santo sticks for smudging. I'd also hang a dream catcher.

I agree she’s probably a medium. Poor girl, I heard it’s more of a curse than a gift.

Do not put that idea into her head, at least not yet!

The idea is already there. You don't have to say the word 'medium', just sage and bless her room, asking them to leave. Even if you are not a believer it will make her feel more secure.

[Anonymous]

I went through this identical phase in 7th grade many years ago. Had friends that liked talking about things they heard about raising demons, etc. My anxiety issues made me struggle to get to sleep at night out of fear of closing my eyes and being caught off guard, I didn't like to be in rooms by myself, and never wanted to be out after dark. It went away over a year or so as I became interested in other things, like the opposite sex. Having a pet sleep in my room really helped me because I was convinced from movies, etc. that they would warn you if there was a ghost in the room. It may help her to let her know other people went through this exact same phase. Now that I'm all grown up, I can't quite figure out why I was so scared - and I certainly don't believe in ghosts and all that supernatural stuff.

[Anonymous]

Is she saying she sees what she calls ghosts or that they try to talk to her? Is she just simply scared of the idea. I used to see and hear and speak to what I thought were spirits. A friend suggested I get into my bible which is where I realized they are not spirits but they are demons. You all can laugh at me all you want but it's the truth. You don't need sage or anything but God to fix this problem. I prayed harder than I ever have before and asked God to remove everything and deliver me from all negativity. I haven't seen or heard anything since then.

[Anonymous]

Newsflash folks: there are no such things as ghosts, mediums or demons. Please get help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I like the PP's idea about talking through what the world would be like if ghosts were real. The news part is useful, though there if plenty of fake ghost buster news out there, so be careful about recommending she go looking for that kind of evidence.

Another approach is to focus on her personal experience. What is she afraid of specifically? If ghost are real, fine. What have they done to harm her so far? How have ghosts harmed her family members? Freinds? Freinds parents? Anyone at school? Anyone she knows at all? If they have always been around, and always are something to be afraid of, then whatever it is she is afraid of must have happened to someone she knows.... but it hasn't. So what specifically is she rationally afraid of?

This recommendation about personal experience is great (assuming you don’t associate with reality-challenged folks like PPs who are talking about ghosts and demons).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She's probably a natural medium. She needs to know how to shut them out/ask them to leave her alone. Sage and palo santo sticks for smudging. I'd also hang a dream catcher.

Thought this too.

[Anonymous]

If you are a religious family, loop in your minister for a sit down to calm her anxiety in a way that doesn't discount her concerns.