The Poltergeist Man

Opportunities for the analytical investigation of poltergeist-afflicted people seem to be rare enough to warrant this description of a man who stayed in treatment long enough to uncover the psychic correlates of the so-called poltergeist.

Poltergeists are “noisy spirits” whose mischievous and sometimes malicious behaviour has been reported from many lands over several centuries (Fodor and Carrington, 1953). They favour civilized communities, particularly parsonages, and their chief delight is in throwing things about, pulling off the bedclothes, and other such pranks, though they sometimes indulge in fire-raising and other more dangerous activities. They appear to communicate mainly by means of signs and raps. It is believed that poltergeists need a medium in order to function. This is usually an adolescent, though sick people and pregnant women have been implicated. The phenomena tend to fade out after a few days or weeks and, since those who experience them attribute them to factors outside their psychology, they do not seek treatment. The patient, who will be called Roger, would probably not have done so either if he had not had a psychotic episode before the poltergeist became active. His fear of a further breakdown made him anxious enough to attend though his pride in his poltergeist and, as it turned out, his love for it, made him equally anxious about losing it.

My position at the time inevitably had some bearing on my handling of the case and needs to be stated. I was still in training and got special permission to take this man on under supervision because of my interest in parapsychology. I therefore took careful notes, mainly during sessions, which activity helped to defend me against some—though by no means all, as will be evident—of the effects of the fascination inherent in such investigations. In fact, I felt more or less confused throughout, and was quite unable to contemplate writing up the case until years later when, to my surprise, the notes made a