Haunted People Syndrome: The Strange Psychological Theory That Explains Why Some People Seem to Be Followed by Ghosts

Imagine living in a house where strange things keep happening.

At night, you hear footsteps moving through an empty hallway.

A door appears to close when nobody is nearby.

You occasionally feel that someone is standing behind you, even though the room is empty.

Sometimes you glimpse a shadow at the edge of your vision.

Naturally, you wonder whether the house is haunted.

But then you move.

A different house. A different neighborhood. A completely different environment.

For a while, everything seems normal.

Then the strange experiences begin again.

You hear unexplained noises. You sense an invisible presence. Perhaps family members begin reporting similar incidents.

After moving several times, an unsettling question emerges.

What if it isn't the house that's haunted? What if the experiences are somehow following you?

This scenario sounds like the premise of a supernatural horror movie.

But psychologists and researchers studying anomalous experiences have investigated something surprisingly similar.

They call it Haunted People Syndrome, or HP-S.

Despite the dramatic name, Haunted People Syndrome is not a condition involving proven ghosts, demonic possession, or supernatural attachments.

It is a proposed psychological framework intended to explain why some individuals repeatedly experience events they interpret as paranormal.

The theory examines how sensory sensitivity, stress, personal beliefs, environmental uncertainty, and social influence can interact to create increasingly convincing experiences of haunting.

In a peer-reviewed study published in Frontiers in Psychology in June 2022, researchers James Houran and Brian Laythe investigated a family who reported ghostly experiences across five successive residences.

Their findings suggested that certain psychological and perceptual patterns could help explain why the experiences persisted—even when the family changed homes.

The idea has attracted renewed attention following an October 2026 science feature examining the case.

But its implications extend beyond ghost stories.

Haunted People Syndrome raises fascinating questions about how the human brain detects threats, processes ambiguous sensory information, interprets coincidences, and turns unsettling experiences into deeply held beliefs.

And perhaps the most interesting question of all is this:

Can someone experience something that feels completely real, even when its apparent supernatural explanation is not supported by evidence?

What Exactly Is Haunted People Syndrome?

Haunted People Syndrome is a proposed framework for understanding repeated experiences interpreted as supernatural or paranormal.

Researchers use the term to describe patterns in which a person reports unusual events across different situations or environments, often accompanied by strong emotional reactions and beliefs about an external mysterious presence.

Experiences may include hearing unexplained noises, sensing someone nearby, seeing ambiguous shadows, noticing objects apparently moving, or interpreting unusual coincidences as meaningful.

The theory proposes that multiple psychological and environmental processes can reinforce one another.

Importantly, Haunted People Syndrome is not an officially recognized psychiatric diagnosis in the DSM-5-TR or ICD-11.

It is a research construct rather than a medically established syndrome with validated diagnostic criteria.

The name should not be used to label someone as mentally ill simply because they report an unusual experience.

Five Processes That May Create a Self-Reinforcing Haunting

Heightened sensory sensitivity

Some people notice ambiguous sounds, physical sensations, or visual changes more readily than others.

Stress and emotional vulnerability

Anxiety, exhaustion, distress, or past adverse experiences may increase sensitivity to uncertainty and perceived threats.

Attention and threat detection

Ordinary events may attract heightened attention when someone is already worried about danger or an unseen presence.

Social influence

Family members or friends may influence one another's interpretations of ambiguous events.

Reinforcing beliefs

Once a haunting explanation is adopted, later incidents may be interpreted through that expectation, strengthening the original belief.

Accessible summary of the interacting factors proposed by Houran, Laythe, and collaborators. These are hypothesized mechanisms rather than a universally validated diagnostic checklist. frontiersin.org

The central point is that none of these factors necessarily creates an extraordinary experience on its own.

Instead, researchers propose that their interaction can produce a self-reinforcing pattern.

A strange noise triggers concern.

Concern increases attention.

Greater attention makes other unusual sounds more noticeable.

Those experiences reinforce the belief that something mysterious is present.

And the stronger that belief becomes, the more meaningful subsequent coincidences may seem.

The Family Who Reported Ghosts in Five Different Homes

One of the most fascinating published cases involved a family whose reported paranormal experiences continued across multiple residences.

The primary participant, identified under a pseudonym in the research, was a retired female healthcare worker.

Her husband and adult daughter also reported unusual incidents.

According to their accounts, the experiences occurred across five successive homes.

The family described both relatively benign anomalies and more frightening events.

These included reports of unusual sounds, strange sensations, apparent physical disturbances, and experiences interpreted as the presence of unseen entities.

For the researchers, the case presented an unusual opportunity.

Instead of studying a supposedly haunted building, they could examine a recurring pattern of experiences associated with the same people.

What the Researchers Measured

Houran and Laythe administered several psychological questionnaires.

These examined paranormal belief, sensory-processing sensitivity, transliminality, perceived control, and preferences for control.

The primary participant also provided information about adverse childhood experiences and maintained a diary describing unusual incidents.

The researchers compared these measures with the family's accounts.

They found patterns broadly consistent with their proposed HP-S framework.

Participants with stronger paranormal beliefs and certain perceptual characteristics tended to report more anomalous experiences.

The researchers also observed some agreement among family members' experiences that could be consistent with shared expectations or social influence.

PMC

What the Study Did Not Prove

This was a small exploratory case study involving a single family.

It did not establish that every reported event had a psychological cause.

Nor did it demonstrate that the experiences were deliberately fabricated.

The findings were preliminary and included important statistical and methodological limitations.

The researchers themselves acknowledged that their observations required further testing.

That distinction matters because a proposed explanatory framework is not the same thing as a conclusive explanation for every individual event.

Transliminality: Why Some People May Experience the World Differently

One of the central ideas in Haunted People Syndrome research is a psychological concept called transliminality.

The term describes a tendency for mental contents—such as emotions, imagery, memories, and unusual perceptions—to cross the threshold into conscious awareness relatively easily.

Researchers have investigated whether people with higher transliminality are more likely to report vivid dreams, unusual sensations, mystical experiences, or events interpreted as paranormal.

This does not mean those people are dishonest or necessarily experiencing a psychiatric disorder.

It suggests that individuals can differ in how they experience and interpret internal and external information.

The Brain Is Not a Passive Camera

Human perception does not work like a video recorder.

Our brains continually interpret incomplete information.

When we hear a sound, we try to identify its source.

When we see movement in dim lighting, we attempt to recognize its shape.

When we sense something unexpected, we search for an explanation.

These processes are generally useful.

But ambiguity creates opportunities for mistakes.

A shadow can resemble a person.

A settling floorboard can sound like a footstep.

An unfamiliar sensation can feel like someone standing nearby.

The experience may be sincere and frightening even when its interpretation is incorrect.

Researchers studying Haunted People Syndrome propose that some people may be particularly sensitive to these ambiguous signals.

Why Stress Can Make a House Feel Haunted

Stress changes how we experience the environment.

When someone is anxious or emotionally overwhelmed, they may become more attentive to potential threats.

A harmless sound that would ordinarily go unnoticed can suddenly seem important.

Sleep disruption can further complicate the experience by affecting attention, memory, and perception.

The Haunted People Syndrome model proposes that distress and environmental overstimulation may increase the likelihood that ambiguous events are experienced as threatening or supernatural.

But stress does not explain every unusual event, and the theory does not imply that all reports of haunting are symptoms of anxiety.

The Invisible Presence Phenomenon

Some people report a powerful sensation that another person is nearby despite seeing nobody.

This is sometimes called felt presence.

It can occur in different circumstances, including during sleep-related experiences, neurological conditions, and extreme environmental or psychological situations.

Researchers have investigated how the brain combines information about the body, its position, and the surrounding world.

When those processes are disrupted, unusual experiences of presence or agency can occur.

This offers a possible explanation for some encounters historically described as ghosts or spirits.

But felt presence is a broad phenomenon and should not automatically be attributed to one mechanism.

How Sleep Paralysis Creates Convincing Ghost Experiences

One of the clearest scientific examples of an experience resembling a haunting is sleep paralysis.

During REM sleep, the body normally suppresses much voluntary muscle movement.

Sometimes a person becomes conscious while that temporary muscle inhibition persists.

They may be unable to move or speak.

The experience can also involve vivid perceptions, including a threatening figure, pressure on the chest, or the feeling that someone is in the room.

Because these events occur around sleep and waking, they can feel extraordinarily realistic.

Across different cultures, similar experiences have been interpreted through local supernatural beliefs.

Some traditions describe spirits or demons sitting on a sleeper.

Others describe witches, ghosts, or other threatening entities.

Sleep paralysis is a medically recognized phenomenon.

Haunted People Syndrome, by contrast, is a broader experimental framework that may involve many different kinds of experiences—not just those related to sleep.

Can Paranormal Experiences Spread Between Family Members?

Another important element of the theory is perceptual contagion.

This refers to the possibility that people's expectations and interpretations can influence those around them.

Imagine that one family member hears a loud noise during the night.

They suggest that the house might be haunted.

A second family member later hears something similar and interprets it through that suggestion.

Soon, everyone begins paying closer attention to unusual sounds.

Each new event becomes part of an expanding narrative.

The family may start noticing incidents they would previously have dismissed.

Does This Mean Everyone Is Imagining Things?

Not necessarily.

The initial sounds or disturbances may be entirely real.

A loose pipe, heating system, animal in the roof, or changing air pressure can produce genuine noises.

What changes is the explanation attached to those events.

Perceptual contagion concerns how beliefs and expectations may influence attention and interpretation.

It does not automatically mean that witnesses are lying or that every reported physical event was imagined.

The 2022 family study found some evidence consistent with shared patterns of perception, but it did not conclusively establish the process as the cause of every reported incident.

A Different Kind of Haunting: The 2025 Monika Encounter

The framework has also been applied to modern experiences involving technology and popular culture.

In June 2025, researchers published a case study examining a 36-year-old man in France who reported unusual experiences associated with the psychological horror game Doki Doki Literature Club!.

The researchers called it The Monika Encounter.

Rather than a traditional haunted house, the case involved experiences interpreted through a technology-related and fictional context.

The study used interviews and psychological measures to examine whether the Haunted People Syndrome model could help account for the reported events.

Its significance lies in the possibility that haunting narratives adapt to cultural expectations.

A person in one era might interpret an unusual experience as a ghost.

Someone in another might interpret it through surveillance, technology, or a fictional character.

The underlying psychological processes could overlap even when the explanation changes.

Spiritual Psychology and Counseling

This does not establish that all these reports share a single cause. It provides a testable framework for comparing them.

Is Haunted People Syndrome Scientifically Proven?

No. It remains a developing research concept.

Several studies have identified patterns consistent with the model, but much of the evidence comes from case studies, questionnaires, retrospective accounts, and small samples.

Researchers have also developed screening instruments and published further exploratory work.

That is progress toward making the concept more measurable.

But establishing a recognized clinical syndrome would require much stronger evidence, including independent replication, clear diagnostic boundaries, and demonstrations that it can be distinguished reliably from other explanations.

What research supports—and what remains uncertain

The practical value of Haunted People Syndrome may ultimately lie less in its provocative name than in its attempt to investigate unusual experiences systematically.

Instead of immediately accepting or dismissing a haunting, researchers can study what people perceive, how those experiences develop, and which environmental, social, and psychological factors may contribute.

What Should Someone Do If They Keep Experiencing Strange Events?

If someone repeatedly hears unusual sounds, sees unexplained shadows, or feels an unseen presence, the first step is to examine ordinary explanations without dismissing the person's distress.

Environmental factors such as building noises, lighting, ventilation, and electrical faults may explain some reports.

Carbon monoxide safety is particularly important. Faulty fuel-burning equipment can expose residents to a dangerous, odorless gas, sometimes causing confusion and other neurological symptoms. Homes should have functioning carbon monoxide detectors where appropriate. Suspected exposure requires leaving the area and seeking emergency assistance.

Sleep quality, medications, stress, migraines, and other medical factors may also be relevant.

If experiences are frightening, persistent, disrupting sleep, or affecting daily functioning, consulting a qualified healthcare professional is sensible.

The goal should not be to ridicule someone or immediately label them with a psychiatric condition.

It should be to take the experience seriously while investigating its possible causes carefully.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Haunted People Syndrome?

Haunted People Syndrome is a proposed psychological framework describing recurrent experiences interpreted as ghostly or supernatural. It considers sensory sensitivity, stress, beliefs, attention, and social influence.

Is Haunted People Syndrome a real medical disorder?

It is a real term used in published research, but it is not currently an officially recognized psychiatric diagnosis in the DSM-5-TR or ICD-11.

Can ghosts really follow a person from house to house?

Some people report haunting-like experiences across multiple residences. The Haunted People Syndrome model explores possible perceptual, psychological, and social explanations. Such reports do not establish that supernatural entities are following anyone.

Can multiple people experience the same haunting?

People may report similar unusual events, and social expectations can influence how ambiguous experiences are interpreted. Shared reports alone neither prove nor disprove a supernatural explanation.

Can stress make someone see or hear ghosts?

Stress and sleep disruption can affect attention and perception, potentially making ordinary sensations seem threatening or unusual. However, persistent unusual perceptions can have several explanations and should not automatically be attributed to stress.

Perhaps the Most Mysterious Part of a Haunting Is the Human Brain

For centuries, people have told stories about haunted houses.

Doors that close by themselves.

Unexplained footsteps.

Shadows moving across empty rooms.

Invisible presences watching from the darkness.

Most of these stories focus on the location.

Something terrible happened there.

Someone died.

A spirit supposedly remains.

But Haunted People Syndrome introduces a different possibility.

Perhaps, in some cases, the important factor is not the building.

Perhaps it is the interaction between a person's nervous system, expectations, emotional state, social surroundings, and the ordinary uncertainties of the environment.

That does not mean every witness is mistaken.

It does not mean every unexplained event has been solved.

And it certainly does not justify treating people who report unusual experiences as dishonest or mentally ill.

Instead, the theory encourages researchers to examine the experience itself.

Why does an event feel supernatural?

Why do some people repeatedly notice things that others overlook?

Why can several members of one household begin interpreting ambiguous experiences in similar ways?

And why might those experiences continue even after someone moves?

The answers remain incomplete.

But one conclusion is already clear.

The human brain is capable of creating extraordinarily convincing interpretations of the world—and understanding those interpretations may be just as fascinating as the ghost stories that inspired the research.

A haunting does not have to involve a supernatural entity to be genuinely frightening.

Sometimes, the mystery begins with how we perceive reality itself.

Scientific Sources and Further Reading

• Houran & Laythe (2022) — Case Study of Recognition Patterns in Haunted People Syndrome. Primary peer-reviewed research published in Frontiers in Psychology.
• PubMed Central — Full Open-Access Haunted People Syndrome Study. Details of the family case, psychological tests, findings, and limitations.
• O'Keeffe et al. (2019) — The Dr. John Hall Story: A Case Study in Haunted People Syndrome. Earlier work exploring patterns in unusual experiences.
• Haunted People Syndrome Revisited (2020). Comparative research on haunting-like and group-stalking reports.
• The Monika Encounter (2025). Study extending the model to technology-themed paranormal experiences.
• IFLScience — What a Family's Reported Hauntings Taught Researchers (October 2026). Contemporary science coverage examining the evidence and methodological limitations.