My beliefs on such subjects is that there's a minds eye, most people have them almost entirely closed for their entire lives, some train and open them and use them for whatever metaphysical means, sometimes it opens because of life events (passing of beloved, accidents) or through drug use.

As for myself I believe in an afterlife and by using the minds eye I try to formulate how an afterlife would be like so to prepare for my own inevitable transition. If it turns out there's no afterlife then I would not be there to be aware anyway. So that's why I meditate and try to think about how an afterlife would be like but that's me.

The minds eye is never completely closed, when people visualize it is used and I believe people with photographic memory use it a lot also (but ofcourse, none of this has much scientific basis, it's just my personal belief). In these cases (imagination, memory/past events) the person has complete control over it. Now imagine there's a monitor or tv set in your head, when one remembers something like a picture of it is shown on a particular channel, just like there's a channel for visualizing things, this is what the minds eye looks at. Now let's suppose there are many more channels and one of them is a spirit channel which allows you to view into the spirit world, I believe that's what you have been seeing. Your brain combines that input with the "normal" input from your physical eyes and it's better if you could seperate that, it is why people used to do seances, so the input will not be combined.

What you need to do is find a way which works for you to have the remote control back so you can change channels, shut the tv off whenever you want, or close your minds eye at will. No matter what it is you're seeing, good or bad - you should learn how to control those visions by formulating some kind of system which makes sense to you. If you don't and just keep being afraid that will not get you anywhere.

Besides photographic memory some people can remember music and play it in their head. That's the mind's ear, there are exercises to do the same so when looking at the spirit channel there's also audio, it can be trained. In my belief system, schizophrenia is when people misunderstand these functions, believe they are inside the tv, or simply do not understand how to use their remote control, when multiple channels are distorted or interfere with eachother.

Ofcourse many would call me crazy and awhile ago I couldn't honestly say I wasn't, almost chose medication but didn't and solved much on my own while having a fulltime job also, it isn't easy but it was just a phase, I changed it for the better even though I have a long way to go. Whatever you choose to make of it you need to understand and control your fears and change the channel or turn the tv off.

Last I was woken by a hissing noise, I thought I saw something in the shadows near the window and dismissed it as imagination. My son (18yrs old)` then started shouting half awake, (he shouted- fking cat people leave me alone, where's my mum?, where's my mum?), just after. Then I distinctly heard something run downstairs. I have 3 cats, one was asleep on my bed next to me, another was asleep at the end of the bed on the floor. I went to check downstairs and took a candle so as not to wake everyone up. I turned on the light in the living room where the third cat usually sleeps and she was fast asleep and woke as the light went on. She is old and wobbly and she got up, used the cat litter and had a drink of water, it wasn't her I'd heard running down the stairs. I made a cup of tea and went back to bed. None of the cats seemed bothered by anything.
I used to work nights and I saw some very weird stuff in the skies of the industrial estate and have only just started sleeping at night again. I think this may have set me back a bit.
Oh ye I'm not schitzo either, there are things that live on the edges of our reality and they are real, not ghostly.

Originally posted by MasterCrix
Yeah, no. Schizophrenia is not a real disease, it is a medical branding to try and explain the unexplained.

It is absolutely a real thing. You don't have it. Judging by your original post you have a mild sleep disorder, are you experiencing anxiety, are you overstimulated before bed, do you have a poor diet?

Originally posted by MasterCrix
Yeah, no. Schizophrenia is not a real disease, it is a medical branding to try and explain the unexplained.

Yeah... well, take a camera and snap some photos of those shadow people next time.

Sounds like your having recurring night-terrors, I don’t think it qualifies as being “mad” in the traditional colloquial sense of the word. If you’re saying this is happening at night rather than when you are asleep then I would start to think about it being some form of psychosis but if that is the case you appear to already have some insight which is a good thing.

Either way you are asking the wrong people about this, go speak to your doctor.

You are partially awake, and they are curious - when hallucinations are associated with the fear of the unknown, the beings react and they appear "scarry" - however, without fear, they appear "friendly" - it is basically because there is no "good" or "evil" in thier domain.