Citation: Kelly, T.M. (2014). Classification & Statistical Manual of Extrasensory Experiences. Copyright © 2014 Theresa M. Kelly, MsD. Interested professionals are welcome to Download a Complimentary Copy of the CSM-EE. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Phenomenological Features

The essential feature of the (TS) type of telepathy is a case in which an individual’s mental state appears to produce a similar mental state in someone else (Braude, 1978). In other words, the telepathist’s mental state produces a similar mental state in a  participant. Through this type of telepathy, the telepathist does not “know” telepathically what the mental state of a participant is, nor is the information impressed, but rather it appears that the mental states of the telepathist and participant instantaneously become qualitatively identical.

The identicalness of the mental state is debatable, as there is no empirical evidence to support this at this time. However, reports in regard to this type of telepathy suggest exact, or nearly exact, mental states rather than more associative states (e.g. a star for a star, rather than a star for a pinwheel or daisy).

This type of telepathy also appears to be more non-invasive as participants are typically unaware that, or do not “know” that, the mental state is “not their own,” as it appears to be less intrusive than other types of telepathy. The skilled telepathist would however be able to identify that the simulated mental state originated from him/herself if the telepathist intentionally shared information with a participant. In other words, the telepathist can share his/her own mental state with a participant, or the telepathist can evoke the sharing process of a participant’s mental state to replace the telepathist’s own mental state. In the end, perhaps the most efficient way to view telepathic simulation is as though the mental states have been shared through the exact transmission of the state from the telepathist to the participant or from the participant to the telepathist.

Another feature that appears exclusive to telepathic simulation is that of networking. In this regard, the telepathist is not only able to interact with one participant, in which is typical of telepathic impressionists and semi-typical of telepathic cognitives, but rather ‘network’ their ideas to many participants at the same time. In other words, telepathic simulators typically work with group participant mental state sharing just as effectively as single participant state sharing (i.e. the telepathist can get everyone “on the same page” at once) (Braude, 1978; Kelly, 2011a).

Intention Specifiers

The first set of specifiers is for identifying whether the experience was intentional or unintentional.

A. Spontaneous. This specifier applies when the telepathist initiates the telepathic sharing of information void of conscious intent.

B. Intentional. This specifier applies when the telepathist intentionally specifies who is to participate in the sharing process, or what information will be shared. If the process involves ‘what’ rather than ‘who,’ participants may be selected subconsciously by the telepathist based on their relativity to the required result.

The second set of specifiers is for identifying the subconscious or conscious need or goal that is assumed to be the catalyst for initiating telepathic simulative processes.

A. Adaptive. This specifier applies when information shared is initiated by the telepathist to assist participants in understanding and adapting to the telepathist’s, or group’s and the telepathist’s needs or goals. The most common goal is to provide social or emotional comfort and/or a sense of security. Here the telepathist and participants typically have some level of emotional investment in each other or the situation in which they occupy.

B. Directive. This specifier applies when information shared is initiated by the telepathist to assist participants in an action towards a goal (i.e. motivation). In other words, to provide purpose and direction to behavior. Behaviors can range from common to unusual and acceptable to unacceptable in regard to social norms. Social actions include rational (i.e. the action leads to a valued goal, but with no thought of its consequences and often i.e. without consideration of the appropriateness of the means), instrumental (i.e. actions which are planned and carried out after evaluating the goal in relation to other goals, and after thorough consideration of various means and consequences to achieve said goals), and affectional (i.e. actions which are carried out due to one’s emotions, to express personal feelings). However, while emotion does appear to be involved in telepathic simulation, it does not appear to penetrate the barrier of self-control like telepathic interaction. Here the telepathist and participants typically have some level of emotional investment in each other or the situation in which they occupy.

The third set of specifiers is for identifying the direction of the telepathic simulative experience.

A. Input. This specifier applies when the participant shares information with the telepathist. Here information in regard to the participant has been shared with the telepathist (e.g. the telepathist was feeling anxious, but the participant was not feeling anxious prior to simulation; however, post simulation, neither participant felt anxious).

B. Output. This specifier applies when the telepathist shares information with the participant. Here information in regard to the telepathist has been shared with the participant (e.g. the participant was feeling anxious, but the telepathist was not feeling anxious prior to simulation; however, post simulation, neither participant felt anxious).

Development and Course

Childhood onset may present itself through simulated dreams, simulative intuitive impressions (i.e. gut feelings, intuition, emotional content), and simulated visual and/or auditory hallucinations being also common. Adolescent onset primarily presents itself through simulated dreams, simulative intuitive impressions (i.e. gut feelings, intuition, emotional content), and simulated visual and/or auditory hallucinations being also common. However, other types of simulative hallucinations (e.g. olfactory, gustatory, etc.) are less common with tactile and/or somatic simulative hallucinations being more common. Adult onset primarily presents itself through simulative dreams, simulated intuitive impressions, or during crisis situations in the form of hallucinations or strong emotional content subconsciously deem most appropriate in assisting adaptive or directive behavior (i.e. motivation). Compound modalities are more common amongst identical and fraternal twins.

Course Specifiers

These specifiers are for identifying the characteristic course of telepathic simulative experiences over time.

A. Single Episode. This specifier applies when the telepathist initiates the sharing process of a telepathic intuitive impression or a hallucination with a participant and the telepathist reports no prior history of episodes. This specifier also applies when a the telepathist (i.e. output) or participant (i.e. input) shares information to provide purpose and direction to behavior in which the telepathist or participant report as not typical (i.e. a participant has not responded in such a way in similar circumstances in the past). The classification of a single telepathic simulative experience can be difficult as it is often challenging to identify who is playing the role of the telepathist (i.e. if the individual reporting the experience is the initiator of telepathic simulative processes).

B. Episodic. This specifier applies when the telepathist initiates the sharing process of a telepathic intuitive impression or a hallucination with a participant of which seems to occur irregularly and of which the duration of the experience is momentary. An episodic hallucination may involve a quick flash of an image or an auditable single word or short phrase with the duration of the experiencing lasting only a maximum of a couple of seconds. An episodic hallucination may also involve a more “movie-like” or dynamic image or auditable whole sentences or rhymes (e.g. songs) with the duration typically lasting no longer than a few seconds. This specifier also applies when a telepathist irregularly shares an emotional state to promote adaptive or directive behavior in a participant (i.e. output), or in the telepathist (i.e. input), or both.

C. Continuous. This specifier applies when the telepathist initiates the sharing process of a telepathic intuitive impression or a hallucination with a participant, which seems to occur in a continual manner. In addition, this specifier applies when episodes are so frequent it is difficult for the telepathist and/or a participant to determine where one episode ends and another begins (e.g. prolonged and closely spaced episodes).

Modality Specifiers

These specifiers are for identifying the characteristic mode(s) of a telepathic simulative experience. In any case, some emotional investment in the participant, or the situation in which the participant resides, on the telepathist’s behalf is expected.

A. Dream. Refers to telepathic simulation during sleep where the telepathist initiates the sharing processes of information with a participant during the dream state to promote – once awake — adaptive or directive behavior in either the telepathist or the participant.

B. Intuitive Impressions/Emotional. Refers to non-hallucinatory sensations of which can be described as telepathic emotional content shared between the telepathist and a participant that results in adaptive or directive behavior in the participant (i.e. output), or in the telepathist (i.e. input), or both.

C. Auditory Hallucinations. Hallucinations of hearing/sound. Typically only involves verbal hallucinations as opposed to non-verbal hallucinations. While the origin of telepathic auditory hallucinations are external, they are typically perceived as internal (i.e. heard within the mind as opposed to seemingly heard by the physical ear), and due to the non-invasive nature of the hallucination, auditory hallucinations are assumed by the telepathist and participants to be an auditory thought of their own volition that has spontaneously come to mind. For example, the telepathist and a participant suddenly begin thinking about the same word or phrase, rather than a telepathist thinking about a subject thinking about a word or phrase (TC), or a telepathist attempting to impress a subject to think about a word or phrase (TI).

D. Visual Hallucinations. Hallucinations of sight. Involving a perceived complexity classified as simple or complex. Common visual hallucinations are those located beyond the visual field (e.g. in the back of the mind, third eye vision, etc.) classified as extracampine hallucinations. Using the perceived shape of the hallucination, visual hallucinations can be classifies as formed, organized, or unformed (i.e. abstract). Telepathic simulative visual hallucinations do not take over the telepathist’s or a participant’s visual field. Rather, they are non-intrusive and often go unnoticed by both the telepathist and the participant (i.e. consciously unseen/subconsciously viewed, or consciously viewed with little to no knowledge that image is “shared.”). For example, the telepathist and a participant suddenly begin thinking about the same image, rather than a telepathist thinking about a subject thinking about an image (TC), or a telepathist attempting to impress a subject to think about an image (TI).

E. Tactile Hallucinations. Hallucinations of pressure and touch.Can include a wide range of sensations from a pat on the shoulder, a knee injury, a blow to the head, and hot and cold sensations.Tactile hallucinations are classified based on the type of sensation experience (e.g. painful sensations are classified as pain hallucinations; temperature sensations are classified as thermal/thermic hallucinations). Tactile hallucinations, especially pain hallucinations, are typically a telepathist-to-participant or a participant-to-telepathist simulation of a tactile sensation with identical or nearly identical location and intensity of sensation across all involved in the simulative process. In other words, the location (e.g. right knee) and intensity of the sensation is mimicked across all involved in the simulative process and those involved typically assume the sensation is entirely natural (non-synthetic). This is less common in subjects of telepathic interaction, where the telepathist does not need not feel a sensation personally to impress a sensation onto a subject, and where the subject is often capable of identifying the telepathist or at least identifying that the sensation is synthetic.

F. Somatic Hallucinations. Hallucinations from inside the body (e.g. heart, lungs, sensations within the limbs, stomach e.g. nausea). Also known as somatosensory hallucinations. These hallucinations are typically a telepathist-to-participant or a participant-to-telepathist simulation of a somatic sensation with identical or nearly identical location and intensity of sensation across all involved in the simulative process, and are sensed as non-synthetic.

G. Olfactory Hallucinations. Hallucinations of smell. These hallucinations are typically intrinsic where the smell is typically assumed by the non-initiating participant to be the result of a spontaneous triggered or subconscious-ly triggered olfactive memory (e.g. the smell of tobacco, fumes from a fire, flowers and grass in a park, the perfume of a loved one, etc.). In this case, olfactive hallucinations are typically a te-lepathist-to-participant or a participant-to-telepathist simulation of a smell with identical or nearly identical odor and intensity across all involved in the simulative process, and are sensed as non-synthetic.

H. Gustatory Hallucinations. Hallucinations of taste. May include a wide range of taste sensations classified as bitter, sour, sweet, “disgusting,” etc., but can be classified in more specific terms (e.g. tobacco, garlic, salt, blood, etc.). These hallucinations are typically intrinsic where the taste is often assumed by the telepathist and/or participant to be the result of a spontaneous triggered (i.e. subconsciously triggered) gustatory memory. In this case, gustatory hallucinations are typically a telepathist-to-participant or a participant-to-telepathist simulation of a taste with identical or nearly identical flavor and intensity across all involved in the simulative process, and are sensed as non-synthetic.

I. Compound. Several modalities are involved, in which case each mode involved should be noted.

Associated Mental Health Findings

Mental health disorders somewhat common in experients of telepathic simulation include: Alcohol and/or Substance Abuse/Dependence; Attention Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder; Bipolar Disorder; Depressive Disorder; Generalized Anxiety Disorder; Obsessive Compulsive Disorder; Panic Disorder with or without Agoraphobia; and Social Phobia (Kelly, 2011a).

Associated Medical Condition Findings

Physical medical conditions somewhat common in experients of telepathic simulation can include: Acne; Asthma; Cancer (e.g. brain, lung, breast, etc.); Kidney Diseases; Migraines; Multiple Sclerosis; Prostate Conditions; Tinnitus; Tonsillitis (Kelly, 2011a).

Differential Classification

A wide variety of extrasensory phenomena can present with similar phenomenology. These include:

• Empathy. Applied when there is evidence to support that emotional content is the only type of content perceived by the telepathist and a participants. However, if other informational content is involved, the experience should be classified as telepathy.
•  Telepathic Cognition. Applied when there is evidence to support that the telepathist is only capable of one-way, subject-to-telepathist communication in the form of dual independent thought and the acquisition of knowledge.
• Telepathic Interaction. Applied when there is evidence to support that the telepathist is only capable of one-way, telepathist-to-subject communication in the form of dual independent thought and impression.
• Clairvoyance. Applied when there is evidence to support that the information obtained was ‘about’ an individual but the information obtained is not ‘from’ the individual (i.e. is indirect). Information received via telepathic simulation is typically in first-person plural (i.e. “We” feel or “We” think) from either individual’s perspective; while information ‘about’ an individual typically results in third-person information (i.e. “She” feels or “He” thinks). If an individual becomes aware of an ailment in another individuals body, but no other individual was aware of the physical ailment, then this would be classified as clairvoyance. This is because telepathy is mind-to-mind communication, not mind-to-body communication, and telepathy must include at least two individuals, and because the knowledge of the ailment did not originate from another mind.

Criteria for Telepathic Simulative Experiences

A. Characteristic phenomenology: all of the following are required criteria for telepathic simulative experiences including criteria for telepathy in general.

1)  Information is shared between the telepathist and one or more participants.

2) Information is shared in first-person plural perspective (e.g. If visual: the image is shared with the telepathist and all participants, and is from a group perspective involving all other participants) or narrative (e.g. If auditory: the words shared are in first-person plural perspective i.e. “We want to behave this way.”).

3)  Subconscious need for information sharing present at the time of the experience.

Citation: Kelly, T.M. (2014). Classification & Statistical Manual of Extrasensory Experiences. Copyright © 2014 Theresa M. Kelly, MsD. Interested professionals are welcome to download a complimentary copy of the CSM-EE. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.