Why your stress levels may be out of this world...

YOU might be forgiven for imagining people who believe in the paranormal have intuited some deeper level of reality beyond our humdrum "normal" existence.

- By Chris Riches

But it now appears that believers in UFOs, ghosts and witchcraft are actually worse at coping with day-to-day stress, scientists have discovered.

A joint study by Liverpool John Moores and Manchester Metropolitan universities explored the effect of alternative types of belief on ordinary people's lives.

They divided such "alternative" beliefs into Modern New Age Philosophy - which includes holistic healing, meditation and positive energy and Traditional Paranormal Belief, the faith in supernatural forces, the occult, witchcraft and ghosts.

When psychologists quizzed 3,084 adults, they discovered a stark difference in the way those with traditional paranormal views cope with stress, compared with those with New Age philosophies.

The study revealed that Traditional Paranormal Belief is linked to higher levels of distress and increased susceptibility to stress.