This is an absolutely superb article. Much of what you discuss here is all too familiar (though I won't get into my own story here).

What I will say is this: Although I have experienced what I believe to be the supernatural in my life, it is my belief that evangelicals and their ilk often leap to the wrong conclusions about what people like you (and me) experience. They put their own spin on it, for their own ends, sometimes to gain or sustain power, and sometimes even for political reasons. (Example: Last year loads of "prophets" got it very wrong about Trump, but that doesn't mean some of them weren't prophetically wired. Some of them accurately described the riot on the Capitol about a year ahead of time. But their own bias meant they interpreted what they were seeing incorrectly - ie as a Trump victory).

As for seeing angels/demons, again, I think people are drawn to those of us who do have these experiences to manipulate us for their own ends (as you have accurately described in this article). My conclusion about all this stuff is that probably 99 percent of supernatural experiences should be kept to ourselves, as we either 1) lack the maturity/discernment/understanding to interpret the data correctly, or 2) it is purely a result of God giving a message intended only for us. Far too many people have built ministries on things like "I visited heaven" and such, which again draw erroneous conclusions and were never meant to be shared with everyone as it just creates more confusion, problems, and - worst of all - mass manipulation.

It sounds like you went through some very difficult and painful times. It can be very hard to learn that the world isn't a binary angels/demons behind everything business. Some things are the result of imagination playing tricks, mental illness, deep trauma, and so forth. Your examples about physical abuse and drug addiction are good illustrations.

I should be clear by saying I remain a Christian (though I've long since departed evangelical circles) and I do believe in the supernatural (I've had too many experiences of my own to dismiss them out of hand). That said, I think it is important to maintain a certain healthy scepticism and cynicism about these things. In my experience, genuine supernatural encounters make people more grounded and approachable, not less. And they definitely retain a good sense of humour!

One final point: I love The Sixth Sense. It's one of my favourite films. :)