631 lines
39 KiB
Plaintext
631 lines
39 KiB
Plaintext
SUBJECT: CHILD AND ADULT PSYCHIATRY - UFOs FILE: UFO3216
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What follows is a report given on the Psychiatry and evaluation of
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UFO abducted victims by RIMA E. LAIBOW, M.D. This report is not
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considered "light" reading.
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As usual, my *disclaimer* will be to read and make up your own mind :-)
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RIMA E. LAIBOW, M.D.
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Child and Adult Psychiatry
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Cerridwen
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13 Summit Terrace
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Dobbs' Ferry, NY 10522
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(914)693-3081
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CLINICAL DISCREPANCIES BETWEEN EXPECTED AND OBSERVED DATA IN PATIENTS
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REPORTING UFO ABDUCTIONS: IMPLICATIONS FOR TREATMENT
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ABSTRACT: IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT THIS PAPER MAKES NO ATTEMPT TO ASSIGN OR
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WITHHOLD EXTERNAL VALIDITY RELATIVE TO UFO ABDUCTION SCENARIOS.
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Patients who believe themselves to be UFO abductees are a
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heterogeneous group widely dispersed along demographic and cultural lines.
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Careful examination of these patients and their abduction reports presents
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four areas of significant discrepancy between expected and observed data.
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Implications for the treatment of patients presenting UFO abduction
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scenarios are discussed.
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INTRODUCTION
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If a patient were to confide to a therapist that he had been abducted
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by aliens who took him aboard a UFO and performed a series of medical
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procedures and examinations on him it is not likely that the patient would
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find either a receptive ear or a respectful and non-judgemental response from
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the therapist. The material presented would lie so far outside the confines
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of our personal and cultural belief system that it would seem intolerably
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anomalous to most of us. We would probably dismiss or repudiate it using a
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few comfortable and familiar assumptions which hold so much obvious wisdom
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that they do not require specific examination.
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When events which are too anomalous to allow their incorporation
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into our world schema are presented to us, we are likely to dismiss them
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by using assumptions based in out currently operative world view. This
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effectively precludes the open evaluation of the anomaly. Hence, the
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"expressible" response of most clinical and lay individuals upon hearing a UFO
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abduction account would be an immediate dismissal of even the possibility that
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such an episode might occur. Close upon the heels of that determination the
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rapid and complete pathologization of the person offering such an account
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would follow. Dream states, suggestibility, poor reality testing, outright
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dissembling or frank psychosis are customarily offered and accepted as evident
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and reasonable organizing models by which the production of this material may
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be understood. These are typical maneuvers by which the presentation of
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information which challenges schematic assumptions is dismissed or screened
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out before the assumptions can be adequately tested for predictive reliability
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and accuracy. Such testing is highly desirable, however, because it offers
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us the opportunity to apply the scientific method to our current level of
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theorital sophistication and thereby refine our understanding of reality
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further still. Of course, this process is severely impeded when the new data
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is excluded from consideration strictly because it is too anomalous for
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assessment.
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Westrum has offered a model by which events become "hidden" and
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therefore remain anomalous to the perception of society in a circular
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process: the hidden event is disbelieved and its disbelief helps to keep it
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hidden. Citing the lengthy period during which battered children and their
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battering parents remained hidden, Westrum states:
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"An event is hidden if its occurrence is so implausible
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that those who observe it hesitate to report it because
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they do not expect to be believed. The implausibility
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may cause the observer to doubt his own perceptions,
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leading to the event's denial or mis identification.
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Should the observer nonetheless make a report, he/she
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can expect to be treated with incredulity or even
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ridicule. Since the existence of a hidden event is
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contrary to what science, society, and perhaps even
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the observer believes, the event remains hidden because
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of strong social forces which interfere with
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reporting. The actual degree of underreporting is
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sometimes difficult to believe, a skepticism which
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itself acts as a deterrent to taking seriously
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those reports which do surface." (1)
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But for the clinician who spends a moment before reaching these
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"obvious" and "intuitive" conclusions, several fascinating and potentially
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productive questions present themselves. If we refrain for a short period
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>from dismissing this material out-of-hand, we find that there are at least
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four areas of puzzling and important discrepancy between our intuitive sense
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of order and the data presented by the patient. These discrepancies force us
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to re-examine our assumptions in light of a demonstrated failure of the theory
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to account for the observed phenomena. This process, while taxing and
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challenging, is nonetheless, the way we systemize our understanding of human
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health and pathology. Noting the previously un-noted and using it to refine
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our conceptual framework leads to better prediction and therefore to better
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treatment.
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It is not the purpose of this paper to ascribe relative reality to the
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experience of abduction reported by some patients. Rather, precisely because
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it lies outside the realm of clinical expertise to assess with certainty
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whether these events actually occurred or if they are mere fantasy, it is
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mandatory for the clinician to examine the impact of these experiences,
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whatever their source, upon the patient. This must be done in a clear sighted
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and open-minded fashion so that the impact of the experiences may be dealt
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with rather than made into hidden events.
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AREAS OF DISCREPANCY
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1. ABSENCE OF MAJOR PSYCHOPATHOLOGY: It is intuitively
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seductive (and perhaps comfortable) for us to assume that psychotic-level
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functioning will necessarily be present in a person claiming to be a UFO
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abductee. If this level of distortion and delusion is present, a patient
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would be expected to demonstrate some other evidence of reality distortion.
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Pathology of this magnitude would not be predicted to be present in a well
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integrated, mature and non-psychotic individual. Instead, we would expect
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clinical and psychometric tools to reveal serious problems in numerous areas
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both inter- and interpersonally. It would be highly surprising if otherwise
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well-functioning persons were to demonstrate a single area of floridly
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psychotic distortion. Further, if this single idea fix were totally
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circumscribed, non-invasive and discrete, that in itself would be highly
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anomalous. Well-developed, fixed delusional states with numerous
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elaborated and sequential components are not seen in otherwise healthy
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individuals. Prominent evidence of deep dysfunction would be expected to
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pervade many areas of the patient's life. One would predict that if the
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abduction experience were the product of delusional or other psychotic states,
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it would be possible to detect such evidence through the clinical and
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psychometric tools available to us.
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This points to the first important discrepancy: individuals
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claiming alien abduction frequently show no evidence of past or present
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psychosis, delusional thinking, reality-testing deficits, hallucinations or
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other significant psychopathology despite extensive clinical evaluation.
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Instead, there is a conspicuous absence of psychopathology of the magnitude
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necessary to account for the production of floridly delusional and presumably
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psychotic material.(2)
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In order to test this startling and anomalous information, a group of
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subjects who believe they have been abducted by aliens (9, 5 male, 4 female)
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were asked to participate in a psychometric evaluation. An experienced
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clinical psychologist carried out an investigation using projection tests
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(Rorschach, TAT, Draw a Person and the MMPI) and the Wechler Adult
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Intelligence Scale. The examining clinician was told "the subjects were being
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evaluated to determine similarities and differences in personality structure,
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as well as psychological strengths and weaknesses". All of the subjects
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actively refrained from sharing UFO-related experiences with the examiner and
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she was unaware of this theme in their lives.
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The investigator found that commonalties were not strongly present and
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that:
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"while the subjects are quite heterogeneous in their
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personality styles, there is a modicum of homogeneity
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in several respects: (1) relatively high intelligence
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with concomitant richness of inner life; (2) relative
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weakness in the sense of identity, especially sexual
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identity; (3) concomitant vulnerability in the inter-
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personal realm; (4) a certain orientation towards
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alertness which is manifest alternately in a certain
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perceptual sophistication and awareness or in inter-
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personal hyper-vigilance and caution.... Perhaps the
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most obvious and prominent impression left by the
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nine subjects is the range of personality styles
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the present.... There is little to unite them as a
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group from the standpoint of the overt manifestations
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of their personalities.... They [are] very distinctive
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unusual and interesting subjects. [But] "Along with
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above average intelligence, richness in mental life,
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and indications of narcissistic identity disturbance,
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the nine subjects also share some degree of impair-
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ment in personal relationships. For [some] subjects,
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problems in intimacy are manifest more in great
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sensitivity to injury and loss than in lack of
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intimacy and relatedness. [Ad] "...The last salient
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dimension of impairment in the interpersonal realm
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relates to a certain mildly paranoid and disturbing
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streak in many of the subjects, which renders them
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very wary and cautious about involving themselves
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with others. It is significant that all but one of
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the subjects had modest elevations on the MMPI paranoia
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scale relative to their other scores. Such modest
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elevations mean that we are not dealing with blatant
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paranoid symptomology but rather over-sensitivity,
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defensiveness and fear of criticism and susceptibility
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to feeling pressured. To summarize, while this is a
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heterogeneous group in terms of overt personality style,
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it can be said that most of its members share being
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rather unusual and very interesting. They also share
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brighter than average intelligence and a certain rich-
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ness of inner life that can operate favorably in terms
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of creativity or disadvantageously to the extent that
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it can be overwhelming. Shared underlying emotional
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factors include a degree of identity disturbance, some
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deficits in the interpersonal sphere, and generally
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mild paranoia phenomena (hypersensitivity, wariness,
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etc.)" (3)
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Her findings demonstrate a uniform lack of the significant
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psychopathology which would be necessary to account for these experiences if
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abduction experiences do represent the psychotic or delusional states
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predicted by current theory.
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When the examiner was informed of the true reason for the selection of
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the subjects for this evaluation (i.e., their shared belief that they had been
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exposed to alien abductions), she wrote an addendum to the original report re-
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examining the findings of the testing in the light of the new data. In it she
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states:
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"The first and most critical question is whether our
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subjects' reported experiences could be accounted
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for strictly on the basis of psychopathy, i.e., mental
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disorder. The answer is a firm no. In broad terms,
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if the reported abductions were confabulated fantasy
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productions, based on what we know about psychological
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disorders, they could only have come from pathological
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liars, paranoid schizophrenics, and severely disturbed
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and extraordinarily rare hysteroid characters subject
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to fugue states and/or multiple personality shifts...
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It is important to note that not one of the subjects,
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based on test data, falls into any of these categories.
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Therefore, while testing can do nothing to prove the
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veracity of the UFO abduction reports, one can conclude
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that the test findings are not inconsistent with the
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possibility that reported UFO abductions have, in fact,
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occurred. In other words, there is no apparent
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psychological explanation for their reports." (4)
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2. CONCORDANCE OF REPORTED DATA: The second point of
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intriguing discrepancy follows from this surprising absence of evidence
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of a common thread of severe and reality-distorting psychopathology to
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account for the patient's bizarre assertions. They claim that they have
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been abducted, sometimes repeatedly over nearly the whole course of their
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lives, by aliens who have communicated with them and carried out procedures
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much like medical examinations. Persons reporting these experiences are seen
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to be psycho-dynamically varied. They are also demographically varied.
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Reports of this basic scenario, numbering in the hundreds, have now been
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recorded. Even though the reporters range from individuals as diverse as a
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mestizo Brazilian farmer(5),an American corporate lawyer (6), and a Mid-
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Western minister(7), there is a perplexing and intriguing concordance of
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features in these reports. Certain details of the scenarios repeat themselves
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with disturbing regularity no matter what the educational, national, social,
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experiential or other demographic characteristics of the reporter. In the
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production of dreams, reveries, poetry, fantasies and psychotic states, while
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the general themes of concern may be identified easily between individuals,
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the specific symbolization, concretion, abstraction and representation of
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those themes is relatively indiosyncratic for each individual. This of course
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necessitates careful empathic and attentive listening on the clinician's part
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to gather both the general flavor and specific meaning of the elements of the
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fantasy state. This careful listening often means that a personal symbolic
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representational system can be unraveled and its contents can be rendered less
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mysterious to the patient. In the abduction scenarios however, both specific
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details and themes repeat themselves with surprising regularity: In general,
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the appearance and modus operandi of the aliens, their effect and procedures,
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their tools and interests, their crafts and physical features all tally from
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report to report with a high rate of concordance. (8,9,10) This intriguing
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fact seems impervious to the socio-economic, educational, national, or
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cultural background of the abductee. Similarly, whether the individual has
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had previous contact with the literature of abduction seems to make little
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difference in this vein since the reports of individuals who can be shown to
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have had no exposure to abduction literature also contains these common
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features. Skilled practitioners and investigators report in these cases that
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they are convinced that each of these subjects was being wholly truthful in
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his/her report.
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The concordance of both content and event in these reports makes
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them unlike any other fantasy-generated material with which I am familiar.
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Indeed, investigators like Hopkins and others claim they have intentionally
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withheld dissemination of certain important, frequently reported aspects of
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the abduction scenarios in order to provide a "check" on the material being
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presented to them by individuals who may have had access to this literature
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since abductees may have been influenced at either the conscious or the
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unconscious level by it. In these cases as well, the features which have
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previously been published as well as those withheld are both produced by the
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abductee (11). In instances in which the patient has read some of the
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abductee literature, this previously withheld material may be offered to the
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investigator with a sense of personal invalidation, apology and embarrassment.
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He often expresses concern that this information is less likely to be
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believed than the other material with which he is already familiar. (12)
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Jung and others have written widely about the use of archetypes
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and the collective awareness of themes and images which are asserted to
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present themselves in a world-wide and multi-personal way. The amount of
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individual variation and creative latitude demonstrated within the closed
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system of archetypes and collected creativity is vast. Those who pose such
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universals detect their presence in the complex and highly idiosyncratic
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presentations and guises which they are given by the unconscious mind of the
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patient and the artist. This disguise is idiosyncratic, they hold, precisely
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because a set of available images is being used to work and rework the
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personal realities of the individual against the background of the collective.
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But the abductee does not seem to be involved in the reworking of personal
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mythologies against the canvas of the race's mythology. The details and
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contents of the scenarios seem, upon extensive investigation, to bear little
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thematic relevance to the issues inherent in the life of the abductee.
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Intensive follow up investigation frequently yields no thematic, archetypical,
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primary process symbolic meaning to the shape or activities of the abductors
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and the scenario of the abduction itself. Instead, therapeutic work in these
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cases centers around the issues inherent in the powerlessness and
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vulnerability of the individual even is this were not a prominent theme in his
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life before the putative abduction. In other words, the customary richness of
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association and creativity found in the examination of dreams and other
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fantasy material is lacking with regard to the scenario and presentation of
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the aliens who abduct and manipulate the patient in the abduction story.
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If the abduction material is indeed archetypal or fantasy generated in
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nature, this is a new class of archetypes. These archetypes demand rather
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exact representation and mythic presentation since the activities and behavior
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of the aliens is rather invariant within a narrow latitude regardless of the
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other dream and fantasy themes of the patient.
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3. ABDUCTION SCENARIOS AND HYPNOSIS. Members of both the lay and
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professional communities frequently assume that material referring to UFO
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abduction scenarios is retrieved under hypnosis. Since it is generally
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believed that people under hypnosis are open to the implantation of
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suggestions through the overt or covert influence of the hypnotist it is
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concluded that this material reproduces the hypnotists' expectations or
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interests. It is further concluded that since the hypnotist "put it there"
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the abduction could not be accounted for as material which emerges solely from
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the patient's end of dyad.
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Thus, the abduction scenarios are commonly dismissed as merely representing
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the production of desired material by compliant subjects. The abductees strong
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sense of personal conviction that this really happened to him during the
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session itself and upon recall of the session is similarly dismissed as an
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artifact of the process by which the fantasies were generated.
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Several compelling factors mitigate against the facile dismissal of
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data in this way. Firstly, about 20% of these highly concordant abduction
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scenarios are available spontaneously at the level of conscious awareness
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prior to hypnosis. (13,14) These accounts may be enhanced or subjected to
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further elaboration through the use of hypnosis or other recall enhancement
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techniques, but in a significant number of people producing abduction
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scenarios the recall is initially produced without recourse to such
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techniques. If their stories were substantially different from the concordant
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abduction scenarios produced under regressive hypnosis, a different phenomenon
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would be taking place.
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However, given the perplexing clinical presentation of similar stories
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>from dissimilar people who are uninformed about one another's experience, this
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presents another highly interesting area of discrepancy.
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Hopkins has classified patterns of abduction recall into five
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categories:
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Type 1. patients consciously recall parts of the full abduction
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scenario without hypnotic or other techniques designed to aid recall. The
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emergence of this material may be delayed.
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Type 2. patients recall the UFO sighting, surrounding circumstances
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and/or aliens, but do not recall the abduction itself. Only a perceived gap in
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time indicates any anomalous occurrence.
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Type 3. patients recall a UFO and/or hominids but nothing else.
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There is no sense of time lapse or dislocation.
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Type 4. patients recall only a time lapse or dislocation. No UFO
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abduction scenario is recalled without the use of specific retrieval
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techniques.
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Type 5. patients recall noting relating to UFO or abduction
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scenarios. Instead they experience discrepant emotions ranging from uneasy
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suspicions that "something happened to me" to intense, ego-dystonic fears of
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specific locations, conditions or actions. They may also exhibit unexplained
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physical wounds and/or recurring dreams of abduction scenario content which
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are not fixed in their experience as to place and time. (15)
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Examination of the transcripts of hypnotic sessions which yield
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abduction material reveals that although subjects are sufficiently
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suggestible to enter the trance state as directed by the therapist, they
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resist having material "injected" into their account. They customarily
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refuse to be "lead" or distracted by the therapist's attempts to change
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either the focus or content of their report. The subject characteristically
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insists upon correcting errors or distortions suggested or implied by the
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hypnotist during the session. Hence it is difficult to account for the
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similarities and concordances of these scenarios through the mechanism of
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suggestibility when these subjects so steadfastly refuse to be lead by
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hypnotists.
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In fact, it is even more striking that while these patients feel the
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material which they are producing both in and out of hypnosis as
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experientially "real", nonetheless they frequently seek to discount or
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explain away this bizarre and frightening material. This remains true even
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though sharing it regularly results in a significant remission of anxiety-
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related symptoms and discomfort. These abduction scenarios are so ego-alien
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that they have frequently not shared the material with anyone at all or with
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only a highly select group of trusted intimates. In the vast preponderance of
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cases patients are reluctant to allow themselves to be publicly identified as
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having had these experiences since the perceive that the abduction scenario is
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so highly anomalous that they expect to experience ridicule and repudiation if
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they become associated with it publicly. It therefore functions like a guilty
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secret in the way that rape has (and, unfortunately still does in some cases).
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After the material is produced and explored, these subjects often
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experience a marked degree of relief. This is true with reference both to
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previously identified symptomatic behaviors and other anxiety manifestations
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not noted on initial assessment. These other symptoms may remit after
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enhanced recall of the scenario and its details takes place. It is
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interesting to note that while the scenarios may contain a good deal of highly
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traumatic material specifically related to reproductive functioning, these
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episodes are nearly uniformly free of subjective erotic charge when either the
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manifest or latent contents are examined.
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4. POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER (PTSD) IN THE ABSENCE OF
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EXTERNAL TRAUMA: PTSD was first described in the content of battle
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fatigue (16). Although it may present in a wide variety of clinical guises
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(17) PTSD is currently understood as a disorder which occurs in the context of
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intolerable externally induced trauma which floods the victim with anxiety
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and/or depression when his overwhelmed and paralyzed ego defenses prove
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inadequate to the task of organizing unbearably stressful events. In the
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service of the patient's urgent attempt to still the tides of disorganizing
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anxiety, fear or guilt<18> which accompany the emergence of cognitive, sensory
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or emotional recall of these traumatic events, the trauma itself may be
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either partly or completely unavailable to conscious recall. <19>...Both
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physical and psychological responses to the trauma are profound and pervasive.
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PTSD follows overwhelming real-life trauma and is not known to present as a
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sequel to internally generated fantasy states.<20>
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This fourth area of discrepancy between predicted and observed data is
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perhaps the most striking and challenging. Patients who produce alien
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abduction material in the absence of psycopathology severe enough to account
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for it often show the clinical picture of PTSD. This is remarkable when one
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considers that it is possible that no traumatic event occured except that
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rooted only in fantasy. These trauma are, in large measure, split off, denied
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and repressed as they are in other occurrences of PTSD.
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As discussed above, these scenarios frequently appear in individuals
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who are otherwise free of any indication of significant emotional and
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|
psychological instability or pre-existing severe psycopathology. On careful
|
|
clinical assessment, these memories do not appear to fill the intrapsychic
|
|
niches usually occupied by psychotic or psycho-neurotic formulations. The
|
|
abduction scenarios do not encapsulate or ward off unacceptable impulses, they
|
|
do not define <or defend against> split off affects, they are not used either
|
|
to stabilize or to divert current or archaic patterns of behavior nor do they
|
|
provide secondary gain or manipulative control for the individual.
|
|
|
|
Instead, this material, experienced by the patient as unwelcome and
|
|
totally ego-dystonic, seems quite consistently to be woven into the fabric of
|
|
the patient's internal life only in terms of his reactive response to the
|
|
stress inherent in these experiences and the contents of the repressed
|
|
material related to the stressful memories. But the extent of this secondary
|
|
response can be extensive. It should be noted that PTSD has not previously
|
|
been thought to occur following trauma which has been generated solely by
|
|
internally states. If abduction scenarios are in fact fantasies, then our
|
|
understanding of PTSD need to be suitably broadened to account for this
|
|
heretofore unexpected correlation.
|
|
|
|
In addition, there are significant clinical implications to the
|
|
finding of abduction scenario material in a patient who shows PTSD but is
|
|
otherwise free of significant psychopathology. Since abduction scenario
|
|
material presents several crucial areas of anomaly and discrepancy between
|
|
what is known and that which is observed. It is very important for the
|
|
therapist to refrain from the comfortable (for the therapist, at least)
|
|
description of psychotic functioning to the patient who produces this material
|
|
until such disturbance is, in fact, demonstrated and corroborated by the
|
|
presence of other signs beside the UFO-related material. It is imperative for
|
|
the therapist to adopt a non-judgemental stance. He can attend to the
|
|
distress of the patient without attempting to confirm or deny possibilities
|
|
which are outside the specific area of his expertise. The clinician should
|
|
adopt as his therapeutic priority the alleviation of the PTSD symptomology
|
|
through the use of appropriate and acceptable methods specific to the
|
|
treatment of PTSD. In addition, the therapist must remember that while he may
|
|
have strong convictions pro or con the abduction actually having occurred, it
|
|
is not within either his capability or expertise to make such a judgement with
|
|
total certainty. Furthermore, as the clinical psychologist who evaluated the
|
|
nine abductees pointed out in her addendum, the sophistication of the
|
|
psychotherapies has not advanced to the point at which this determination can
|
|
be made on the basis of currently available information (21), although the
|
|
treatment of post traumatic symptomology is currently understood. Hence, it
|
|
is important for the therapist to retain the same non-judgemental and helpful
|
|
stance necessary to the successful treatment of any other traumatic insult.
|
|
When a therapist labels material as either unacceptable or insane, the
|
|
burden of the patient is increased. If the therapist is reacting out of
|
|
prejudices which reflect his own closely-held beliefs rather than his
|
|
complete certainty, he unfairly increases the distress of the patient.
|
|
|
|
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS: Although it has long been the
|
|
"common wisdom" of both the professional and lay communities that anyone
|
|
claiming to be the victim of abduction by UFO occupants must be seriously
|
|
disturbed, thoroughly deluded or a liar, careful examination of both the
|
|
reports and their reports calls this assumption into question. Clinical and
|
|
psychometric investigation of abductees reveals four areas of discrepancy
|
|
between the expected data and the observable phenomena and suggests further
|
|
investigation. These discrepant areas are:
|
|
|
|
1. ABSENCE OF PSYCHOPATHOLOGY An unexpected absence of severe
|
|
psychopathology coupled with the high level of functioning found in many
|
|
abductees is a perplexing and surprising finding. Psychometric evaluation
|
|
of nine abductees revealed a notable heterogeneity of psychological and
|
|
psychometric characteristics. The major area of homogeneity was in the
|
|
absence of significant psychopathology. Rather than consulting a subset
|
|
of the severely disturbed and psychotic population, there is clinical
|
|
evidence that at least some abductees are high functioning, healthy
|
|
individuals. This interesting discrepancy requires further investigation.
|
|
|
|
2. CONCORDANCE OF REPORTS Highly dissimilar people produce
|
|
strikingly similar accounts of abductions by UFO occupants. The basic
|
|
scenarios are highly concordant in detail and events. This is surprising in
|
|
light of the widely divergent cultural, socio-economic, educational,
|
|
occupational, intellectual and emotional status of abductees. Further, the
|
|
scenarios themselves do not seem to show the same layering of affect and
|
|
symbolic richness present in other fantasy endowed material. Instead,
|
|
symbolic and conceptual complexity centers around the meaning of the
|
|
experience for the individual, not around the shape, form, activity, intent,
|
|
etc., of the aliens and their environment. This is in stark contrast to the
|
|
expected complexity and diversity of thematic and symbolic elaboration found
|
|
in our fantasy material.
|
|
|
|
3. RESISTANCE TO SUGGESTION UNDER HYPNOSIS Abduction scenario
|
|
concordance is frequently attributed to the introduction of material into the
|
|
suggestible mind of a hypnotized patient. Examination of abduction reports
|
|
indicates that a significant percentage of these reports emerge into conscious
|
|
awareness prior to the use of hypnosis or other techniques employed to
|
|
stimulate recall. Furthermore abductees resist being lead or diverted during
|
|
hypnosis and regularly insist on correcting the hypnotist so that their report
|
|
remains accurate according to their own perceptions.
|
|
|
|
4. PTSD IN THE ABSENCE OF TRAUMA Post Traumatic Stress
|
|
Disorder (PTSD) has not been previously reported in patients experiencing
|
|
overwhelming stress predicted only in internally generated states such as
|
|
psychotic delusional systems or phobias. But patients reporting abduction
|
|
frequently show classic signs and symptoms of PTSD. Like other kinds of PTSD
|
|
it is subject to clinical intervention which frequently leads to substantial
|
|
clinical improvement. But in order for this improvement to occur, the patient
|
|
must be treated for the PTSD he exhibits rather than the psychotic state he is
|
|
presumed to display by virtue of his abduction report. If the abduction
|
|
scenarios represent only a fantasy state, then it is worth investigating why
|
|
(and how) this particular highly concordant and deeply disturbing fantasy is
|
|
involved in the pathogenesis of a condition otherwise seen only following
|
|
externally induced trauma. Further, if this is found to be the case, the
|
|
nature of PTSD itself should be re-examined in light of this finding.
|
|
Alternatively, it may be that the trauma is, in fact, an external one which
|
|
has taken place and the post traumatic state represents an expected response
|
|
on the part of a traumatized patient.
|
|
|
|
It is not within the area of expertise of the clinician to make an
|
|
accurate determination about the objective validity of UFO abduction events.
|
|
But it is certainly within his purview to assist the patient in regaining a
|
|
sense of appropriate mastery, anxiety reduction and the alleviation of the
|
|
clinical symptomalogy as efficiently and effectively as possible. This is
|
|
best accomplished through an assessment the patient's *actual* state of
|
|
psycho-dynamic organization, not his *presumed* state. In other words, in
|
|
order to make the diagnosis of a psychotic or delusional state, findings other
|
|
than the presence of a belief in UFO abduction must be present. In the
|
|
absence of other indications of severe psychopathology, it is inappropriate to
|
|
treat the patient as if he were afflicted with such psychopathology. It lies
|
|
outside the realm of clinical expertise to determine with absolute certainty
|
|
whether or not a UFO abduction has indeed taken place. Patients should not be
|
|
viewed as demonstrating prima facie evidence of pervasive psychotic
|
|
dysfunction because of the abduction material alone nor should they be
|
|
hospitalized or treated with anti-psychotic medication based solely on the
|
|
presence of UFO abduction scenarios. Instead, they should be assessed on the
|
|
basis of their overall psychologic state. Unless otherwise indicated,
|
|
treatment should be focused on the PTSD symptomatology and its repair.
|
|
|
|
The areas of discrepancy which arise from the examination of UFO
|
|
abductees between the expected clinical finding and the observed ones
|
|
highlight interesting questions which require further investigation into
|
|
the nature and impact of fantasy on psycho-dynamic states and symptom
|
|
formation.
|
|
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
(1)Westrum, R., Social Intelligence About Hidden Events,
|
|
Knowledge:Creation, Diffusion, Utilization, Vol 3 No 3,
|
|
March 1982, p.382
|
|
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
(2)Hopkins, B. Missing Time: A Documented Study of UFO Abductions.
|
|
New York, Richard Marek 1981.
|
|
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
(3)Slater, E., Ph.D. "Conclusions on Nine Psychologicals" in
|
|
Final Report on the Psychological Testing of UFO Abductees"
|
|
Mt Ranier, MD, 1985
|
|
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
(4)Slater, E., Ph.D. Addendum to "Conclusions on Nine Psychological"
|
|
in Final Report on the Psychological Testing of UFO "Abductees", op.cit.
|
|
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
(5)Creighton, G. "The Amazing Case of Antonio Villas Boas" in
|
|
Rogo, D>S>, ed., Alien Abductions. New York, New American
|
|
Library, pp. 51-83, 1980.
|
|
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
(6)Hopkins,B. Missing Time: A Documented Study of UFO Abductions. op.cit.
|
|
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
(7)Druffel,A. "Harrison Bailey and the 'Flying Saucer Disease'" in
|
|
Rogo, S.D., ed., op.cit. pp. 122-137
|
|
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
(8)Strieber, W. Communion. New York, Avon, 1987
|
|
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
(9)Fowler, R. The Andreasson Affair. New York, Bantam Books, 1979
|
|
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
(10)Fuller, J. The Interrupted Journey. New York, Dell, 1966
|
|
---------------------------------------
|
|
(11)Hopkins, B. Intruders: The Incredible Visitation at Copley Woods.
|
|
New York, Random House, 1987
|
|
--------------------------------------
|
|
(12)Hopkins, B. Personal communications with the author about the more
|
|
than 200 abductees whom Mr. Hopkins has investigated both with and
|
|
without the use of hypnosis.
|
|
---------------------------------------
|
|
(13)Westrum, R. personal communication with the author.
|
|
---------------------------------------
|
|
(14)Hopkins, B. personal communication with the author.
|
|
---------------------------------------
|
|
(15)Hopkins, B. "The Investigation of UFO Reports" in The Spectrum
|
|
of UFO Research. Proceedings of the Second CUFOS Conference
|
|
(September 25-27, 1981), Hynek, M. ed., pp 171-2, Chicago,
|
|
J. Allen Hynek Center for UFO Studies, 1988.
|
|
---------------------------------------
|
|
(16)Kardiner, A., The Traumatic Neuroses of War. New York,
|
|
P. Hoeber, 1941
|
|
---------------------------------------
|
|
(17)van Der Kolk, B.A., Psychological Trauma. Washington, DC, American
|
|
Psychiatric Press, 1987
|
|
---------------------------------------
|
|
(18)Horowitz,M.J., Stress Response Syndromes. New York, Jason Aronson,1976
|
|
---------------------------------------
|
|
(19)van Der Kolk, op.cit.
|
|
---------------------------------------
|
|
(20)American Psychiatric Association: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual
|
|
of Mental Disorders, 3rd ed. Washington, DC,
|
|
American Psychiatric Association, 1980
|
|
---------------------------------------
|
|
(21)Slater, op.cit.
|
|
---------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
|
|
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