When I began studying the UAP matter in 2019, I became so quickly dedicated to this field that I contacted an independent UAP research organization and asked, "How can I best help?" Their answer was telling. "Keep doing what you're doing. When we open Pandora's Box, we're going to need a lot more therapists."
Indeed. Within the 2024 Immaculate Constellation document delivered to journalist Michael Shellenberger by a Department of Defense employee, "unease," "distress," "anxiety," and "a feeling of being watched" are listed as symptoms associated with firsthand UAP experiences. Within its 2024 "Anomalous Health Threats" paper, the Sol Foundation proposed creation of rapid response teams that would "mobilize to incident locations to conduct time-sensitive medical evaluations and gather essential forensic data." The four most common disorders UAP experiencers develop may be Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Panic Disorder, Acute Stress Disorder, and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder is characterized by persistent and excessive anxiety that interferes with normal functioning and performance. Sufferers can present as being restlessness, feeling on edge, having difficulty concentrating, and enduring low-quality sleep. This is the least serious and least specific anxiety disorder, though surely it can reduce one's quality of life in myriad ways.
Panic Disorder is marked by panic attacks that are a cruel combination of physical and psychological distress. Physical symptoms may include heart palpitations, shallow and rapid respiration, nausea, and chest pain. These encourage negative psychological symptoms including fear of imminent death and a desire to hide or flee. Severe panic attack symptoms mimic heart attack symptoms.
Acute Stress Disorder is often casually described as short-term Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Symptoms typically present three to thirty days after the stressful event. Sufferers experience anxiety, are easily startled and irritable, and feel detached from others. Some feel they're "losing their mind." Half of those who suffer from Acute Stress Disorder will develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is a diagnosis reserved for long-term negative symptoms stemming from rare events like natural disasters, violent encounters, and unexpected deaths. Sufferers have disturbing thoughts and memories as well as imagery that borders on hallucinations. These are often caused by reminders of the events. Flashbacks can have the person feel they've been transported back to the event.
Yet none of these diagnoses may fit the bill. As Unhidden wrote in, "The Impact of Exceptional Experiences and Disclosure on Mental Health and Wellbeing," from 2024, "These traditional diagnoses may accurately portray the symptoms a UAP-centric client may be experiencing."
I have determined people can't find help due to a seven-stage self-perpetuating predicament
1. Clients need educated providers, but
2. Providers aren't educated, because
3. Education isn't available, so
4. Providers remain ignorant, and
5. Ignorance becomes stigma, and
6. Stigma becomes normalized, and
7. Clients can't find providers
Stage 1: Clients Need Educated Providers Researcher Gabriel De la Torre wrote in his 2023 International Journal of Astrobiology paper "Psychological Aspects in UAP Witnesses" that when people have firsthand UAP experiences, these events leave "clear psychological impact" in which they're "left in shock and disbelief." Their experiences foster "life-changing" effects, and so they need providers to talk to.
Stage 2: Providers Aren't Educated UAP Medical Coalition and National Aviation Reporting Center on Anomalous Phenomena director Ted Roe wrote in a 2024 document, "Long-standing national stigma and limited evidence-based clinical research have created a negative feedback loop between UAP experiencers" and providers. Clients need educated providers but can't find them.
Stage 3: Education Isn't Available My own research shows that no accredited degree programs for mental health counselors, psychiatrists, psychologists, professional counselors, social workers and life coaches offer UAP education. The two most influential providers of continuing education courses, NASW and PESI, do not offer UAP courses and do not accept such course proposals. Trust me. I tried.
Stage 4: Providers Remain Ignorant Within his 2024 document Ted Roe asked these simple questions, among others. "What is the epidemiology of UAP exposure in the U.S.?" "Where, how, when, and to whom does one report UAP exposure?" "Who should one go to for appropriate physical and mental care after a UAP exposure?" Incredibly, these straightforward questions have no agreed upon answers.
Stage 5: Ignorance Becomes Stigma The layperson publication and website Psychology Today has led this charge, its editor Kaja Perina writing, "Many want to believe in creatures from outer space." Articles commonly include ridiculing rhetoric like "flying saucer people," "UFO cults," "indoctrination," "brainwashing," "conspiracy theories," "propensity to daydream," "space aliens," and "obsession du jour."
Stage 6: Stigma Becomes Normalized Researchers Charlton Yingling and Marissa Yingling determined in their 2024 Humanities and Social Sciences Communications paper "Academic Freedom and the Unknown" that stigma persists. Among 1,460 academics surveyed, 60% felt that studying UAPs could negatively effect their reputation and advancement. 69% feared ridicule.
Stage 7: Clients Can't Find Providers Even if a provider is educated in the UAP matter, popular telehealth practices like BetterHelp, Talkspace, and Teladoc do not give providers the option of advertising they help with this matter. Popular provider search platforms like Good Therapy, Psychology Today, and Zencare do not give clients the option of searching for providers familiar with UAP-related issues.
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