If it’s not interfering with your life, but you want to deal with it anyway, what should you do? When faced with events that one cannot control, what can be done?

There are general tactics one can use, as well as specific techniques available to help one through this.

Generally, we are each responsible for those acts we commit when conscious. We are not responsible for things we do when unconscious or semi-conscious or when forced by someone else. Likewise, harmful acts against us, perpetrated by others, are not our responsibility.

For acts committed against others by our own bodies, for example vehicular assaults and homicides committed while “under the influence”, we can expect to be held responsible. The assumption in this case is that we chose to ingest those substances that incapacitated us and led to our criminal behaviors.

But how do we deal with those harmful acts against us? Viktor Frankl suggested an approach that seems most appropriate: we can choose our response. In his book “Man’s Search for Meaning” he said:

“We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” “Man’s Search for Meaning”, page 104

I highly recommend all of his books, audio and video productions to everyone, whether they have been victimized themselves or whether they want to understand those who have been victimized. Dr. Frankl’s works help the healing, and the personal empowerment, begin.

Specifically, we can look at two anxiety disorders to gain treatment techniques that help move us back into productive, healthy lives. They are post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and post-abduction syndrome (PAS). PTSD is recognized by professional mental health classification and treatment organizations, while PAS is not, as yet.

Neither of these, PTSD or PAS, has been proven to completely deal with our current topic. These are presented as only possible avenues for research and use. Also, PAS is presented here without reference to treatment, because no methods were found, in the research for this article. On the other hand, PTSD is presented with its most effective treatments. It is hoped that until a specific treatment is available for PAS, the methods used for PTSD and other anxiety disorders will help.

The word “abduction” in PAS refers to alien abduction. PAS does not refer to humans abducting humans, (i.e., kidnapping), but only to alien abductions. PAS shares many symptoms with PTSD. But it is not the same.

PAS is based on those symptoms originally listed by alien abduction researcher Budd Hopkins and described in his books “Missing Time” and “Intruders”.

PAS symptoms include:
• Persistent re•experiencing of the traumatic event characterized by flashbacks
• Persistent avoidance of stimuli associated with the trauma
• Denial of the event
• Labeling the event something else
• Phobic avoidance of areas or situations where contact occurred
• Refraining from sleep at the time contact occurred
• Emotional reaction to literature, pictures, or videos about alien entities
• Numbing of emotions characterized by inability to feel intimacy, pleasure, or to express
  emotions
• Diminished interest previously enjoyed activities
• May have no expectation of normal life events or normal life span
• May fear abduction with no return or lengthy abduction
• Hyper•vigilance, exaggerated startle response, irritability, and/or panic attacks

As mentioned earlier, there is no treatment or cure listed with PAS, as presently proposed. It is hoped that the treatments used for authenticated anxiety disorders, like PTSD, are helpful to those experiencing PAS.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and treatment
PTSD refers to stressful events that the person experiences as highly traumatic. Like PAS, PTSD has everything to do with not being able to trust your environment anymore. It’s very serious and debilitating.

It is possible for individuals to experience traumatic stress without manifesting Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. But PTSD is an anxiety disorder and not to be confused with normal grief and adjustment after traumatic events. For most people, the emotional effects of traumatic events will tend to subside after several months. If they last longer, then a psychiatric disorder may be diagnosed. It is also possible to suffer other psychiatric disorders in addition to PTSD. These disorders often include depression, anxiety disorders and addictions. PTSD may have a delayed onset of months, years or even decades and may be triggered by an external factor or factors.

There are dozens of treatments suggested for PTSD. PTSD is commonly treated using a combination of psychotherapy and psychotropic drug therapy.

The most effective psychotherapeutic treatment for PTSD is Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). Extremely briefly, EMDR is an eight-phase treatment that includes the following actions occurring simultaneously and under supervision:
- Patient focuses inwardly on a most traumatic scene from her past
- Patient focuses outwardly on their doctor’s finger, following it back and forth with their eyes
- Patient visualizes a pre-chosen positive picture

A more detailed explanation of the treatment can be found at the EMDR website listed in the references at the end of this article. Parenthetically, it is interesting that the eyes are the focus of the PTSD therapy EMDR.

Whether alien abductions occur in our physical world or not, their effects can be real, and real devastating, to their victims. It should be encouraging to know that help is available. It should be hopeful to know there are ways to manage our responses to these intrusions. It should be better still to go on living our lives with purpose.

A short list of references:
Viktor Frankl: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Frankl
PAS: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-abduction_syndrome
PTSD: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PTSD
EMDR: http://www.emdr.com/

Visit Rick Nielsen's website - http://alienabductionaccounts.blogspot.com/