Can Humor Ease The Trauma of Alien Abductions

Can Humor Ease the Trauma of Alien Abductions?
By Brandon Scott

Over the years, I have met many people who strongly believe they have been abducted by aliens. Some have had insightful experiences, but many are traumatized by the event. Being abducted without consent, and then probed and scooped for skin graph samples is not exactly fun. The idea of having implants logged in one’s body is a very scary proposition.

Many who have had these experiences do not have anyone they can go to for help. They have to hide what they feel, often times in the form of denial. Fortunately there are experienced therapists who specialize in these matters that give answers and comfort to those who have suffered these unusual situations. Hypnotherapists often working hand in had with psychotherapists, counsel and treat their clients with a wide variety of approaches and techniques in the same clinical attention they would give anyone who has gone through trauma and is seeking mental health. Many who have the alien abduction experiences are totally normal, healthy and function perfectly in society. There are extreme cases where the experience is so severe that it causes depression and individuals may become reclusive.

I have found that many abuductees have discovered an outlet to their trauma through the arts. I first discovered this when I met Yvonne R. Smith, Certified Hypnotherapist and Abduction researcher and Founder of Close Encounter Research Organization (CERO), an investigative / support group, assisting abductees to work through and cope with their experiences. Yvonne was the first to introduced me to a series of sketches made by some of her clients who had abduction experiences. As I continued my research I learned that painting, music, poetry, animation, and writing their experiences, not only help abductees and contactees communicate to others their seemingly unexplainable experience, but it also helps them process their pain.

But what about humor? Has laughter ever helped in this situation?
It is quite well accepted now, that laughter can help cure illnesses and overcome depression. A footnote in the Farmers Almanac addresses this idea, “Laughter is the best natural cure I know of. It's amazing how you can overcome physical illness when you are happy.” I asked Yvonne Smith about humor to which she had this to offer, “ I have found in the years that I have been conducting CERO meetings, that humor has been very healing for those people who have had encounters. Within the group meetings, they have joked with each other and even "laughed with one another" about their experiences. Several members have told me that if the CERO meetings were all serious and depressing, they would lose interest in attending each month. They become family to each other and laughter and humor is very healing while they are trying to make sense about their experiences.

Research has shown health benefits of laughter ranging from strengthening the immune system to increasing one's threshold for pain. There's even an emerging therapeutic field known as Humor Therapy to help people heal more quickly, among other things. Humor Therapy claims beneficial effects from the use of positive emotions associated with laughter. Although used throughout history, interest in humor therapy is seen generally to have originated in the 1970s in America when Norman Cousins detailed his experiences in overcoming a serious chronic disease, by laughing at favorite comedy shows such as ‘Candid Camera’ and ’Marx Brothers’ films. He stated that ten minutes of laughing gave him two hours of drug-free pain relief.

I found this in an article posted on comedycures.org that may shed some light on how the chemistry of laughter works in the healing process. Endorphins are chemicals in the brain that produce feelings of euphoria. Laughing triggers the release of endorphins. Other newer studies say the link can't be positively made, but laughter does cause distraction, which helps the patient not perceive the pain. Whatever the truth, the result is laughter does work. You don't need scientific studies to tell you laughter reduces anxiety, depression and anger. "Hope, purpose and determination are not merely mental states; they have electrochemical connections affecting the immune system." says Cousins.

Research has also shown that laughing can help in: lowering blood pressure, reducing stress hormones, boosting immune function by raising levels of infection-fighting T-cells, disease-fighting proteins called Gamma interferon and B-cells, which produce disease-destroying antibodies, triggering the release of endorphins, the body’s natural painkillers producing a general sense of well-being. The actually origin of the term humor derives from the humoral medicine of the ancient Greeks, which stated that a mix of fluids known as humours controlled human health and emotion.
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Comedy is also a great learning tool. Educators have often resorted to adding humor to boring factual lessons, to help student’s attention span and to assist their memory. I have often used comedy as a mnemonic device to remember dates and locations of UFO events. Although humor in general seems to be a great ingredient for growth and understanding, there are still many who cannot accept the humor in matters of trauma and pain. They reject the humor and often times feel insulted by it. One has to respect the phase in life these people are at and only share with them the possibility of another approach to coping with their trauma. Humor will not always make bad things go away, but it seems to help the coping mechanism. If one approaches solving problems from a balanced, stress free, grounded point of view, one may enhance the chances of minimizing the feeling of victimization. Although you may say it’s all in the mind, humor has helped many people even overcome physical illnesses. Saranne Rothberg founder and CEO of The Comedy Cures Foundation, dealt with an early stage IV cancer diagnosis with humor. Now, cancer free she shares these inspiring words, “Every minute, even when living with depression or illness, you have the power to choose joy or not. You have the power over your own response."

I am very serious about my research and the work of other researchers and scientists in the UFO field. However, I have found a great advantage when I have personally introduced comedy in my investigations, much like the cartoon artists making fun of aliens trying to catch a cow. I see the humorous side of the phenomena, without making fun of the science or the victims. When I share my humor with individuals that claim to be abductees, it has helped reduced their stress, and helped my interview with them go smoother. Not by making fun of them , but by finding the common human humor in all this, it helps break the ice, and gets people to loosen up and share more about their experience. I have no way of really knowing if their experiences are actual alien abductions or whether they had a dream or an outer body projection, but from what I could see, something was traumatizing them.

For example there in one person that I once interviewed who is quite convince they were physically abused during an abduction. He was looking for help but did not want to talk with anyone about it. When I introduced my brand of humor about the aliens, not only did it allow, him to relax, he was able to get through telling his experience without breaking down and crying. In another situation, I had a conversation with an abuductee who shared with me incidents of a series of negative abuction encounters she felt had happened to her. I could tell she was not comfortable with what had happen and was unable to truly release her emotions. We went to a comedy show and after laughing all night, she was able to let go. Inspired by the comedians sharing their life through their stand up , she began to make jokes about the mind boggling ridiculousness of the whole mystery behind the phenomena. I later found out that when she went home she was finally able to cry . This release has now helped her have a different approach to going about finding answers to her situation. Humor on its own is not a substitute for therapy but it has provided a way of managing peoples traumas, and a vehicle for sharing their personal stories.

Brandon Scott with
UFO Hover Disk

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