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Cryptids are animals presumed by followers of the cryptozoology pseudoscientific subculture to exist on the basis of anecdotal or other evidence considered insufficient by mainstream science. While biologists regularly identify new species following established scientific methodology, cryptozoologists focus on entities mentioned in the folklore record and rumour. Entities that may be considered cryptids by cryptozoologists include Bigfoot, Yeti, the chupacabra, the Jersey Devil, the Loch Ness Monster, or Mokele-mbembe. Related pseudosciences include young Earth creationism, ghost hunting, and ufology. Some dictionaries and encyclopedias define the term "cryptid" as an animal whose existence is unsubstantiated. - Wikipedia

Well, people ARE seeing something  and it is affecting them ...

Independent researcher Rich Daniels looked into the emotional and psychological effects of individuals who have encountered unusual creatures or cryptids of various classifications. 

This report documents negative and adverse effects and affects experienced by individuals who have volunteered to share their encounters with undocumented animals. The vast majority of those participating in the study  purport experiences with bigfoot while the remainder claim encounters with other creatures such as dogman and alien life forms .

Study Subjects

All subjects were interviewed a minimum of twice with 121 of them being interviewed three times. Interviews were conducted via text, personal message, video chat or in-person conversations. The 148 participants were selected out of a total of 408 subjects interviewed. The pool of subjects chosen included one hundred twelve  men and thirty-six  women. All those interviewed were extended the guarantee of anonymity in exchange for their participation. All participants were also guaranteed that their stories would not be sold or marketed in any way in connection with this study.

Participants were vetted through several means. The primary vetting question applied was about the presence of mental/behavioral health history. Every participant selected reported no personal nor family history of mental or behavioral health diagnoses. Of the 260 subjects that were not included, 74 were disqualified due to reported personal and/or family history of mental or behavioral health diagnosis. The remaining 186 subjects not included in the study were excluded as the result of changing or evolving story details, inconsistent recall, micro-expression analysis or, in one case, refusal to be re-interviewed. None of these factors indicate less than truthful reporting, however, in the interest of maintaining a consistent and less questionable collection of data those cases were not included.

Of the 148 participants chosen for the study, twenty-two  sought mental health support after their encounters. Of those, seven  continued with a treatment program for six months or more. Six  of the 22 were formally diagnosed with mental health disorders. Four  were diagnosed with schizophrenia (dementia praecox), one with bipolar disorder and one with early onset dementia. Of the twenty-two  who sought professional support, five  were referred to other providers or outright refused services.

Those subjects included in the study represent as full a cross-section of vocational backgrounds as can be reasonably expected. They range from doctors, lawyers  and police officers  through most every facet of white and blue collar vocations such as factory workers, retail workers, construction workers, educators  and restaurant personnel.

The most striking feature revealed by the interview process is the pervasive presence of long periods of time subjects endured before reporting their encounters. There were thirty-six  that reported incidents within a month, but the remainder  chose to wait longer periods of time before telling anyone about their experiences. Twenty-one  waited at least a year, twenty-six  waited at least two years, forty-two  waited at least five years and twenty-three  waited more than six years.

Of the twenty-three  extended term waiting periods, twenty  lasted more than ten years, seventeen  lasted more than twenty years and three  lasted over thirty years. The longest duration between incidence and reporting of said incidence was thirty-six years. The sole reason for holding back from reporting their encounters subjects reported was fear of being ridiculed or even persecuted for their admissions. Said concerns were both personal and professional in nature.  

Responses To Encounters

All 148 subjects of the study fell into the five stress response categories fight, flight, freeze, flop and friend. There were eleven  subjects that reported immediate fight responses of anger, feelings of aggression and a desire for revenge. Eight  subjects reported body tension (clenched hands or teeth, assuming an aggressive stance), four  brandished weapons or picked up objects to use as weapons and two  subjects reported throwing objects at the creature they encountered (neither reported striking the creature they encountered with thrown objects). None of the fight responses were reactions to reported aggressive behaviors of the creatures encountered. All eleven fight responses occurred in male subjects.

By far the largest segment of subjects reported flight response. Seventy-two  subjects reported fleeing the scene of their encounter within moments of incidence. Five  individuals took flight while only hearing something alarming and saw the creature while fleeing. Eight  began walking from the area after detecting a repulsive odor then saw the creature en route. Thirteen  were overcome with a powerful sense of dread prior to their encounter. Ten  experienced confusion or disorientation just prior to encountering a creature. Twelve  subjects saw a creature but were not seen/detected by it. And twenty-four  subjects noticed a creature watching them.

The next largest sub group was made up of those who froze at the point of encounter. Thirty-one  subjects reported freezing in place, feeling paralyzed or otherwise unable to move at some point of their encounter. Twenty-three  subjects reported immediate immobilization upon encountering a creature while the remaining eight  reported experiencing inability to move within moments of their encounter. Six  subjects reported their immobile sensation to last less than a minute. Sixteen  subjects reported being immobile for “a few minutes” narrowed to less than five minutes. Seven subjects reported up to ten minutes before they were able to move away from their encounter site. And two  subjects reported not being able to move from the point of encounter for up to an hour. All subjects of this sub group reported confusion, disorientation or inability to “think straight” during their encounters.

The most unexpectedly large sub group was made up of those that fit into a flopping or fawning response. Twenty-seven  subjects reported partial or full collapse onto the ground, turning away without fleeing or averting their eyes from the creature. The nineteen  that flopped (collapsed) reported shock or feeling stunned at the moment of encounter. The eight that fawned (turned away or averted their eyes) reported dissociative or “mind numbing” feelings. None of those that turned their attention from the creature recalled hearing it depart the area.

The last, and most complex, sub group were subjects reporting a friending response. These seven  subjects all reported immediate heightened curiosity about the creature they encountered. Five  subjects reported that feeling while still in the presence of the creature while the other two  subjects reported the same feeling but a few moments after the departure of the creature. All subjects reported empathetic feelings toward the creature in some way. Two  subjects reported feeling a “special connection” was made with the creature they witnessed.

Long Term Affects

All subjects reported some extension of their initial stress response to their encounter. Reported continuation of symptoms ranged between two weeks and permanence. Of the eighty-three  subjects that experienced metabolic hyper-arousal increases (elevated heart rate, blood pressure, rapid breathing, etc.) from fight or flight responses, seventy-four  reported cessation of said symptom frequency within six months. Five  subjects reported cessation within a year and four  reported that symptoms never fully ceased.

Sixty-five subjects reported hyper-arousal overload responses from freeze, flop/fawn or friend responses. Hyper-arousal overload resulted in metabolic shutdowns (weak pulse, shallow breathing, light headedness, glazed-over eyes, pale or ashen skin or undue weakness/fatigue). Thirty-nine  reported cessation of symptoms within two months. Sixteen reported cessation within a year. Ten  reported that symptoms had never fully ceased.

Subjects reported experiencing a full range of long term emotional affects, some of which never ceased. Inability to rest or sleep, nightmares and night terrors were common for fight or flight subjects with incidences ceasing within three months  to a year . Thirteen  subjects reported that sleep depriving affects have never fully ceased.

One hundred and three  subjects reported at least some chronic stress response symptoms such as headaches, body aches, chest pains, low energy, frequent colds or infections (compromised immune response), frequent gastric disruptions (upset stomach, nausea, constipation, diarrhea) or insomnia for a period of one to two years after their encounters. Said symptoms lasted between two and five years for thirty-one  subjects and lasted more than five years for fourteen  subjects. Of those, eight  subjects reported that they never stopped experiencing chronic stress symptoms.

The Difference

Unlike victims of accepted trauma incidents, cryptid witnesses found few outlets for the effects of their experiences. Of the 148 subjects interviewed, 141 reported that they were at least hesitant to share their experiences with anyone. Invalidation, ridicule, persecution and lack of understanding by others were the chief reasons reported for delaying or not sharing experiences.

Sixty-one  subjects reported altered or terminated relationships as the result of sharing their experiences with others. The affected relationships included family, friends and professional settings. Six  subjects reported termination of immediate familial relationships of some kind. Nineteen subjects reported termination of relationships with friends. Two  subjects reported career limiting changes in their professional lives.

All of the 148 subjects reported feeling isolated or abandoned for a period of at least a month. One hundred twenty-one  subjects reported the same feeling for at least six months. Eighty-nine  subjects reported said feelings for a period of at least a year. Thirty-seven  subjects reported continued perception of isolation or abandonment for at least five years. Seventeen  subjects reported said feelings never ceasing. One hundred twenty-eight  subjects reported a strong desire to share their experiences concurrent with their hesitation to do so.

Finally, of the 148 subjects ninety-six reported definite desire to see the creature again. Thirty-eight  reported no desire to see the creature again. Fourteen  were unsure if they wanted to see the creature again.

Rich Daniels

https://nationalcryptidsociety.org/2019/06/08/emotional-affects-from-cryptid-encounters/

Posted for purposes of Educational Research and public information.

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