I’d like to believe in ETs, but I’m not psychotic…..

My psychological training in college was psychoanalytic not psychiatric, so I am somewhat ill-equipped to ruminate on psychosis.

But I am familiar with the literature, more so than most I think.

And I get the distinct feeling that believers in, proponents of, the ETH (the extraterrestrial hypothesis) border on psychotic behavior, while not actually psychotic as defined by psychiatry.

Psychosis (and the evidence for it, as I discerned it from class study with patients at Eloise Hospital in Wayne County, Michigan) is defined this way:

http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/psychosis

I’ve culled, from the above link, these elements of psychosis that I’ve found in proposed (but not allowed) commentary here and elsewhere in the UFO community (especially the now defunct UFO UpDates):

Impaired functioning, and a distorted or nonexistent sense of objective reality

Its course and severity can be altered by social factors such as stress or a lack of support within the [UFO] family

Delusional disorder is also more likely to develop in persons who are isolated from others

Psychosis may also be triggered by an organic cause, termed a psychotic disorder due to a general medical condition. Organic sources of psychosis include neurological conditions.

Shared psychotic disorder, also known as folie à deux or psychosis by association, is a relatively rare delusional disorder involving two (or more) people with close emotional ties.

Disorganized speech. Psychotic patients, especially those with schizophrenia, often ramble on in incoherent, nonsensical speech patterns.

Psychosis is also a known side effect of the use, abuse, and withdrawal from certain drugs. So-called recreational drugs, such as hallucinogenics, PCP, amphetamines, cocaine, marijuana, and alcohol, may cause a psychotic reaction during use or withdrawal. Certain prescription medications such as steroids, anticonvulsants, chemotherapeutic agents, and antiparkinsonian medications may also induce psychotic symptoms. Toxic substances such as carbon monoxide have also been reported to cause substance-induced psychotic disorder.

As one can see, persons not using their real names to work the internet may be classed in the above, and the often rambling discourse of many who visit blogs and now immerse themselves in Facebook chatter can also be seen to exploit the configurations that a psychiatrist might call psychotic behavior.

The idea that extraterrestrials are coming and have come to Earth in droves is beyond the rational pale, as I see it.

RR