Research
Medical mysteries | Holistic Health | Paranormal Phenomena | Indigenous Health Equity
Hi, I’m Chris M. Daley, PhD. I work with many people who feel judged and stigmatized. There’s a feeling of wariness among the communities with whom I work: “Are you going to help us? Are you going to hurt us?” To help alleviate this feeling, I use community-based participatory research, which includes the people directly affected by the things I study in ways that honor their lived experiences. You can trust me to respect and listen to you.
Who does my research help? Patients suffering from medical mysteries and spiritual health problems, people who feel stigmatized because of health problems, clinicians and other health providers, religious and spiritual healers, and others who want to be believed about what they experience.
This website shares our current projects and research outputs. Want to get involved? Reach out at cmakoskydaley@gmail.com
Projects
Lived Experience of Morgellons Disease
The medical community and the CDC have labeled Morgellons Disease as a psychiatric disorder, but real people suffer from it physically every day in many different parts of the world. These are not crazy people. They are just like everyone else, but are suffering from something terrible and debilitating. Morgellons Disease is labeled as “delusions of parasitosis” by the mainstream medical community, led by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This condition is characterized by the belief that there is something crawling under your skin or that you are infested with parasites with no evidence of this being true.
Individuals who have Morgellons Disease have these feelings, but they also have evidence that there is something else going on. They have microscopic filaments growing out of their skin made of keratin and collagen, natural substances produced by the body, but in this case growing in very unnatural ways. These filaments can be blue, red, black, or clear. They fluoresce under UV light and sometimes have a glittery appearance. Morgellons patients have been told by gastroenterologists and gynecologists that these filaments can be seen on colonoscopy or pelvic examination. Veterinarians have seen these same filaments emerging from household pets. But Morgellons patients are regularly told by physicians that they are delusional and require psychiatric treatment. They are often dismissed without even undergoing an examination.
Is Morgellons Disease real? Yes.
Medical Mysteries
Morgellons Disease
Spiritual Illnesses (e.g. Possession, Ghost Sickness)
Death, the Afterlife, and Consciousness (e.g. Near Death Experiences)
Podcast Episode
Anomalies: Paranormal Beliefs and Experiences
Surveys, Interviews
We’re inviting participants to take part in a research study on beliefs and experiences surrounding paranormal, supernatural, and anomalous phenomena. Anyone over the age of 18 who can read English is invited to complete an online survey covering topics including information about you, your quality of life, spiritual health and religiosity, perspectives on death and the afterlife, knowledge, beliefs, and experiences of the paranormal and supernatural, discrimination based on your beliefs, mental health, and your interest in participating in further research. Based on your responses, you may also have the opportunity to participate in additional surveys and/or interviews.
All responses will be kept anonymous and will not be shared with anyone outside of the research team.
Have questions or want to learn more about this research study? If you are eligible and interested in participating or if you have questions, please email the study coordinator Dr. Ryan Goeckner at RTGoeckner@Lehigh.edu to receive a message with your personalized link to the survey.
Paranormal Phenomenon
Aliens, Alien Abduction, & UFOs/UAPs
Cryptids & Other Unexplained Beings
Demonic Possession
Ghosts & Hauntings
Near-Death Experiences
Psychic Phenomena
Spontaneous Human Combustion
Podcast Episode
7 Generations: Holistic Wellness
Surveys, Interviews, focus groups
This longitudinal study of Native health and wellness includes Native American people across the country, examining many different topics, including different aspects of physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health, as well as paranormal beliefs and experiences. It includes surveys, interviews, and focus groups across a wide variety of topics from discrimination to near-death experiences to understanding masculinity to encounters with non-human entities!
We have just completed our initial run of the study, which included collecting information from the same people over the course of a year. We are hoping to continue the study for years to come, adding new people and new topics each year.
All Nations Breath of Life
quit Smoking Program
The idea for the All Nations Breath of Life smoking cessation program began in 2003, when Native American smokers at a clinic in Kansas went to their clinic director and asked for a culturally appropriate program that would help them quit recreational smoking while also respecting tobacco as a sacred plant.
Over the next decade, these community members and others worked with researchers at the University of Kansas Medical Center to develop and test this new program, named by community members All Nations Breath of Life, signifying that it is for all Native American people, not just one tribe.
Since that time, it has been proven efficacious and effective through multiple research projects across the Northern and Southern Plains. It has been modified from its original in-person, group-based format to also have individual, telephone-based, and Internet-based versions. Most recently, we developed All Nations Snuff Out Smokeless, a program based on All Nations Breath of Life designed to help people quit chewing tobacco and electronic nicotine delivery systems, such as e-cigarettes and vapes.
JOin the Program
We are still accepting participants in our research study to test All Nations Snuff Out Smokeless. Interested in joining us? Reach out at cmakoskydaley@gmail.com
Chris M. Daley, PhD 