There's a 0th: empathy. They want to hear you say you heard them, hear you say the problem is a problem, and have you say the problem is making things harder.

Fascinating demonstration of denial

The cool thing about this one is that you don't even have to understand what they said, just learn how to repeat it back to them with a sad look on your face.

or perhaps thats the first response?

in any case, as a hard core problem solver who is currently overwhelmed with problems I am bieng forced into no choice paragmatic responses. where I have lost any reserve capacity, deflect, move, deny a problem and get some rest, eat, shave the yak, before rejoining the fray with enough energy to perform is just part of the routine now. ie: triage or go under, which may be habit forming

Denying the problem exists is not the same.

Denying that the problem is a “problem” would be.

In the first case, the affected do nothing because there is no problem.

In the second, it’s “not a problem” because they did a thing and moved it elsewhere.

the other possibility is that the problem is somebody elses, rendering it invisible and therefor potentialy usefull in it's own right

My colleagues like this one.