To worry there is a serious mental health crisis amongst conspiracy theorists?

[BlooperReel]

Maybe it's because I've been online more now due to lockdown, but conspiracy theories seem to have really ramped up, people I know are now peddling some of this nonsense. Adrenochrome, pizzagate, 5G etc all seem to have sucked in people I'd assumed were rational people, and they are almost rabid about it and wil not hear any other viewpoint.

A bbc documentary called Viral - the 5g conspiracy theory interviewed some individuals who quite clearly need help.

I've seen the likes of Bill Gates, Chrissy teigen, Ellen DeGeneres and others get so much appalling abuse on social media over these theories and I can only think that the people who wholeheartedly believe this stuff must have psychological issues, the levels of paranoia are truly astounding. Is this an emerging mental health crisis?

No. I think that is a bit of insult to be honest. Are you suggesting people with differing opinions to the norm are mentally ill?
Human minds are not engineered to think the same way you know.
YABU.

I have some friends on Facebook who truly believe all these theories and the common denominator is a traumatic childhood. I guess that can lead to mental health problems in adulthood in some cases.

I think there have always been conspiracy theorists, and either they went to live off grid and wore a tin hat, or they didn't talk about it and lived normal lives to conform. On the internet people can let their crazy out anonymously. So all you are seeing is what was under the surface the whole time anyway

What's the conspiracy over Chrissy Teigan?

i think its more of an intellectual 'crisis'. i know it sounds mean, but i am astonished by how thick people are - especially on my local news fb page.
they think everyone who 'believes' in covid is a 'sheeple'. there's no reasoning with them. theyre quite scary.

In days of yore the conspiracy theorists were the pub bore and the relative everybody fought to avoid sitting next to at a Golden Wedding party. Now they're on social media, find others of the same mindset and spend 12 hours a day egging each other on.

It has been reported that there has been a rise in psychosis cases (some about conspiracy theories) in lockdown..so perhaps..

"Most have involved a Covid “theme”, with patients believing that the virus can be transmitted by exchanging looks with an infected person, that they have been placed under police surveillance or that the virus is a government weapon to control the public"

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/psychosis-spike-linked-to-effect-of-coronavirus-dxlqv7k3q

@HermioneMakepeace apparently she is part of an elite ring of pedophiles who torture children to extract adrenochrome to keep herself looking youthful, I've also seen abuse on twitter stating she was on Epsteins flight logs to his island. She seems to handle it well and trolls them back frequently but it's relentless.

but in the old days, didnt people feel they had to evidence or discuss/back-up their statements? now they just burp out some inanity and if you question them, they tell you youre a dick.

@BlooperReel That's terrible! Poor girl. What awful (and frankly bonkers) accusations.

Yes, I think mental health problems definitely underly (is that a word?!) conspiracy theories.

Also a history of bullying.

Jon Ronson discussed this a little with Louis Theroux on his podcast a few months back.

I know a few conspiracy theorists and it's just another manifestation of several other issues these people have.

@Helmetbymidnight when I've challenged any of it I've been told they've done their own research, the evidence is YouTube videos, blatantly photoshopped pictures, unverified documents etc. When I challenge the flimsy evidence I'm told mainstream media are all in on it, any official bodies are in on it etc, you literally cannot sway them, all logic seems to have disappeared.

And yes, what a previous poster said about an intellectual crisis.

When you're that stupid, and with that slender a grip on reality, the world must be a very confusing and frightening place to try and navigate.

It's linked to locus of control behaviourally if someone feels they are stuck or cannot change their life in some way/s they are more likely to believe in conspiracies.This could be lack of education, finances, relationships etc. People don't like to think of life as uncertain (even though it is) so when odd things happen in a world they can't control on a personal level they start to "see patterns" to make sense of it.

I don't know where your stand on feminism OP but Glinner was accused of being "quite mentally unwell" for having the balls to speak out his gender critical views. JK Rowling has been widely accused of having a breakdown for posting her (IMO sensible and nothing to write home about) views on the subject.

So no, I think it's insulting to both parties to claim that somebody who holds a different or uncommon view is mentally unwell. I think it makes the person claiming that look pretty unintelligent.

One of my partners relatives has went fully off the deep end with this shit, it would be even funnier if it wasn't tragic. Flat earth, 5G causing covid, Bill Gates micro chipping everyone, and apparently nearly every high profile celebrity is now killing children in secret and eating them, etc. etc. anything going they believe and post about daily.

Hopefully the kid they have isn't going to get messed up listening to the amount of insane shit coming from their parent.

@Midsommar

No. I think that is a bit of insult to be honest. Are you suggesting people with differing opinions to the norm are mentally ill? Human minds are not engineered to think the same way you know. YABU.

I tend to agree with this

It stands to reason that someone with a mental illness that leads to paranoid thinking will be drawn to conspiracy theories. Therefore, you should find people with these kinds of illness more frequently amongst conspiracy theorists than in the general population.

I don't think it's insulting to wonder whether people displaying extreme paranoia, based on clearly falsified 'evidence' and doing things like refusing to seek medical care because 'the NHS are murderers' (guy in the bbc documentary) for example, may need mental health assistance, I think that behaviour and belief goes beyond a differing opinion.

Maybe it can be linked to denial, so easier to think about than the reality in a way?

I was raised on this rubbish in the 1970/80s. Most of my family still believe heavily in conspiracy theories, it has spread throughout the generations: grandparents, parents, adult children. I don't know what the reason is, perhaps solidarity, a sense of being a special group who really know the truth?

The internet and spread of these theories doesn't seem to have dampened down their beliefs, Bill Gates is developing nano technology for vaccinations don't you know. Batshit crazy.

also, psychosis is linked to severe physical and mental stress, all of which may well be caused by lockdown etc.

I would love for someone in academia to do a study on people with psychosomatic pain and whether they voted Brexit though. I have a friend who's logic disappeared completely in 2015/16 with the Leave vote and he has concurrently suffered debilitating back pain which I suspected was psyhosomatic (you really do feel the pain btw) and caused by previous trauma he refused to acknowledge and get help for. After countless scans this was found to be the case. I would love to do some research on correlation. My hypothesis would be that failure to discuss/get therapy for previous trauma can lead to psychosomatic health problems and an increased tendency to conspiracy thinking. Self reflection is key!

I know a few conspiracy theorists and it's just another manifestation of several other issues these people have

I know a few as well. They all have a 20+ years weed habit.

I think this year has put everyone under strain, even the most mentally solid person has felt a wobble at some point, or they will.

People I used to know who were into conspiracy theories all used to smoke weed. I am sure there is a connection.