Conspiracy Theory Addiction

I posted this in another thread. I think some of us had hit rock bottom with our addition when ATS disappeared for four days. That should be the wake up call for many of us, myself included.

Conspiracy Theory Addiction

Conspiracy theories are a popular topic of conversation, and research shows that almost half of Americans believe in at least one conspiracy. Studies have also shown that conspiratorial thinking may increase anxiety, distrust, and feelings of losing control. These feelings can often lead to a cycle that results in conspiracy theory addiction.

People who strongly believe in conspiracy theories and become addicted may experience some of the following:

Anxiety or fear for no particular reason.
A perceived loss of control.
A need to make sense of complex topics or unrelated events, even with little or no topical knowledge.
Low self-esteem.
A strong urge to make connections between a series of unrelated events or behaviors.
A belief in paranormal explanations for scientific phenomenon.
A sense of not belonging or isolation.
A great alienation, disengagement, or disaffection from society

. . . Conspiracy theory addiction can cause long-term psychological and social harm to an individual. Therapy that centers on personal goals and strategies to achieve these goals can have a powerful impact on improving a sense of control and empowerment. If you’re interested in treatment for conspiracy theory addiction, call a treatment provider today.

www.addictioncenter.com...

Conspiracy theories are a mental health crisis No one's talking about the complex relationship between disinformation and mental health. That changes now.

mashable.com...

4 Keys to Help Someone Climb Out of the QAnon Rabbit Hole

www.psychologytoday.com...

a reply to: MichiganSwampBuck

At least it's a psychological addiction rather than a physical one.

And there is no harm in being interested in the unknown or having our own often but not always wrong eureka moment's we want to share with other's.

I see this site as a steam valve of sorts as well it let's people get things off there chest, distracts them and in some ways that help's people cope.

It's only a problem if you are doing this instead of building that cabin you were actually intending to build or putting aside more important things in order to visit this or any other site.

In that respect it is really no more addictive than your favourite TV show and often a hell of a lot more intelligent (oh not always should see some of my comment's).


Now I was going to crack a joke about still having the shakes but thought better of it because it is actually a very real phenomena you are discussing here.

One that applies to just about ever other forum out there including social media of all sorts and even people addicted to reading the News.

But to be fair it is probably just really about most us having rather boring lives in one way or another, it gives us an escape and something interesting to read instead of looking at yet another repeat in the TV or going out and running the mower over the same grass we just mowed the other day.

a reply to: MichiganSwampBuck

I give the site a break every now and then regardless.

Keeps things fresh and reassures me I'm not a (complete) nut.

That list of symptoms is propaganda in my opinion.

Anxiety or fear for no particular reason.
- There are reasons, many provable reasons to believe in some theories.

A perceived loss of control.
- When did the common citizens have any control of much of anything?

A need to make sense of complex topics or unrelated events, even with little or no topical knowledge.
- The need to know about things, striving for more knowledge about the world around you, that sounds real bad.

Low self-esteem.
- Not me in this regard, although it may be true for some.

A strong urge to make connections between a series of unrelated events or behaviors.
- I don't have that kind of urge. I wonder what percentage might have such urges?

A belief in paranormal explanations for scientific phenomenon.
- Science doesn't have all the answers.

A sense of not belonging or isolation.
- If you you're thinking outside the box, your ideas aren't accepted by the general population.

A great alienation, disengagement, or disaffection from society
- Something that happens when you are doxxed, censored and maligned by the progressive liberal media.

I think people give too much credence to secret societies and New World Order propaganda. Organizations, even secret ones do not have that much control over much of anything. In any event you get people that are always fighting among themselves. Jesus said "every city or house divided against itself will not stand."-Matthew 12:25.

There are two spirits. One of God, and where the spirit of God is there is peace, love, harmony, and unity. And the spirit of the flesh, where the spirit of God is absent, and the spirit of the flesh reigns, there are contentions, divisions, enmities, strife, backstabbing, jealousy, envies, distrust, and things like these. The governments and rulers of the world have such a spirit, so do the people.

originally posted by: randomuser
I think people give too much credence to secret societies and New World Order propaganda. Organizations, even secret ones do not have that much control over much of anything. In any event you get people that are always fighting among themselves. Jesus said "every city or house divided against itself will not stand."-Matthew 12:25.

There are two spirits. One of God, and where the spirit of God is there is peace, love, harmony, and unity. And the spirit of the flesh, where the spirit of God is absent, and the spirit of the flesh reigns, there are contentions, divisions, enmities, strife, backstabbing, jealousy, envies, distrust, and things like these. The governments and rulers of the world have such a spirit, so do the people.

Eph 6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Indeed and Amen.

a reply to: MichiganSwampBuck

With politicians who never answer a question without obfuscating or just plain lying and media that is so dishonest and laughably biased, it's an open invitation to imagine the worst.

Having said that, I think it's possible to discuss things hypothetically, no matter how outlandish, without actually believing things to be true.

An example I give for being interested in paranormal subjects is that ghosts, ufos and monsters may not actually exist but people see strange things without a satisfactory explanation so where's the harm in wondering why?

Not everything is a conspiracy but do I trust politics and media?

No.

ETA. ...I'm not the only one who doesn't trust them and that's where the discussion comes in. All sides can be heard but not necessarily believed.

The addiction center website has a hotline to seek help in this area. I thought that was interesting.

It isn't a big enough of a psychosis to have any official help centers that I could find in a search though.

identifying if a conspiracy theory is real or not can be an addiction. Searching for the whole story that is the whole truth is what we seem to do here now.....most conspiracy theories these days are based on some truth, but do not match consensus of the time that matches the social programming that is being stuffed down our throats and giving us ear aches.

I don't see nearly as many conspiracy theories being accepted here on ATS anymore, we are more like a think tank that is trying to unearth what is really going on. I think that a lot of our society has gone delusional with belief in deception and propaganda....which is controlled by people of power and the media these days. In all lies there is some truth to make it be accepted.

People should research consensus of the time which governs our reality. Consensus of the time varies from country to country somewhat, what is accepted as real in one country or population is not acceptable in another. Being stuck in a city by a majority of the public is not accepted as normal by the smaller numbers of residents of the country who live in the woods or on farms. Remember, farmers and ranchers produce the food we eat quite often and farm workers make less than the people in cities do who do not produce things our society really needs. I learned this long ago when I was young, growing up on a farm half the year. It is not the conspiracy theorists that are delusional, most of our society is totally disconnected from the real reality. But they will never admit that they are living in a fairy tale...wait till something major happens, these entitled people will try to maintain their way of life and will do anything to keep that way of life.

a reply to: MichiganSwampBuck

A need to make sense of complex topics or unrelated events, even with little or no topical knowledge.

A belief in paranormal explanations for scientific phenomenon.

This describes several of the more vocal COVID and Vax fiends here. Oversimplification of complicated science and disregard for years of scientific data contradicting the official narratives. Then there's the paranormal nature of mysterious illnesses that mimic vaccine adverse events, but totally aren't caused by experimental vaccines.

a reply to: MichiganSwampBuck

You do realize there's an abundance of evidence for many so called 'conspiracy theories' and that the CIA came up with the term 'conspiracy theorist' in the 60s to debunk many of us as loons/wackjobs?

"Did you hear about that study where they learned it's symptom of mental illness to own an excessive quantity of smoke alarms? Maybe we should rethink our fire safety habits."

- an arsonist, probably

a reply to: ancientlight

I wouldn't be surprised if some of the most crazy theories are propagated by the agencies in order to associate wild ideas with people who ask questions.

In fact I'm sure they do.

Most rational people, however, can see that politicians are a bunch of lying turds who'd sell their own mothers for money and power....no lizard people or baby eating space aliens required.

a reply to: MichiganSwampBuck

Conspiracy theories are a mental health crisis No one's talking about the complex relationship between disinformation and mental health. That changes now.

Sounds a bit like cancel culture weaponized against critical thinkers that KNOW things aren't adding up and are looking for a few nuggets of truth.

All too often, the truth lies buried in the absurd. I proudly proclaim my distrust of politicians and MSM, and for seven+ decades of very good reason.

That's not to say there aren't a few hard-core nutters in the CT world; Flat Earthers come to mind.

Eph 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

'Powers'- those currently facilitating the direction of world events.
'Rulers of darkness'- One only has to look at what the MSM is facilitating to see who's in charge of making this world a less desirable habitat.
'Spiritual Wickedness'- One has to look no farther than an elementary school library or read the agenda of MAP's (Minor-attracted persons) to see spiritual wickedness.

a reply to: nugget1

Yes. The MSM are definitely suffering from a dangerous, delusional psychosis.
They're so paranoid of ordinary people that they hallucinate racists, sexists, white supremacists and Nazis EVERYWHERE!!!

Oh my god!!!!

We're all going to DIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEE.......

Now here's Tom with the weather......

originally posted by: Tulpa
a reply to: ancientlight

I wouldn't be surprised if some of the most crazy theories are propagated by the agencies in order to associate wild ideas with people who ask questions.

In fact I'm sure they do.

Most rational people, however, can see that politicians are a bunch of lying turds who'd sell their own mothers for money and power....no lizard people or baby eating space aliens required.

There's a difference between wild conjecture and a systemic compilation of facts and feasible goals. Means, motive and opportunities are how hypothesis graduates to theory and eventually investigation and prosecution. Can't gaslight raw data and that's what scares the media about independent journalism armed with an encyclopedia of credible sources.

a reply to: MichiganSwampBuck

I thought it was gone for good.
In years past, before ATS went HTTPS, I used add blockers because of all the crap pop-ups that made this site virtually unusable.
But now, I think we should all disable add blockers here and support this site in the best way most of us can, by going to the sites willing to advertise here. You don't have to buy anything. Just support ATS by clicking on the advertising links. Who knows, you just might find something you want, or need.

I know this post is off topic, but let it stand, mods.

a reply to: MichiganSwampBuck

Text Anxiety or fear for no particular reason. A perceived loss of control. A need to make sense of complex topics or unrelated events, even with little or no topical knowledge. Low self-esteem. A strong urge to make connections between a series of unrelated events or behaviors. A belief in paranormal explanations for scientific phenomenon. A sense of not belonging or isolation. A great alienation, disengagement, or disaffection from society

That’s like identical to all the same side effects you’d expect from a meth addition.

... scary

a reply to: MichiganSwampBuck

Let me explain something using that list you provided...

Conspiracy Theory Addiction

Anxiety or fear for no particular reason.
A perceived loss of control.
A need to make sense of complex topics or unrelated events, even with little or no topical knowledge.
Low self-esteem.
A strong urge to make connections between a series of unrelated events or behaviors.
A belief in paranormal explanations for scientific phenomenon.
A sense of not belonging or isolation.
A great alienation, disengagement, or disaffection from society

This is exactly how to create a mimetic personality construct inside your head - the suggested mimetic personality here is quite obviously "Addiction behaviour"

See, when you identify with a list of traits/feelings over time you are being what is called "anchored" the more anchors you identify with over time, the more you act like the identity sold to your mind. This is strengthened on a daily basis by repetition and programming from various sources (media/websites/ads/radio/memes/narratives etc). Before you know it, here you are on a conspiracy website telling us all we are addicted to conspiracies selling this to us without even being aware of it. That is the system and how it works! Be very careful who's advice you buy/take (think they say that for a laugh?)

Incorrect assessment - you are spending too much on here (you feel) and you (YOU) identify with this list. This does not mean you actually have an addiction unless you choose to agree with that assessment, I believe it is just that you enjoy the feeling of a connection with the users in a time where society is pretty disconnected, I mean we were on house arrest for around a year or more depending on which country you come from ffs... and thats ok to have feelings because we all need a tribe. We are human beings, well I am... I think...

Anyways ill stop there as this is a deep rabbit-hole and whilst it can be beneficial if done for positives, it is still a pre packaged lifestyle choice to consume if boiled down and everyone knows how to behave like an addict... ever wonder why?

Just my point of view.



ETA: Here's a less biased version as an example that allows you to decide what your own addiction is but is still selling you something...

Addiction

Anxiety or fear for no particular reason.
A perceived loss of control.
A need to make sense of complex topics or unrelated events, even with little or no topical knowledge.
Low self-esteem.
A strong urge to make connections between a series of unrelated events or behaviors.
A belief in paranormal explanations for scientific phenomenon.
A sense of not belonging or isolation.
A great alienation, disengagement, or disaffection from society