Is the belief in conspiracy theories really just a sign of mental illness.

Conspiracy Theorists are a danger because we actually question what we see, what we are told, what we are taught, what we hear, and most importantly what the majority tell us is fake or a lie. Without people who think against the system we would have never found out the world was round, the planets revolve around the sun, that germs exist. TPTB have spent lifetimes hiding truths from us and when a little bit of that truth pops back up in an archaeology dig or a device that is too complex for its time they tell us the dating is wrong or it is a hoax. No we have been systematically lied to for hundreds of years to hide the truth about our reality and where we really came from. As we enter this coming age things will begin to come to light and the masses will see just how wrong they have been. Exciting times.

Why people believe in conspiracies is something I find very interesting, I would not call it a mental illness rather I would call it a religion however the psychology of conspiracy theorists is very interesting.

In general it is believed that the “conspiracy nut” mentality comes from a fundamental scepticism of authority that leads to one mistrusting much of which authority has to say mostly government. It only takes a person to believe in one conspiracy for the “conspiracy nut” mentality to take over. Say for example you read a book about how the government killed Kennedy and it convinces you absolutely that the government or CIA had JFK killed. Then it makes you much more susceptible to other conspiracy theories so when you find one that then also says that 9/11 was a inside job and they are putting fluride in the water to make you all sterile then it becomes much easier to buy into such claims. If in your head you have accepted as fact that the CIA killed JFK then you can also easily believe that they are responsible for 9/11, fluoride and KFC making black dudes impotent.

What’s more is that as this psychological trait multiplies other factors start to come into play most apparent is the confirmation bias. So now have started off by reading about book that convinces you that JFK was killed by the CIA and as such you are now open to accept other conspiracies such as 9/11 but your also actively seeking them out and evidence to support them. This leads to you ignoring other evidence that contradicts your conspiracy view but eventually not only that but view anyone who disagrees with you as being “in on it”. So that means you might find one article by Alex Jones about the CIA killing JFK and for you its absolute proof they done it, yet you might also find a article by a academic study group who say it was Oswald. Your confirmation bias will select the Alex Jones article over the Academic one as a confirmation bias because it confirms what you already belief.

Next however you also start to believe that the academics who say it was Oswald must be in on it so the government are controlling them they are “in on it”. So now you have gone from simple believing that the CIA killed JFK, to 9/11, fluoride and all the rest of it but also that “they” control all the information as part of a much bigger conspiracy. This means that there must be someone behind the government there must be a “them” or “they” who are usually called the “New World Order”. Now the conspiracy belief has become extreme its became akin to a religious fanaticism. Now there is a deeper meaning to the world, JFK wasn’t only killed by the CIA but he was killed by some omnipotent forces the “NWO”. It creates a fanatical belief where there has to be a false flag, a Rothschild or a thee letter acronym behind everything. Eventually you realise this must be part of a grand plan, usually the establishment of a totalitarian one world government that seeks to enslave you.

So you go form reading a book about how the CIA killed JFK to believing that there exists a massive global conspiracy that controls everything and seeks to enslave you and your family.

Its crazy but you can spot people like this on ATS all the time.

I am not saying that everyone falls into this category, I am not saying that people who believe the CIA killed JFK automatically believe in the NWO I am only saying that it is a identifiable psychological trait.

The problem is that there are some very real conspiracies out their like Iran-Contra for instance. I would say that the difference between a healthy scepticism of the offial story and conspiracy becomes a problem if you are one of they people who believes in the NWO, rants about sandy hook actors, think KFC makes black dudes impotent and has posted “FALS FLAG” in the last 6 months.

Originally posted by symptomoftheuniverse
We are all nutjobs however those that order wars and slaughter are completly sane.

This.

But what about those 90% of people that believe in God?

You know, that man with the beard that has an army of angels at his command?

I could go on and on about how insane religion can be and how negative it can be.

But I won't dig further.

I will say that I probably have some disorder in the autistic range. Maybe something like ADHD or OCD or OCPD or something like that. But you know what? I'm not interested in being fixed.

Leave me alone. I'm not going to hurt anyone. Gah, my worst nightmare is being stuck in some kind of prison and forced to take inections to make me normal. That idea disgusts me.

So a girl tells me I'm a loser and says I should get medicated. Well %$#!%^ you. I don't care what happens ot me, but I'm not going to have that junk put into my system. It's baa baa like sheep. The hottest girl in the world wouldn't change my mind. I'd rather die than have my thoughts taken away from me as nature made me to be. I will work through it. I will toil. I will find out ways to compromise with nature. No easy way out for me. I'm not going to be another pill popper.

It's hard to explain. I know I'm different. But I don't want to be medicated. It's humility. And plus, I justify my own behaviors. Most people do. I try to stay rational. But I have good/bad habits.

One of my obsessive habits is to re-edit posts. I post a LOT on the internet. It usually takes me 10-50 minutes to finish posts and I re-edit with almost all of them. I think most ppl don't.

I have terrible social skills and some social anxiety. Bad childhood; teasing. I mean, I can talk to people. I can go out for a drive and shop and whatnot. But I'm NOT a people person at all. I like cities. I like seeing all the people. I just don't like being there socially. Not my thing.

I'm comfortable at the computer. Around people I'm more self-conscious. I'm very opinionated, but this shows more on the internet, since I post a lot! I don't like people who eat meat. When I'm around ppl I think are dirty, I worry too much about being clean; little ocd. I have particular habits that I don't like to be changed, so I don't like random people to butt in and interrupt me. I am constantly thinking about concepts in my mind. What makes it SO HARD is I cannot talk to 99% of the people around me about it. The things I WANT to talk about I cannot. So I have to come online. That makes it bad because it discourages me from talking to people in the flesh and blood. But people I know IRL ARE BORING. I don't really want to talk to them. Some of it's anxiety, but it's boredom too.

NOW I know that most of the garbage on ATS is worthless. But when I was younger I believed in some of them like the JFK conspiracy and/or UFOs and/or bigfoot. But I never knew 100%. I never believed these things without doubts. When I was younger I was also a christian. I had no doubts about God. Strange, eh? But as I grew older and learned things the questions started popping up into my head and cracks formed in my faith and then I simply discarded it like an old mess. It's many years later. I'm not a perfect person. I come to ATS because I like to see what's going on. Conspiracy people are good at catching onto stories going on in the world. I don't look so much at what people believe, I look at the news itself. In this way, ATS is a fun and quick way to get a summary.

If I had to pick between a legal official person and a random conspiracy theorist, I'd pick the official person. This is because most conspiracies are just BS. However, if this is about my own mental problems, I will fall back on my own position. Stay away! I promise not to hurt anyone. Just leave my brain alone. I realize that psychiatrists or other mental health professionals might be able to help me, but I'm choosing at this point to decline it because of my own self determination(s).

So there. I bring all this up because it has come to me a few times. There're a couple people in my family that're stuck on psychotropic drugs. My mom tried to commit suicide a couple times. The chips are against me. I know the odds are high that I have some sort of mental disorder. But having seen how the pills affect the two people in my family, I'm just not interested in that. I'm much more interested in working through it and figuring out things the hard way. It's my quest.

reply to post by OtherSideOfTheCoin


There are those that accept the standard conspiracy theory i.e. the CIA killed JFK, and then there are those who delve much deeper and look at all the facets of why someone would want to kill JFK. Two different beasts. One has a belief but is going on media influence and popular belief. One has done the digging laid out the facts and the fiction and come to rational hypothesis even if it goes against the accepted answers, I guess they would be called a truther now. Even Clinton wanted to know who shot JFK really and was denied the truth. He also wanted to go and see if their was any truth to aliens or space craft and was denied at first until they sanitized. So I guess we have had conspiracy theorists for presidents and they should be medicated immediately. If you want a three letter acronym for who is responsible for the world we live in it is MIC plain and simple. We created an economy based on war, if all the troops came home and got out of the military unemployment would skyrocket because the jobs are not there. Our solution keep thinning the herd in warfare until the economy gets back on track or collapses.

You talk about flouride in the water. It is not to make us sterile. It is to make us exactly as the masses are dumb, complacent, excepting of what the media tells them, and receptive of the conditioning the TV shows they watching are putting out. Fouride is the main ingredient in Prozac this is not by accident. The true reason for the flouride is to keep you asleep by calcifying your pineal gland (eye of horus). Research it, wake it up (search youtube) and see the truth for once, but you might not like what you see.

Some real honest from the heart replies from some very real people. I wonder though, is ignorance really bliss? I mean are we better off watching X factor, and spending our time obsessing over the latest celeb gossip?
So in our hearts we know that there is more to life, that there is more out there, but is it good for us, does it achieve anything or is it just akin to repeatedly headbutting a wall of concrete?

reply to post by jonnywhite


You need to take a chill pill,,,only joking.

Some normal sensitive people can talk themselves into mental illness. People need to put conclusions on things but sometimes things just dont add up. Getting priorities right and being thankful for the things you have helps a lot of people.
It will all be alright in the end.

reply to post by December21st2012


Its hard for people because the people who suffer from our greed and fear are far away,be it children in a workhouse or refugees in a camp.
We cant complain we have it so cozy. Ignorance is cozy. Having no morals is bliss.

reply to post by symptomoftheuniverse

I hope you're right, but bad things can happen even to good people.

There's no written rule that things will always end well.

But thanks for trying to lift me; I just think that reality will have a larger say.

Good or bad, whatever. I will push forward and see where this yellow brick road goes.

Originally posted by glen200376
Some of the replies made me laugh.The last reply amused me -
Ralphy
My so-called boyfriend is exactly the same way. He has no friends, delivers pizza for a living and refuses to do anything of merit until the world ends, when he claims he will be a hero. He only talks about liberal idiots and commies and how Obama should be shot, and how he should go buy a gun. Point is: how can someone who is so obviously a failure in life profess to have all the answers to the world's problems? Is this mental illness? It's driving me crazy...he has comepletely changed into a paranoid hermit.

Whatever he is he should get away from you as soon as he can. Hes never done anything right including you.

reply to post by glen200376


No he may (or may not) be just intelligent enough to realize that the game belongs to the house and he has very few chances of wining unless he sells his soul to the system, but always requiring him to help perpetuate it. He is a civilizational drop out, he sees no advantage or due compensation to participate more than he needs to get by...

Just think, if disclosure ever happens in our lifetime, the conspiracy theorists will look sane while the skeptics will look gullible.

reply to post by WeRpeons


Being a skeptic is not the contrary of being a conspiracy theorist, in fact all conspiracy theorists are skeptics even if not all skeptics are conspiracy theorists...

Originally posted by WeRpeons
Just think, if disclosure ever happens in our lifetime, the conspiracy theorists will look sane while the skeptics will look gullible.

Todays mad men.....tommorows prophets.

It depends a lot on the theory and the extent to which you believe despite being proven wrong. When it goes past the level of common sense and you still insist that it's true just because you WANT it to be, it can be mental illness.

However, if you have a basis to go on, can find actual holes in a story and could possibly prove it within the realm of reason, then it's a conspiracy theory. I stress "within the realm of reason".

Some feel they are in this situation even though their "proof" makes absolutely no sense at all. That's why it's important to share with others and see if they can verify the support you offer. Some scoff at everything, but if you present it to a reasonably open minded person who isn't quick to jump to conclusions and they agree that it's a possibility, then you aren't insane

There is a fine line and many cross that line every chance they get.

Originally posted by PlanetXisHERE
The term "conspiracy theory" was apparently coined by the CIA in the 1950's when too many people were reporting UFO sightings and public belief in ET's was growing, and they were looking for ways to counteract this, coming up with the term "conspiracy theory" as a perjorative was one of many solutions.

Hence the term is just another Orwellian mind control technique.

Read in my sig below about the power of repeating lies and of course the power one has if they control the media.

Use your own discernment in all things, use your god given ability to reason; to listen instead to the opinion of others over your own reason is treason to one's self.

edit on 21-3-2013 by PlanetXisHERE because: addition

edit on 21-3-2013 by PlanetXisHERE because: addition

That may be the most common modern usage, but the Oxford English Dictionary notes it in the 1870's

Originally posted by glen200376
Some of the replies made me laugh.The last reply amused me -
Ralphy
My so-called boyfriend is exactly the same way. He has no friends, delivers pizza for a living and refuses to do anything of merit until the world ends, when he claims he will be a hero. He only talks about liberal idiots and commies and how Obama should be shot, and how he should go buy a gun. Point is: how can someone who is so obviously a failure in life profess to have all the answers to the world's problems? Is this mental illness? It's driving me crazy...he has comepletely changed into a paranoid hermit.

I guess for some people, when reality sucks enough, it's easier for them to focus on fantasy to "get through the day"

Originally posted by kthxbai
It depends a lot on the theory and the extent to which you believe despite being proven wrong. When it goes past the level of common sense and you still insist that it's true just because you WANT it to be, it can be mental illness.

However, if you have a basis to go on, can find actual holes in a story and could possibly prove it within the realm of reason, then it's a conspiracy theory. I stress "within the realm of reason".

Some feel they are in this situation even though their "proof" makes absolutely no sense at all. That's why it's important to share with others and see if they can verify the support you offer. Some scoff at everything, but if you present it to a reasonably open minded person who isn't quick to jump to conclusions and they agree that it's a possibility, then you aren't insane

There is a fine line and many cross that line every chance they get.

See there is no realm of reason get it? And you cant verify with others or then they will see how well they have managed to snow you see. Thats the only reason they want you to verify.....verify how well their plot is working. Yea thats it thats the ticket.

reply to post by Logarock


Logic is the key. If it can be verified through logic, ACTUAL logic, not crazy-logic, then you're safe. If it goes off on impossible tangents and grasps at straws instead of actual logic, then you're nuts.

Originally posted by kthxbai

Originally posted by glen200376
Some of the replies made me laugh.The last reply amused me -
Ralphy
My so-called boyfriend is exactly the same way. He has no friends, delivers pizza for a living and refuses to do anything of merit until the world ends, when he claims he will be a hero. He only talks about liberal idiots and commies and how Obama should be shot, and how he should go buy a gun. Point is: how can someone who is so obviously a failure in life profess to have all the answers to the world's problems? Is this mental illness? It's driving me crazy...he has comepletely changed into a paranoid hermit.

I guess for some people, when reality sucks enough, it's easier for them to focus on fantasy to "get through the day"

Dont you get it? Reality is the fantasy/fantasy is what we call reality. Thats why they hurry and put your body in the ground when you die.....so others wont watch it rot, melt, cooking into a smelly brew.....waking other up that there is no deal with death, you are a meat mechine.

reply to post by Logarock


Or maybe you're just in the other category....