Conspiracy theories and mental illnesses

[SamanthaAnastasia]

as a mentally ill christian, I believe conspiracy theories are bad for others who have mental illnesses.
It always makes my anxiety worse.
Any thoughts?

 

[CherubRam]

as a mentally ill christian, I believe conspiracy theories are bad for others who have mental illnesses.
It always makes my anxiety worse.
Any thoughts?

There is what is real and what is imagined. The world we live in is not always the way we would like it to be.

 

[Serving Zion]

The imagined comes to impact the real, whenever it is given the chance - that is where the devil has his power (the "father of lies").

Unfortunately, there are many people whose impulses and desires block them from seeing the reality, so their mind is stuck in a delusion (that may come about as a result of gossip or "fake news" etc - that is why gossip is bad in Christianity's view).

But the fact is that people, despite being in places of power and responsibility, are prone to delusion, and as a result of the comfort of their position, they do sometimes impact reality upon the basis of what they think - while also opposing the arguments from reality that would undo their delusion and expose their actions as being invalid (that is "pride" - the sin that takes them captive and makes them blind).

I think that sometimes when people speak about "conspiracy theories", that is a type of situation they might be describing.

 

[Serving Zion]

as a mentally ill christian, I believe conspiracy theories are bad for others who have mental illnesses.
It always makes my anxiety worse.
Any thoughts?

Often, the people who promote conspiracy theories have not done a proper investigation, and have followed ideas that reinforce their prejudices (bias). That is an act of injustice, by not giving fair consideration to all views in order to make a balanced and proper judgement.

The act of doing injustice, and prejudice, being "partial in judgement" is inherently dishonest, and is rooted in a sin of lust - that is, the desire to have something.

So because they are of that nature, it is a demonic spirit rather than a holy spirit, because The Holy Spirit is The Spirit of Truth that does not show partiality in judgement.

That is why it is bad for people who already have suffered from mental unwellness - when you consider that Jesus said "the words I have spoken to you are spirit and life", and that He also said "the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy - I have come that they may have life".. then it's drawing a pretty clear picture about the reason why conspiracy theories tend to exacerbate problems for those who have already had problems with mental illness.

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

as a mentally ill christian, I believe conspiracy theories are bad for others who have mental illnesses.
It always makes my anxiety worse.
Any thoughts?

Since other countries have ideas to overthrow our country,
and corporations are for money , not caring what happens to the poor,
and Jesus told us this would happen long before,
what
then is different about conspiracy theories ? They are no worse than what is going on in politics and military and finance anyway, are they ? Regardless of how true they are,
there are worse things every day....

Jesus said in the world we will suffer a lot, but be of good cheer,
"I have overcome the world".

 

[W2L]

as a mentally ill christian, I believe conspiracy theories are bad for others who have mental illnesses.
It always makes my anxiety worse.
Any thoughts?

Religion and politics do that to me. I try to avoid too much of either. The apostle Paul said that we should meditate on what is true, good and lovely, and praiseworthy. Many times politics and religion fail to be good meditation. The same is true of many things in this world and in our head.

 

[Rick Otto]

as a mentally ill christian, I believe conspiracy theories are bad for others who have mental illnesses.
It always makes my anxiety worse.
Any thoughts?

I think it's good for you to know your limits, but there is limited good in projecting what works for you as being what works for everyone else.

 

[Rick Otto]

The imagined comes to impact the real, whenever it is given the chance - that is where the devil has his power (the "father of lies").

Couldn't agree more. I believe the saying goes: "Power perceived is power achisved."
Has been working well for the world and its institutions. "Legitimacy percieved is legitimacy achieved"... you get the shtick.

Unfortunately, there are many people whose impulses and desires block them from seeing the reality, so their mind is stuck in a delusion (that may come about as a result of gossip or "fake news" etc - that is why gossip is bad in Christianity's view).

Or as a result of indoctrination into widely believed lies, rendering entire categories of people at least partly delusional. Mass media is effectively used to create and manage "Public Opinion" and control the perception of normality.
Serious theorists will include cifcumstantial evidence.
For a person with an aversion to conspiracy theory, it's too often equated with gossip.
For a person not seriously interested, or interested only for novelty, gossip is addictive junk food. It will eventually harm them.42

But the fact is that people, despite being in places of power and responsibility, are prone to delusion, and as a result of the comfort of their position, they do sometimes impact reality upon the basis of what they think - while also opposing the arguments from reality that would undo their delusion and expose their actions as being invalid (that is "pride" - the sin that takes them captive and makes them blind).

The divine right of king's is my pet peeve in that regard.

I think that sometimes when people speak about "conspiracy theories", that is a type of situation they might be describing.

I agree, again. But only happens with shallow interest, which is epidemic.

 

[Radagast]

as a mentally ill christian, I believe conspiracy theories are bad for others who have mental illnesses.

Yes, they are. They damage contact with reality, and they damage human relationships with anyone not in the group.

 

[StevenMerten]

as a mentally ill christian, I believe conspiracy theories are bad for others who have mental illnesses.
It always makes my anxiety worse.
Any thoughts?

Hello Bipolargirl,
I watched a documentary on a child in Southern California who could not go out into the sunlight. They were describing how horrible it was for the child to have to stay in the house all the time. Well they could move to Seattle where the sun rarely comes out in the winter months of rain, and live a more normal life. I would not be coming to the conspiracy forum, if conspiracy theories cause you harm.

 

[SeventyOne]

as a mentally ill christian, I believe conspiracy theories are bad for others who have mental illnesses.
It always makes my anxiety worse.
Any thoughts?

The term 'conspiracy theory' shouldn't be a concern as it's just a made up concept. It's just a name made up to enable the lumping together of ideas and process that are not considered main stream for the purpose of making them easy for people to dismiss and slander those who don't follow their lead.

That's probably the primary source of the anxiety, the non-acceptance of those who tend not to group-think too well. I don't know what extra affect it might have on the mentally ill that it doesn't have on anyone else who relies on the acceptance of others to define their self worth.

 

[Rick Otto]

Yes, they are. They damage contact with reality, and they damage human relationships with anyone not in the group.

Contact reality damages mental health.
They expose the denial of reality in group-think and trigger worldly humans out of touch with their creator.

 

[patrick jane]

The term 'conspiracy theory' shouldn't be a concern as it's just a made up concept. It's just a name made up to enable the lumping together of ideas and process that are not considered main stream for the purpose of making them easy for people to dismiss and slander those who don't follow their lead.

That's probably the primary source of the anxiety, the non-acceptance of those who tend not to group-think too well. I don't know what extra affect it might have on the mentally ill that it doesn't have on anyone else who relies on the acceptance of others to define their self worth.

 

[SamanthaAnastasia]

Lol, the point of this thread is to help people who are suffering from mental illness who experience paranoia, psychosis, and delusions.
If you do not provide scholarly articles, journals, or evidence, you have no argument.
You can locate scholarly information and sources at your local library. Depending on your library branch, they may have access to online databases so you can research at home. I recommend academic search by ebsco host.

 

[Rick Otto]

as a mentally ill christian, I believe conspiracy theories are bad for others who have mental illnesses.
It always makes my anxiety worse.
Any thoughts?

Anxiety is to a degree normal and can be a necessary motivation to confront a real problem with intelligent adaptations for coping.