https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/why-qanon-followers-are-opioid-addicts-why-matters-ncna1277323
Why QAnon followers are like opioid addicts, and why that matters
Recognizing the similarities is helpful in both accurately diagnosing the QAnon phenomenon and trying to treat it.
By Sophia Moskalenko, co-author, “Pastels and Pedophiles: Inside the Mind of QAnon," and Mia Bloom, co-author, “Pastels and Pedophiles: Inside the Mind of QAnon"
https://theconversation.com/many-qanon-followers-report-having-mental-health-diagnoses-157299
Many QAnon followers report having mental health diagnoses
QAnon is often viewed as a group associated with conspiracy, terrorism and radical action, such as the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection. But radical extremism and terror may not be the real concern from this group.
QAnon followers, who may number in the millions, appear to believe a baseless and debunked conspiracy theory claiming that a satanic cabal of pedophiles and cannibals controls world governments and the media. They also subscribe to many other outlandish and improbable ideas, such as that the Earth is flat, that the coronavirus is a biological weapon used to gain control over the world’s population, that Bill Gates is somehow trying to use coronavirus vaccinations to implant microchips into people and more.
As a social psychologist, I normally study terrorists. During research for “Pastels and Pedophiles: Inside the Mind of QAnon,” a forthcoming book I co-authored with security scholar Mia Bloom, I noticed that QAnon followers are different from the radicals I usually study in one key way: They are far more likely to have serious mental illnesses.
Significant conditions
I found that many QAnon followers revealed – in their own words on social media or in interviews – a wide range of mental health diagnoses, including bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety and addiction.
In court records of QAnon followers arrested in the wake of the Capitol insurrection, 68% reported they had received mental health diagnoses. The conditions they revealed included post-traumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder, paranoid schizophrenia and Munchausen syndrome by proxy – a psychological disorder that causes one to invent or inflict health problems on a loved one, usually a child, in order to gain attention for themselves. By contrast, 19% of all Americans have a mental health diagnosis.
Among QAnon insurrectionists with criminal records, 44% experienced a serious psychological trauma that preceded their radicalization, such as physical or sexual abuse of them or of their children.
The psychology of conspiracy
Research has long revealed connections between psychological problems and beliefs in conspiracy theories. For example, anxiety increases conspiratorial thinking, as do social isolation and loneliness.
Depressed, narcissistic and emotionally detached people are also prone to have a conspiratorial mindset. Likewise, people who exhibit odd, eccentric, suspicious and paranoid behavior – and who are manipulative, irresponsible and low on empathy – are more likely to believe conspiracy theories.
QAnon’s rise has coincided with an unfolding mental health crisis in the United States. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of diagnoses of mental illness was growing, with 1.5 million more people diagnosed in 2019 than in 2018.
The isolation of the lockdowns, compounded by the anxiety related to COVID and the economic uncertainty, made a bad situation worse. Self-reported anxiety and depression quadrupled during the quarantine and now affects as much as 40% of the U.S. population.
A more serious problem
It’s possible that people who embrace QAnon ideas may be inadvertently or indirectly expressing deeper psychological problems. This could be similar to when people exhibit self-harming behavior or psychosomatic complaints that are in fact signals of serious psychological issues.
It could be that QAnon is less a problem of terrorism and extremism than it is one of poor mental health.
Only a few dozen QAnon followers are accused of having done anything illegal or violent – which means that for millions of QAnon believers, their radicalization may be of their opinions, but not their actions.
In my view, the solution to this aspect of the QAnon problem is to address the mental health needs of all Americans – including those whose problems manifest as QAnon beliefs. Many of them – and many others who are not QAnon followers – could clearly benefit from counseling and therapy.
Editor’s note: This article was updated to correct the description of the people whose post-insurrection court records were examined.
>Dough
>Who are these QAnons and why don't they tell us where they post?
address the mental health needs of those whose problems manifest as QAnon beliefs
Many of them could clearly benefit from counseling and therapy.
Elon will link 8kun.top on Twitter
mental health problems manifest as QAnon beliefs
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Miller_(police_official)
>New Techniques and Tactics
https://twitter.com/ObamaFoundation/status/1609583392429068288
Our mission is to inspire, empower, and connect people to change their world. That mission starts on the South Side of Chicago and extends to our global network of leaders. We can't wait to see what we accomplish together in 2023.
Happy New Year!
>https://twitter.com/BarackObama/status/1609260211721875456
The work the @ObamaFoundation did in 2022 makes me hopeful for the future.
From supporting the next generation of leaders to strengthening democracy around the world, we've made a lot of progress this year.
Take a look:
In February 2015, a 75th-anniversary version of Fanta was released in Germany. Packaged in glass bottles evoking the original design and with an authentic original wartime flavor including 30% whey and pomace, it is described on the packaging as "less sweet" and a German original. An associated television ad referenced the history of the drink and said the Coca-Cola company wanted to bring back "the feeling of the Good Old Times" which was interpreted by many to mean Nazi rule. The ad was subsequently replaced.
>Coca-Cola company wanted to bring back "the feeling of the Good Old Times" which was interpreted by many to mean Nazi rule.
>That mission starts on the South Side of Chicago and extends to our global network of leaders.
LET'S GO
closed red shoes that a Roman senator was forced to wear
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Senate#Senate_of_the_Roman_Republic
Senators were entitled to wear a toga with a broad purple stripe, maroon shoes, and an iron (later gold) ring.
https://twitter.com/oneunderscore__/status/1608638768445292547
https://twitter.com/rothschildmd
>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_of_Misrule
appointment of a Lord of Misrule comes from a similar custom practised during the Roman celebration of Saturnalia. In ancient Rome, from 17 to 23 December (in the Julian calendar), a man chosen to be a mock king was appointed for the feast of Saturnalia, in the guise of the Roman deity Saturn; at the end of the festival, the man was sacrificed.
https://embedded.substack.com/p/my-internet-brandy-zadrozny
My Internet: Brandy Zadrozny
The NBC reporter has always hated Twitter.
Brandy is in Facebook groups for flat-earthers, free-birthers, and predator hunters; watches ukulele challenges and old news coverage about “Satanic Ritual Abuse” on YouTube; and dreams of feeding her reporting to an AI that can write her features for her. —Nick
https://twitter.com/oneunderscore__/status/1607947736036278273
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Jun_Lin
"Ebola it is only contracted by those who receive treatments and injections from the Red Cross”.
https://www.qanonanonymous.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Square_academic_cap
>The only reason you age is because your mind believes in the concept of time.
>https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/01/message-heaven-historic-rains-san-francisco-cause-mudslides-sewer-geysers-explode-cleansing-feces-ridden-city-video/
Sewernados