Hal Brown, MSW
Note: I am no longer keeping this Trumpology section up to date. To read my most recent stories please go to my blog, HalBrown.org which also has a link to my bio.
It appears to me that many, perhaps most, of the people who believe and promote the QAnon conspiracy theories and other ludicrous or outlandish beliefs which, giving them credit for creativity, they make up themselves, are suffering from a psychiatric disorder. The Trump lawyer Lin Wood is an example of the later. I’d say his tweeted lies about pedophilia, as well as a communist conspiracy involving Justice John Roberts and others are manifestations of mental illness since they are so outlandish that I can’t see him making them up deliberately to help Trump.
On the other hand the lie, Covid vaccine turns people into zombies, shown in my illustration which is from a Facebook post is pure evil. There’s an article in India Today about it.
So, what the holy fork is going on? Well this holy fork has three prongs.
- Some people spinning outlandish paranoid tales are mentally ill and they believe them
- Some people are promulgating them because they are evil and use them to manipulate others
- There have always been people in the general population who believe things that defy hard, cold logical analysis
There are several kinds of psychiatric disorders with paranoid features but two primary paranoid disorders. The most extreme is paranoid schizophrenia which is the most easily treated. Anti-psychotic medications has allow the majority of them to live outside of psychiatric facilities. Less known to those not in the mental health profession is paranoid personality disorder. In this disorder while you might not believe every bizarre thought that occurs to you, you believe some of them. Studies estimate that PPD affects between 2.3% and 4.4% of the general adult American population. The percentage seems small but say the percentage is 3% this is almost 10 million people.
According to an article published on the Louisiana State University website (Why We Fall for Conspiracy Theories):
The “paranoid style” of thinking in American politics has a long history. The periodic emergence of narratives about clandestine, malevolent actors secretly plotting political and social calamities influences policy debate about vaccine regulations, genetically-modified food labeling, foreign diplomacy and domestic elections. But conspiracy theories are not the delusions of paranoid minds -- recent polls show that more than 50 percent of Americans believe in one conspiracy or another. What makes conspiracies an interesting phenomenon is that they have loyal followers and are believed, more or less, by ordinary people.
A few common characteristics of conspiracy theories are that, first, they locate the source of unusual social and political phenomena in unseen, intentional and malevolent forces. Second, they often interpret political events in terms of the struggle between good and evil. And third, most conspiracy theories suggest that mainstream reporting of public affairs is a ruse or an attempt to distract the public from a true source of power.
- According to a study conducted by the University of Chicago:
- 19% of Americans believe the government was behind the 9/11 attacks;
- 25% believe the 2008 recession was caused by a small cabal of Wall Street Bankers;
- And 11% believe the government mandated a switch to compact fluorescent lightbulbs in government buildings because “they make people obedient and easier to control”
Many of you may be familiar with the concept of confirmation bias. This is one of the three reasons describe in this article as to why so many people believe these things.
- Confirmation Bias or Biased Assimilation: A person is more likely to seek out information that is consistent with their pre-existing beliefs, while simultaneously avoiding incompatible information that may challenge their beliefs.
- Disconfirmation bias: A person will spend more time and effort denigrating and counterarguing opposing arguments.
- Attitude-congruence bias: Those who hold a definite position on an issue tend to see supporting arguments as stronger than opposing arguments
Ali Velshi (screenshots from MSNBC) just noted that Trump made another delusional tweet about being the next president of the United States. I thank Ali for this tidbit. This story wasn't going to include Donald Trump.
Since Velshi made this reference Trump made yet another delusional tweet:
Rather than take the time to go into the subject of the whether the president meet the psychiatric criteria for being diagnosed with a delusional disorder I’ll post this link to what I wrote on December 17th.
A few days ago I wrote I wouldn’t subject readers to photos of Trump anymore. Subsequently when I wrote about Trump I covered his head with a paper bag. To make up for reposting the one above here’s my one day belated Christmas card for my readers. I wish all of you a return to the merry Christmases we used to have before Trump and Covid.
