Internet features in modern paranoid delusions
Someone wrote:
A report in the medical journal Psychopathology notes that psychotic delusions increasingly concern the internet, suggesting high-technology can fulfil the role of malign ‘magical’ forces often experienced in psychosis.
In one case, a patient began to have paranoid thoughts and used an internet search engine to investigate suspicions about an ingredient on a chewing gum packet.
Her searches led her to believe she had discovered a secret terrorist network, and was therefore being personally targeted by the authorities using phone taps and hidden cameras…
The authors also consider that a person’s understanding of technology may be a limiting factor in their ability to incorporate it into a delusional system. People with a poor understanding for example, may be more likely to attribute seemingly supernatural abilities to technology.
Anyone in the field of psychopathology here care to comment?
bluegrass girl Said,
May 26, 2005 @ 11:51 am
I feel I am being specifically called out here, Boxen. This isn’t too surprising – technology has provided the context for lots of delusions (receiving messages from the TV, radio waves being used to control one’s mind, etc.). Given that the Internet is rife with conspiracy theories, misinformation, and dubious ideas, it’s no surprise that people who are already prone to “magical thinking” can get a little wiggy over stuff they find on the net, particularly when fringe ideas are presented in the same manner as those with more credibility.
Boxen Said,
May 26, 2005 @ 12:16 pm
Do you mean people like John Ashcroft?
bluegrass girl Said,
May 26, 2005 @ 1:18 pm
Exactly. Titty, filthy titty.