Interesting article in The New York Times about the role of internet in creating communities of people who believe they are the victims of mind control and stalking by the government.
The article discusses the pro’s and con’s of the formation of these internet communities: do they feed the delusions of these people, or do they help?
Identified by some psychologists and psychiatrists as part of an “extreme community” on the Internet that appears to encourage delusional thinking, a growing number of such Web sites are filled with stories from people who say they are victims of mind control and stalking by gangs of government agents. The sites are drawing the concern of mental health professionals and the interest of researchers in psychology and psychiatry.
It also presents a problem from a psychiatric diagnostic standpoint:
The extent of the community, Dr. Bell said, poses a paradox to the traditional way delusion is defined under the diagnostic guidelines of the American Psychiatric Association, which says that if a belief is held by a person’s “culture or subculture,” it is not a delusion.
An interesting parallel is discussed between people who believe they are the victim of government mind control and stalking, and people who believe they have been abducted by aliens.
