Since the upheaval at the U.S. Capitol, people have spent a lot of time discussing conspiracy theories, QAnon, and riots. When you hear about these beliefs, they seem to exist in an alternate reality. How can people believe in Pizzagate or adrenochrome? How about world-wide elites using vaccinations as a way to gain control over the planet? Sounds inconceivable at best. One word has been consistently used to describe this type of thinking: crazy.

What is Crazy?

There are a lot of meanings of crazy. You can be obsessed about a musician or a movie: “I’m crazy about Lizzo”. Crazy can also be used to describe something unusual. For example, “look at that crazy outfit”. For our purposes, we are concerned with someone’s mental health. Let’s go to the psychologically-minded dictionary meaning. The Merriam-Webster definition of crazy is as follows: not mentally sound, marked by thought or action that lacks reason.

The problem is that what is reasonable or mentally sound is no longer easy to define. It is hard for most people to understand how people could believe in something that has no evidence. But evidence is no longer based on fact. There is a lot of fake news out there and people choose to believe what they want. There are enough varying opinions for every taste. When you are told the same thing day after day, you begin to believe it, no matter how far-fetched it may seem.

Should We Call It Brainwashing?

So, when you do something based on faulty information what should we call it? Is it simply an example of ignorance, or just putting your faith in the wrong people? Maybe we should call it brainwashing. You might balk at that, thinking that is a bit extreme. After all, isn’t brainwashing the domain of cults? Yes, cults do brainwash their members. But, doesn’t that happen to all of us everyday? We are constantly being indoctrinated into the cult of America.

Say you get your news from one source. You hear the same information constantly repeated over weeks and months. Wouldn’t you believe it to be true? After all, we only know the information provided for us. For example, the Chinese often hold false views because they receive information from state sponsored TV, controlled by the communist government. Competing views are suppressed to the point that many of their citizens only receive one stream of information. How could they believe anything else?

Spinning The Truth

America, despite its freedom of information, is not much different. Although we do have varying sources of news, we tend to form an ideological framework and then stick to it. Conservatives believe whatever Sean Hannity is declaring on Fox News. Liberals pray at the altar of Rachel Maddow on MSNBC. Acknowledging a different point of view may cause cognitive dissonance, an unpleasant feeling that causes us to stay with what we already believe to be true. All of these sources put their particular spin on information. Thus, the truth is interpreted in different ways.

Let’s look at the law as an example. You would think the constitution clearly spells out the laws of this country. We have laws and rules and we must follow them or face the consequences, right? Then why does it matter if we put conservative or liberal justices on the Supreme Court if there is only one law? Well, just like facts, laws are up for interpretation. If we put in the effort, we can twist any piece of information to fit our schemas.

Not So Crazy

Who is to say what is true and what is false anymore? At one time, we all believed in something that has since proven incorrect. People used to believe the earth was flat and that leeching cured illness. Opponents of those views were considered heretics and charlatans, much like QAnon is now. Accordingly, we can only work with what we got, so what if all we choose to have is a trove of conspiracy theories?

After we realize that it is might not be so difficult to believe a fringe theory, we may need to revise what we think is crazy behavior. After all, all it takes is receiving the wrong information. You might argue that just because you believe in a conspiracy theory does not mean you have to cross the line to break the law. While that may be true to a certain extent, we know that feelings and behavior often follow thoughts. Therefore, it can be argued that this extreme behavior is just a natural progression of forming a faulty belief system. After all, if we judge peoples’ mental fitness by how many of them believe conspiracy theories and false information we are going to be passing judgment on thousands of Americans.

The Mental Health of Crazy

Mental health professionals are reluctant to use the word crazy. Let’s face it, it doesn’t have the most positive connotation. Plus, it has a variety of meanings, not many of which probably pertain to its intended use. It is not exactly what we would call a clinical term. I might use the word crazy in my personal life but I’m surely never going to use the word regarding a client.

Psychologically speaking, being crazy is having some type of psychosis. This means experiencing hallucinations, delusions, or a loss of reality. Most people that we call crazy do not fit into this category. In fact, less than three percent of people in the world have psychotic symptoms at some point in their lives. That means that being truly clinically crazy is quite rare. That also means that we are frequently misusing the term.

Reconsidering Crazy

Recently, the country has experienced a period of unrest and distress, brought on by COVID-19, political turmoil, and misinformation. A large swath of America still believes that Donald Trump won the presidential election and that Hillary Clinton is running a sex trafficking ring. After examination, calling those people crazy for their beliefs seems unfair.

Beliefs are nothing more than opinions. Everyone wants to think that what they are espousing is the one and only truth. However, we live in a world without absolutes where the facts are largely determined by the source of the information. Let me be clear, this is not an endorsement of those positions or the ensuing behavior. It is simply a recognition that what people believe in is a product of our present society as much as it is a personal vulnerability. Psychologically speaking, the term crazy is reserved for people that exhibit psychotic symptoms. And maybe that is where it should stay.