08-15-2009, 09:45 AM
I met several people who are into conspiracy theories, but they believe they're being attacked by the government through electronic technology. They would hear voices beamed into their heads or see ELF waves.
A good example is this guy on ATS:
We cannot prove what they say is real. But what he describes is a documented case of schizophrenia, and that can be proven. A poster on the same thread sums it up very well:
I have a family member who is delusional when she's not on her meds. She believes that the neighbors follow her wherever she goes. There is no way to convince her that's not the case because she can't relate to our observations when she sees and hears her delusions. It seems like she's sane otherwise because she can cook, carry on other conversations, etc.
As time progresses, if you continue to not believe she's seeing or hearing what she claims she does, this isolated personality gets more and more whiny and childlike. Yet, when she's not talking about her delusions, she would act like a normal adult. It's like the other parts of her personality and beliefs are still attached.
She even pointed to the neighbor's window and said there was a camera recording her living room at all times. All I saw was a crack in the broken window. I told her there was nothing, and she was saying to stop lying about what I can see or else she'll really turn nuts.
When she gets on meds, she is no longer believing in the delusions. If you ask her, she's not going to remember what happened! If she does remember, she might even say she never believed she saw anything, and that she must had been joking with you when she said she had.
But the day she forgets to take meds, she believes in her delusions again. It seems not only there's a perception problem, but also an isolated personality problem, and also a believing problem. When she's off her meds, she is very open minded to what she sees even if it's out of the norms and make no sense in reality. eg. why would a neighbor follow you constantly without any purpose? When she's on meds, her beliefs, and therefore judgement, are more grounded in reality.
When someone is illed like this, don't be persuaded that the neighbor is actually following her or that the government is beaming her (unless proven). The person may sound totally sane, but as I described, this person is in another mind-set, and also have a believing problem. It seems to me that believing in one thing can change when the brain chemically changes. Believing is a cognitive function.
A good example is this guy on ATS:
Quote:Back in 99' I was as I preceived, attacked by ufo's, lasers and sound was used. It left me with what our doctors call schizophrenia, I hear transmissions, it's very electrical It's my belief that the aliens everyone thinks is so benign are really experimenting on us. This attack has never really stopped, just is not as bad as the 6 months I felt I was being attacked, some people believe the government is aware of the situation, I am a college graduate from Nursing, I lost everything and had to go on s.s., Does anyone else believe these aliens are using us for experiments? Casmodian
http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread294194/pg1
We cannot prove what they say is real. But what he describes is a documented case of schizophrenia, and that can be proven. A poster on the same thread sums it up very well:
Quote:You can't go very far with that line of thinking. With all due respect to the OP, schizophrenia is a disease that commonly postulates aliens talking in heads, control of the person by cell phone towers via implants, etc. That's the whole tin foil hat issue. As described, this is a classic case. It's not new. Among the mentally ill, it's common. And it changes with the times. Way back when I knew a guy who actually wore a tin foil hat because the government was controlling him through telephone pole wires. Today we've got a better candidate in cell phones. This is all well documented in the medical literature.
I have a family member who is delusional when she's not on her meds. She believes that the neighbors follow her wherever she goes. There is no way to convince her that's not the case because she can't relate to our observations when she sees and hears her delusions. It seems like she's sane otherwise because she can cook, carry on other conversations, etc.
As time progresses, if you continue to not believe she's seeing or hearing what she claims she does, this isolated personality gets more and more whiny and childlike. Yet, when she's not talking about her delusions, she would act like a normal adult. It's like the other parts of her personality and beliefs are still attached.
She even pointed to the neighbor's window and said there was a camera recording her living room at all times. All I saw was a crack in the broken window. I told her there was nothing, and she was saying to stop lying about what I can see or else she'll really turn nuts.
When she gets on meds, she is no longer believing in the delusions. If you ask her, she's not going to remember what happened! If she does remember, she might even say she never believed she saw anything, and that she must had been joking with you when she said she had.
But the day she forgets to take meds, she believes in her delusions again. It seems not only there's a perception problem, but also an isolated personality problem, and also a believing problem. When she's off her meds, she is very open minded to what she sees even if it's out of the norms and make no sense in reality. eg. why would a neighbor follow you constantly without any purpose? When she's on meds, her beliefs, and therefore judgement, are more grounded in reality.
When someone is illed like this, don't be persuaded that the neighbor is actually following her or that the government is beaming her (unless proven). The person may sound totally sane, but as I described, this person is in another mind-set, and also have a believing problem. It seems to me that believing in one thing can change when the brain chemically changes. Believing is a cognitive function.