John Grohol, Psy.D.
Dr. John Grohol has been writing, researching, and publishing in the area of online mental, psychological and human behavior since 1992. He has overseen the development of mental health content for DrKoop.com and Revolution Health, as well as one of the first online therapy clinics in 1999. Dr. Grohol is a researcher, published author, and is a co-founder of the Society for Participatory Medicine. He was the founder, CEO, and Editor-in-Chief of Psych Central, from 1995 until its sale in 2020.
Conspiracy Theory Disorder: Understanding Why People Believe
Whenever something new happens — whether it’s a pandemic that grips the world, a rise in a disorder’s diagnosis, or a new technology being rolled out — people have theories. Specifically, conspiracy theories.
More often than not, such theories are based upon specious links between one or more unrelated events. Rarely do conspiracy theories have any scientific backing. And when they do, it’s often a lone article or white paper published online. Or maybe just a YouTuber who “was told by my friend who works...