A team of researchers discovered another way the pandemic affects people. Facts have proved that it has also increased people’s paranoia, especially in states with less stringent mask requirements.
This pandemic has affected the mental health of many people.For example, a poll in April found that more young Americans Facing depression And despair during the pandemic.
In a new study, Publish In the journal Nature Behavior on Tuesday, a team of researchers discovered another impact of the pandemic on people’s mental health: paranoia.
Researchers at Yale University were already studying how uncertainty affects the development of paranoia even before the pandemic began. Say In the press release. They do this by conducting an experiment in which participants play a card game, and the rules may suddenly change, which “provokes an increase in paranoia”.
The researchers wrote: “Participants were warned in advance that the best choice may change, but not in time or frequency.” “Therefore, this task analyzes belief formation and renewal under uncertainty.”
Researchers continued to collect data during the pandemic and checked participants’ self-evaluation paranoia and belief updates before and during the lockdown and before the reopening. They also studied the impact of public health policies in states where masks are mandatory and in states that have just recommended masks.
Yale University pointed out: “In their analysis, they also evaluated previous research on regional differences in how people feel about following the rules.”
Research senior author Phil Colette said at a university press conference: “This is a rare and accidental event, and we can study what happens when the world changes rapidly and unpredictably.”
Researchers have found that the “initial phase” of the 2020 pandemic has increased people’s paranoia and “choice fluctuations.” Although more active blockades “make people’s belief updates less erratic,” they also found that paranoia and “unstable choice behavior” are higher in states where masks are mandatory.
The researchers wrote: “This is most evident in states where compliance with the masking rules is poor but compliance with the rules is usually more common.”
Colette explained: “Basically, when there are rules and people don’t follow them, people become paranoid.”
According to the researchers, the belief that others refuse to follow the rules and “failure to provide reciprocal protection” seems to have led to an increase in paranoia. In addition, they noticed that places that “strictly follow” the rules may not adapt to unpredictable changes.
Paranoia also seems to have a certain impact on people’s behavior, because researchers have found that paranoid people are also more likely to support the conspiracy theories of wearing masks, “potential vaccines” and QAnon conspiracy theories.
Yale University pointed out that Colette pointed to a historical precedent for the increase in conspiracy theories during traumatic times. For example, it is generally believed that the plague in the Middle Ages was caused by the poisoning of Jews in wells.
“Sadly, in times of trauma and great change, we tend to blame another group,” Corbett said at Yale University.
“By definition, paranoia is a social problem,” the researchers wrote. “These findings may help guide responses to future crises.”
Photo: AFP/Jim Watson
