Mental Health Diagnoses and QAnon: A Complicated Issue

On March 25, 2021, The Conversation published an article by Dr. Sophia Moskalenko entitled Many QAnon followers report having mental health diagnoses. According to this article, 68% of the QAnon followers arrested because of their involvement in the failed January 6th insurrection reported mental health diagnoses. (According to the National Institute of Mental Health, approximately 20% of the general population have a mental health diagnosis.) Dr. Moskalenko poses the question of whether mental health issues were a driving factor in the growth of QAnon. Dr. Moskalenko cites a study published in August 2019 based on the autobiographies of convicted terrorists. The study Psychological Distress Terrorist Involvement and Disengagement from Terrorism: A Sequence Analysis Approach by Corner and Gill was fascinating. However, it was used as a reference for those involved with QAnon as well as those arrested at the failed insurrection attempt.