Medicine:Gang stalking delusion
"Gang stalking" is a term used by participants in the "targeted individual" (T.I.) fringe virtual community,[1] which is sometimes described as an internet subculture,[2] to describe the characteristic manifestation of the persecutory delusion reported by these individuals. They report being stalked by many individuals in some coordinated way, by which their lives are disrupted. Many online discussions of the idea are by people who report distress due to their perception of being a victim of such stalking.[3]
Emergence of the term
People began reporting gang stalking after the year 2000.[4] "Stalking" itself was a socially new concept which people began to report starting in the 1980s.[4] Both of these experiences are culture specific, so people talk about them differently in different times, places, and circumstances.[4]
In 2016 a report in The New York Times estimated that the number of people experiencing gang stalking was about 10,000.[1] That article also reported a lack of available information about the topic, and identified a 2015 paper by Sheridan and James as the first scientific examination of gang stalking.[5][1]
"Targeted Individual" community
One cause for the rise in reports of gang stalking is Internet connectivity.[6] As distressed people are able to share information throughout the community, more people report their own impressions.[6] There are online forums where people who believe to be targeted share their experiences among each other.[7] News reports have described how groups of Internet users have cooperated to exchange detailed conspiracy theories involving gang stalking.[1] Some psychiatrists and psychologists say "Web sites that amplify reports of mind control and group stalking" are "an extreme community that may encourage delusional thinking" and represent "a dark side of social networking. They may reinforce the troubled thinking of the mentally ill and impede treatment."[8][9] A 2020 study identified that there is a community of individuals making reports of gang stalking and having a common disturbing experience, and recommended that researchers study it.[4]
Persecutory delusion
Those who believe they are victims report that they believe the motivation for the gang stalking is to disrupt every part of their lives.[1] The activities involved are described as involving electronic harassment, the use of "psychotronic weapons", and other alleged mind control techniques. These have been reported by external observers as being examples of belief systems, as opposed to reports of objective phenomena.[10] Among the community of targeted individuals, gang stalking is described as a shared experience where the gang stalkers all have coordination to harass individuals, and the individuals share their victim experiences with each other.[11][12][13] A 2020 article reported that there were few existing scientific examinations of the gang stalking experience.[4]
A study from Australia and the United Kingdom by Lorraine Sheridan and David James[14] compared 128 self-defined victims of 'gang-stalking' with a randomly selected group of 128 self-declared victims of stalking by an individual. All 128 'victims' of gang-stalking were judged to be delusional, compared with only 3.9% of victims of individual-stalking. There were highly significant differences between the two samples on depressive symptoms, post-traumatic symptomatology and adverse impact on social and occupational function, with the self-declared victims of gang-stalking more severely affected. The authors concluded that "group-stalking appears to be delusional in basis, but complainants suffer marked psychological and practical sequelae. This is important in the assessment of risk in stalking cases, early referral to psychiatric services and allocation of police resources."[14]
One report found that some who claimed to be targeted individuals have acted out with violence, sometimes extreme.[15]
See also
- Cyberstalking
- Mass surveillance
- Psychosis
- The Truman Show delusion
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Mcphate, Mike (10 June 2016). "United States of Paranoia: They See Gangs of Stalkers". The New York Times (New York City). ISSN 0362-4331. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/11/health/gang-stalking-targeted-individuals.html.
- ↑ Flatley, Joseph (2 February 2017). "Paranoid delusions in the police state". https://theoutline.com/post/995/targeted-individuals-paranoid-delusions-in-the-age-of-surveillance.
- ↑ Lustig, A; Brookes, G; Hunt, D (5 March 2021). "Linguistic Analysis of Online Communication About a Novel Persecutory Belief System (Gangstalking): Mixed Methods Study.". Journal of Medical Internet Research 23 (3): e25722. doi:10.2196/25722. PMID 33666560.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Sheridan, L; James, DV; Roth, J (6 April 2020). "The Phenomenology of Group Stalking ('Gang-Stalking'): A Content Analysis of Subjective Experiences.". International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 17 (7): 2506. doi:10.3390/ijerph17072506. PMID 32268595.
- ↑ Sheridan, Lorraine P.; James, David V. (3 September 2015). "Complaints of group-stalking ('gang-stalking'): an exploratory study of their nature and impact on complainants". The Journal of Forensic Psychiatry & Psychology 26 (5): 601–623. doi:10.1080/14789949.2015.1054857.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Dietrich, Elizabeth (1 January 2015). "Gang stalking : internet connectivity as an emerging mental health concern". Theses, Dissertations, and Projects (Smith College). https://scholarworks.smith.edu/theses/702.
- ↑ Tait, Amelia (7 August 2020). ""Am I going crazy or am I being stalked?" Inside the disturbing online world of gangstalking" (in en). https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/08/07/1006109/inside-gangstalking-disturbing-online-world/.
- ↑ Kershaw, Sarah (12 November 2008). "Sharing Their Demons on the Web". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/13/fashion/13psych.html?fta=y.
- ↑ Weinberger, Sharon (14 January 2007). "Mind Games". The Washington Post (Washington DC: Nash Holdings LLC). https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/10/AR2007011001399.html.
- ↑ Kiberd, Roisin (22 July 2016). "The Nightmarish Online World of 'Gang-Stalking'" (in en-us). Vice.com. http://motherboard.vice.com/read/the-nightmarish-online-world-of-gang-stalking.
- ↑ Pierre, Joe (20 October 2020). "Gang Stalking: Real-Life Harassment or Textbook Paranoia?" (in en). https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/psych-unseen/202010/gang-stalking-real-life-harassment-or-textbook-paranoia.
- ↑ Pierre, Joe (October 31, 2020). "Gang Stalking: Conspiracy, Delusion, and Shared Belief" (in en). https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/psych-unseen/202010/gang-stalking-conspiracy-delusion-and-shared-belief.
- ↑ Pierre, Joe (November 16, 2020). "Gang Stalking: A Case of Mass Hysteria?" (in en). https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/psych-unseen/202011/gang-stalking-case-mass-hysteria.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Sheridan, Lorraine P.; James, David V. (3 September 2015). "Complaints of group-stalking ('gang-stalking'): an exploratory study of their nature and impact on complainants". The Journal of Forensic Psychiatry & Psychology (Abingdon, England: Routledge) 26 (5): 601–623. doi:10.1080/14789949.2015.1054857. ISSN 1478-9949.
- ↑ Sarteschi, Christine M. (March 2018). "Mass Murder, Targeted Individuals, and Gang-Stalking: Exploring the Connection". Violence and Gender 5 (1): 45–54. doi:10.1089/vio.2017.0022.
External links
- Vice Media (7 November 2017). "The Nightmare World of Gang Stalking" (in en) (video). Vice Media. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LPS7E-0tuA.
- "Meet the Targeted Individual Community" (in en). May 24, 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62s3FinAoC0.
 |
