The Quiet Damage: QAnon and the Destruction of the American Family

by Jesselyn Cook

For many, the allure is less about what it makes them think than how it makes them feel.

Researchers would later find a positive correlation between conspiracy theory belief and depression—most prevalent, interestingly, among the relatively privileged: white people, high-income earners, and those with college educations. Psychological stress as well as state (situation-based) and trait (personality-based) anxiety were also determined to be precursors, suggesting a circumstantial vulnerability in some cases rather than a mental disorder.

That was perhaps the greatest gift QAnon could offer its adherents. Man’s desire for meaning was intrinsic and intoxicating; famed psychiatrist Viktor Frankl had called it the primary motivation of human existence. It was also elusive—only one in four American adults had a strong sense of life purpose—and the pursuit had led some down dark paths.

Research suggests that harboring grievances—whether they stem from real or perceived offenses—actually makes people feel good. Brain-imaging studies have revealed that feeling aggrieved, and in turn, desiring retribution, stimulates the same neural reward-processing circuitry as narcotics.