A new survey of more than 8,000 people has found that those who identify with left-wing political beliefs are more likely to have been diagnosed with a mental illness.
Ann Coulter's "liberalism is a mental disorder" catchphrase has become something of a clichéd meme, but the data appears to support it.
Carried out by
Slate Star Codex, the online survey collected a wealth of data from respondents about their education, demographic, lifestyle and political views.
In addition, the results show that the highest percentage of respondents (38%) who admit being diagnosed with forms of mental illness also identify politically as Marxists.In comparison, just 12.1% of conservatives say they have been diagnosed with a mental disorder.While the survey is by no means scientific, it does give an insight into how disturbed people are more likely to be attracted to fringe leftist beliefs, which in a lifestyle sense usually encourage degeneracy and a lack of moral responsibility."It's not a myth that left-wingers are more mentally ill," said conservative commentator Milo Yiannopoulos. "And it's not a surprise the internet has elevated crazy people with too much time on their hands to a central place in the national discourse. The "social web" is a social fucking catastrophe."
Related: it is entirely in far left circles that one sees the discourse around the 'destigmatization of mental illness'. While framed as a compassionate imperative to get people the help they need, it looks a lot more like a concerted effort to carve out a political space for the insane.