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Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch
I think that its a big stretch connecting a conspiracy theory believer to a mental illness, it just feels like we're trying to wedge a person into mental illness because of beliefs, and if anything it could cause a massive rift in a family.
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While it's true that not everyone who believes in conspiracy theories have mental disorders, it does not appear to be an uncommon sign of some form of mental problem. Even if it's as little as stress, anxiety or isolation. However, delusions and paranoia are staple symptoms for many mental disorders. Even seemingly unrelated mental disorders like Narcissistic personality disorder seem to have some relationship with conspiracy theories.
I think there's quite a big difference between even big "world-changing" conspiracy theories like "911 was an inside job" that a seemingly normal person could get involved in after watching some youtube videos and believing that
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"different people" who are "reliable sources" who "can't just come out and say what's going' it's a series of clues with a lot of letters that turn into number clues"
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The latter seems to be much more a sign of delusion or paranoia than your simple run-of-the-mill conspiracy.
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Although I would suggest getting expert help, if you didn't want to go through that just yet, then I think I would engage with your sister to find out where she is getting this information. No need to challenge her, at least not yet, but if she's just spouting out the exact same stuff some conspiracy website is, at least you would know she's just fallen for it. If she's unable to answer you, is vague, won't reveal sources, I would question if she was a conspiracy theorist and more going through some form of psychosis. Again though, I think I would look at finding some form of expert help.