Some members of the group are taking ivermectin not only as a treatment against COVID, but as a cure-all for almost every disease—from cancer and depression, to autism and ovarian cysts—believing that every disease is caused by a parasite that is removed from the body by ivermectin, just as animals are given the drug to treat parasitic worms like tapeworm.
Lemoi also formulated an ivermectin regimen for children, and numerous members of the group reported that they were using it. This week alone one member wrote that she had established another group for “parents of children on the spectrum, cerebral palsy, pans/panda, downs etc.,” who are using the Lemoi’s recommended children’s dosage.
:wut:
I don't know if there's a named cognitive bias for it, but it's the same kind of cult mechanic that Qanon and gangstalking thrive on. You have some absurd bullshit that no one else will listen to. Every other person in that group has some absurd bullshit no one else will listen to. As long as you accept their bullshit wholesale, they'll be the only people in the world who validate you drinking pee to vibrate louder.
If you're already predisposed to aLtErNaTiVe MeDiCiNe conspiracism the only community willing to entertain you relies on you accepting a dozen contradictory ideas. Accepting everything with a herd mentality makes them gravitate to the most extreme parts because they sell the most miraculous form of the cure-all. It's why I was super anti-plague rat well before the pandemic. They're insulated by so many layers of nonsense that they can only go further into it lest their whole worldview collapse.
This is exactly the kind of syncretism Umberto Eco picked out as a characteristic of fascism: