I agree completely. I think there is a form of mental illness going on with these people. In some cases it may be as serious as an in-born lack of empathy associated with narcissism. In most I suspect it to be something milder -- forms of denial, or inability to cope with the reality of the ambiguity and unfairness of the world, or an unwillingness to accept that what they were told by their chosen authority figures is wrong and harmful.
I have discussed before that, for the most part, there is NO mental illness. What we have is brain illness, or illnesses affecting the brain ... with one exception. False belief systems. I have also said that its dangerous to medicalize false belief systems. Illness can influence thought, and vice versa, but aside from brain illness its a limited influence that has not been properly investigated.
Psychopsychiatry is about as dense a system of interlocking beliefs, much of it unproven or disproven or unprovable, as we know of. The only rival, and not nearly as bad, is economics. They are taught answers for everything, answers that interlock and prevent criticism. It definitely qualifies as a dysfunctional belief system in my opinion, but I would not want to call it an illness.
This is more a matter for society, including politics, than doctors. If mainstream scientists got more involved there would be more criticism, but I think they are held off by the claim that only a psych could understand, and the idea that you don't criticize outside your own field.
