It is amusing to me that this thread (as well as others I have read about commenting on this study on other sites) have people who question the veracity of the study, or they try to downplay it, or muddle the issue to deflect the import of what the study is actually saying.
Let me comment on some of these:
"Mental health is a broad term."
Sure it is. However, that broad term applies to every demographic equally. Whatever "mental health issue" means to each respondent, they all were asked the same exact question. It doesn't matter what that mental health problem/issue is, those who are self-described as liberal have more of them. Period.
"The conservatives probably don't admit it."
So liberals are more honest than conservatives? You mean the same liberals who wanted to destroy Brett Cananaugh for allegedly groping a girl while in high school 40 years ago with zero corroboration from her friends and family, but ignore and excuse Joe Biden for allegedly raping a woman while a sitting Senator with multiple corroborations from her mother (on Larry King!) and her friends? You mean those same liberals who spent millions and years trying to pin Russian collusion on Donald Trump with zero evidence in the end, but ignore an actual video of Joe Biden bragging about leveraging one billion in U.S. aid to Ukraine to have their top prosecutor ousted who just happened to be investigating his son, Hunter Biden, for corruption? You mean THAT kind of honesty?
"It could be that liberals just seek mental health help more than conservatives."
It could be. But the sick usually seek out help. That is why older people seek medical help more than younger people, because they are sick more. If liberals do seek out mental health help more often than conservatives it also may equally be because they need it.
"Creative, artistic people are more prone to being emotionally unstable."
Wow. So now ALL liberals are creative Kanye West types? And all Kanye West types are liberal? Oops, wait, Kanye is PRO Donald Trump, so that doesn't work. Even people like Caitlyn Jenner are conservative, so no, that doesn't work either. It is funny to see someone equate liberalism with being artistic and creative. I guess conservatives are not capable of being artistic or creative, you have to be liberal to have those skills? Who writes and sings all the country western music?
"The new generation seeks therapy more than older generations do."
This one amused me the most. They obviously did not even look at the chart or read the reports on the study because it crossed all age boundaries. Sure, the younger people in the study had the most self-reported mental health problems, but older people reported as well. That is why the study separated them into age groups. Even if older people do seek out therapy less, the proportions still say that liberals suffer more than conservatives in that same group.
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The one thing this report does not talk about is other races. I only saw "whites" in this study. How do the other races compare, not just liberal vs. conservative, but black vs. white, etc. in the same demographic. I would really be interested in those figures.