Is ‘Crank Magnetism’ a form of mental illness?

kavanap2

I am interested to hear people’s opinions on the condition of ‘Crank magnetism’. Is it just simple eccentricity or a more serious mental condition.

For anyone not familiar with this condition, as I’m sure most people are not, its describes people that fervently believe in all sorts of conspiracies to the point that they live their lives according to these bizarre theories. (Jim Corr and David Ike are extreme examples).

For more detailed info, please check out these links:
http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Crank_magnetism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crank_(person)

The reason I am asking is because I have been in a relationship with somebody who fits this profile exactly. At first I thought it was just a bit of fun (conspiracy theories, New World Order etc...) not to be taken too seriously, but as I got to know the person more I realised that it had a much more darker side. She spent many hours a day browsing the internet reading all of this type of stuff and believed everything she read. As a result she didn’t trust conventional medicine and believed that every major disease was created by the pharmaceutical industry just to make money. As a result she bought an ‘alternative’ medicine called ‘miracle mineral solution’ (or MMS for short) over the internet which claims to cure every known disease including AIDS and cancer! I googled the product and found very disturbing articles including a FDA warning not to use it because it produces a potent bleach when ingested:

http://www.fda.gov/Safety/MedWatch/SafetyInformation/SafetyAlertsforHumanMedicalProducts/ucm220756.htm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/sep/15/miracle-mineral-solutions-mms-bleach

When I explained to her what I had found she totally rejected my concern and said that the FDA is also in on the conspiracy! It shocked me to see how gullible she was and that she couldn’t see how damaging this solution is. When she started to take this MMS she began to feel ill but she told me that this was because it was ‘removing all the toxins and bad bacteria from my system’ and this was proof that it was working! I pleaded with her to see sense but to no avail. She also believed in the most bizarre conspiracy theories – for instance, that the British Royal family were secretly ‘Reptilians’ from another planet. I also found some cheques written out to some “Shaman healer” from County Cork to do distance healing! WTF?? I could go on but I think you get the drift. This type of behaviour and belief system put an incredible amount of pressure on our relationship with the result that I eventually decided that I couldn’t be with someone like this. And there was no reasoning with her, it was like she was brainwashed. I probably don’t even know the half of it, she was very secretive, who knows what else she did or money she wasted. I wonder if this is a new form of mental illness that, so far, has not been formally recognised?

I'd appreciate anybody's thoughts on this...