Shane Dawson wants you to think everyone, including Jake Paul, is a sociopath

Mental illness is an incredibly delicate and sensitive subject that is best handled by well-trained and well-educated experts. Shane Dawson, however, recently decided to try his hand at being an armchair psychologist. Along with YouTube therapist Kati Morton, he set out on a 45-minute-long journey to prove that Jake Paul is a sociopath.

On Thursday, Dawson uploaded a video entitled "The Dark Side of Jake Paul" as part of his ongoing documentary series investigating the popular YouTube vlogger. At the time of this post, it has received over 8 million views and it is the number one trending video on YouTube.

In the video, Dawson and Morton dramatically discuss the hallmark traits of a sociopath and talk about how Jake Paul exhibits many of them

Seated across each other on opposite ends of the same couch, Dawson and Morton talk about the signs of a sociopath as dramatic music plays in the background. Reading from what appears to be a handbook on mental disorders, Morton rattles out some of the symptoms of sociopathy, including "failure to conform to social norms" and "deceitfulness."

"They will use anything they can to get their needs met," Morton explains to Dawson. "People are just tools to be used for their game."

The video cuts to Dawson looking utterly terrified. "So to a sociopath, the world is a chess game…and the pieces are people," he says slowly, a look of horror unfolding on his face.

And while Morton and Dawson occasionally clarify that they're not talking about anyone in particular, there are many hints throughout the video that they are alluding to Jake Paul.

For example, when Morton explains that sociopaths are attracted to power and money, the video cuts to a clip of one of Jake Paul's vlogs where he announces, "I want to be the first social media billionaire." And later, when Morton tells Shane that a sociopathic YouTuber probably wouldn't care about the death of a fan but rather use it as an opportunity to make a video for views, the video cuts to a clip of Jake Paul's vlog where he talks about the death of a fan.

Throughout the video, Dawson and Morton engage in over-the-top reactions to emphasize how frightening sociopaths are

As Morton dramatically reads out the telltale signs of a sociopath, the video continually cuts to Dawson looking extremely unnerved, his hands occasionally covering his mouth or rubbing his face in shock.

For a trained mental health professional, Morton exhibits a shocking level of unprofessionalism and obvious disdain for people with mental illnesses. "Isn't that creepy?" Morton says to him at one point after reading a symptom of sociopathy. "It's SO creepy. We're gonna have to take a shower after this."

Around 22 minutes into the video, after Morton discusses a few more symptoms, Dawson looks visibly disturbed and says, "Oh, I'm feeling sick." Morton corroborates his disgust and says, "Yeah, it's really gross. It's just creepy. They're kind of like robots. Sociopaths are wearing a mask, and what's under the mask is the truth. The person underneath the mask doesn't even exist."

And around 25 minutes into the video, Dawson timidly asks her, "Do sociopaths have a heart?" Morton responds quietly, "I don't think so."

Utterly terrified, Dawson wonders out loud how many people in his life are sociopaths. "Why am I just learning about this?" he asks her, looking scared. "1 in 25 people are sociopaths? That's like, a person in your class or a person in your family or a person in your friend group or like a hundred people on YouTube."

He then asks Morton how he and his viewers can identify sociopaths in their lives, and if there is a "main characteristic" that sociopaths typically exhibit. Morton tells him that sociopaths are usually "really popular" and "super intelligent" and "bounce around from friends to friends."

Dawson is clearly still terrified at the prospect that he's surrounded by sociopaths, but Morton reassures him that "once you start paying attention to it, you can feel those people out."

After watching his video, thousands of viewers expressed fear and even started diagnosing their own friends and family with sociopathy

All over the Internet, people have reacted to Dawson's latest video with outright terror. "UM, JUST LEARNED THAT 1 OUT OF 25 PEOPLE A PERSON MY KNOW IS A SOCIOPATH!?!?!? I AM TERRIFIED RIGHT NOW AND AM ABOUT TO CHECK IN WITH FRIENDS ASAP. MEEEEP. #scared," one Twitter user wrote.

People have even started diagnosing themselves, their friends, and their family members with sociopathy. "My boyfriend and I watched the second episode of @shanedawson's Jake Paul series," another person tweeted. "Now we are questioning everyone we know and spent some time evaluating each other to make sure were [sic] aren't sociopaths. SPOILER: we're both major empaths who feel too much. No socio's here."

"I'm officially scared of everyone like what if my moms a sociopath or my friends or I don't fuckijg knkw [sic] but I'm scared and I'm never leaving my room bye," another wrote.

In the replies, someone said, "I really think my sister is one." In response, the original poster wrote, "Run. Lock ur door. Wack her over the head with your chancla."

"I've been thinking about a girl who I considered one of my besties lately a lot because I'm not sure why we're even friends?" another tweeted. "We have nothing in common and have completely different opinions on everything. I've just realized she is legitimately a sociopath."

And apparently, people have even been using Dawson's video as a way to bully others online. "Look I love @shanedawson and his new series but many of my friends at school have been attacked over social media," someone tweeted. "Many people have even added to their Instagrams stating people's name and how they have sociopath like traits…"

Dawson's latest video is only further exacerbating the stigma around mental illness

Stigma around mental illness is extremely widespread and it often leads to serious consequences for people with mental illnesses. According to the Mental Health Foundation, stigma and discrimination can worsen someone's mental health problems, delay or impede treatment and recovery, and trap people in a cycle of illness. As a result of this stigma, people with mental illness experience high levels of social isolation, unemployment, and poverty.

By painting people with mental disorders as dangerous monsters, Dawson's latest video only exacerbates this stigma and encourages millions of viewers to become terrified of people with mental illnesses. With the sensationalistic editing, dramatic music, and random jump cuts to horror movie villains, Dawson's video does far for damage than good when it comes to depicting mental illness and sets a dangerous precedent in which unqualified people not only take it upon themselves to incorrectly diagnose mental illnesses, but also dehumanize and stigmatize those who do have mental illness.

The fact of the matter is that Shane Dawson is not licensed — nor, to be frank, educated — in matters of mental illness. And in fact, even if he was trained on this issue, it is still highly inappropriate for him to go on a hunt to prove that Jake Paul is a sociopath. Going so far as to talk to a psychologist about someone else's perceived mental illness — and then publishing that conversation online to millions of viewers — is extremely inconsiderate and invasive at best, and actively destructive at worst.

@nian_hu