My DH has been brainwashed by tick tock conspiracies

[Stressymessymum]

It’s a bit long but I’m unsure how to deal with this behaviour.

during lockdown my DH ( previously was never into anything like this. was very normal, works in a hospital) fell into a habit of listening to conspiracy podcasts - he thought it was interesting and I didn’t think much of it. This hobby has carried on but increased and the last 3 months his behaviour is really off.

examples

No longer wants to vaccinate our children (oldest 2 are fully vaccinated, baby has had newborn jabs but not one year yet)

wants to home educate because he believes the schools are full of paedophiles and other kids ‘shed’ vaccinations. He doesn’t actually want to do any home ed. I think it’s something called unschooling but we both work full time. I’ve asked him for a plan on how he thinks it will work and he can’t tell me.

won’t let children socialise outside of school. Has removed them from clubs (for the same reasons as above.

wont socialise with vaccinated people (included our families)

wont drink Tap water. Baths in bottled water

refusing to pay council tax as it’s a made up scam (I do pay this 😂)

believes NASA/ moon landing/ 911/ holocaust ( and a long list of other things) is made up

That’s just the tip of the iceberg really…

I’ve tried to talk to him about it but he gets really angry and starts ranting.

who on earth do i talk to about this? I know he’s allowed his own beliefs but he’s dragging our children into it and the way it’s escalated I’m a bit scared xx

historical events happen, then people debate how and who and why etc but they dont have laws attached saying they cannot be debated so why then do some historical events have laws that limit debate on the event ?

Are you referring to the Holocaust?

This is the Wiki article on laws. It is not illegal in the UK, so you're tilting at windmills if you think it's illegal here.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legality_of_Holocaust_denial

nope just any historical event and worldwide

I was thinking OCD?

Which other laws are there which you think prevent open discussion of history? I can't think of many. It's legal to question 9/11, moon landings, evolution, pyramids etc

Ukraine 2006 Law on the Holodomor (recognizing 1932–33 famine as genocide, declaring denial "unlawful"); 2015 decommunization laws (banning Soviet symbols and glorification) Restricts certain Soviet-era discussions; 2015 Freedom Fighters Law protects interpretations of certain nationalist figures/events.

"Council tax is a made up scam"

Well of course its made up, council tax doesn't grow naturally from the earth. 😆

Sorry OP, hope your husband sees sense.

Wow to his response. He does sound mentally ill, i’d want to keep the kids well away from him, but then again he may do so voluntarily if they are shedding all over ‘his’ house. I know someone else who has gone down to the same rabbit hole since Covid and it’s very scary.

I didn't know about those but I will look into them, thank you.

Because denying the holocaust is up there with hate speech as it's so obviously driven by antisemitic motives rather than any reasonable historical analysis.

The recoding of the other parent will be seen as malicious. You’d be very silly to think no judge : professional don’t hold different views to you or accept that some may have past experience with vaccine damages covid vaccine is very controversial. Plenty of NHS and all professionals don’t take it. you’re right it’s not illegal and I’ve mentioned the home schooling and socializing in another post
its not a high threshold you’ve given there for family court. You do realise what sort of cases they hear everyday ? Disturbing abuse. This would be seen as maybe odd to some or just insist on mediation to resolve parental differences. I’ve heard so many cases and home schooling and I’ve mentioned socializing said they would have a word about that with him at best, and possibly offer counselling, but again hardly really dangerous for access purposes

The exact thing happened to my neighbour after Covid. She was a teacher and started to believe and try and very forcefully push her views onto everyone she even walked past. I had many uncomfortable run ins with her on our drive to the point I got a fence installed and rang her school because I was very concerned about her working around children. Everything you've listed she believed and if you look on her Facebook she's still ranting about it all now. It's very sad, she had to leave the family home because her children couldn't cope. It's almost like a cult, they find likeminded people who reinforce their beliefs and it escalates. It sounds like that's already happening with your DH. I'm so sorry for you, I guess the option is to leave him and make him realise the seriousness of his actions if he doesn't stop and get some help. Perhaps therapy. Delete tictok and anything which feeds into it but that's if he even wants to. Best of luck xx

I work on mental health and often believing in conspiracy theories is a reaction to a past trauma, particularly if someone has been abused by someone in authority. It’s a way to make sense of bad things happening to good people and take back a sense of control.

He needs therapy but sadly if he can’t see a problem he might not go.

I've woken up this morning and scrolled Facebook drinking my tea and this little gem popped up.

He’s right about Covid and the moon landing. Probably about vaccines too. If you don’t agree then fine but the only thing i disagree with is the kids missing clubs. If you actually looked into any of this you’d probably see what he’s talking about.

it seems very extreme to just oack the kids away to your parents.

My issue here would be that he’s demonstrated he’s a low IQ person and I couldn’t live with someone like that. Just a personal preference but I find them hard work

How did he unilaterally decide to remove your children from clubs and just do that without talking to you first?

I would divorce the fuckwit.

"I didn't believe my husband, but then I allowed myself to be radicalised by the same content and now I do"
Derpdederpdederp

He’s stopping your kids from socialising? Just divorce him on unreasonable grounds. Protect your children, he’s probably already got in their heads.
my mum was mentally unstable and she believed so much crap I barely went to school, and wasn’t allowed a life outside of school. Even though she’s dead and I’m now old, it has affected me fr life, despite therapy etc

A fixed belief that your body is being infiltrated, contaminated, or altered by particles, substances, or external forces fits within what clinicians call a somatic delusion, which is one of the possible symptoms seen in schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders. Somatic delusions are described as false, unshakeable beliefs about the body despite clear evidence to the contrary, and they can appear in schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, delusional disorder, severe depression with psychosis, bipolar disorder, or substance‑induced psychosis.

www.psychiatrist.com/pcc/somatic-delusions-an-approach-to-diagnosis-and-treatment/

No, he's not right about Covid, or the moon landings, or vaccines. Don't be daft.

get the baby vaccinated when he’s at work! dont tell him

i think id have to separate from him

How the fuck could the holocaust be made up???

moon landing could easily have been faked but not
the holocaust

Say what?? 😂
This thread is seriously scaring me that we have people around us thinking these things.

Sounds like he developed PTSD from being in healthcare during Covid. Poor man. There’s nothing you can do but hope he eventually seeks help.

You’re right to leave though because there’s a risk he could become a family annihilator.