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

The fire in the great library at Alexandria predated the birth of Christ by at least 40 years and the gospels by well over 100, so is unlikely to have been intended to destroy documents relating to the early church.

It was stated by the ceo of rainmaker, a company that uses drones for cloud seeding, they operate in 5 states across the American midwest

Totally agree.

For him to be relieved you’ve left and taken the children so that he no longer has to be exposed to the vaccines you are shedding is beyond rational.

Is his plan to just never see his chikdren again?

Is he going to leave his job so he doesn’t have to be around colleagues who are also shedding their vaccines?

It doesn’t make any sense.

The CEO would inevitably talk it up, wouldn’t he?

The word ‘can’ renders it pretty meaningless - he’s covering his arse. You or I or the next poster can win the EuroMillions jackpot (if we buy a ticket). Doesn’t mean it’s likely to happen.

Well done you..👏

Pizza gate was a viral conspiracy theory, used by the far right around US election. They claimed the police had uncovered a democrat paedophile ring and linked it to some pizza place.

There are lots of conspiracy theories started for political purposes.
some theories are going to have a hint of truth to them, be exaggerated and blown completely out of proportion. You really have to ask yourself why? What evidence is there? How difficult would it be to cover up? And , does anyone benefit from us believing it?

Not blindly following and believing conspiracy theories is not the same as trusting everything that comes from thr government or the media. It’s about thinking critically.

I don’t understand why people who smoke/smoke weed can be against vaccines. Do they know what is in a cigarette? In the weed? It makes no sense. Hope you’re ok op. I’d have left long ago if my husband was like this. You need him out the house so you and the kids can go home. Good luck op.

There was a time when people said Famous and important people couldn’t possibly be part of a blood drinking, child eating sex trafficking ring 👀 how did that work out??

Who has been eating children?

No advice but huge as sympathy here. My DH is into most of what your hubby is...down the rabbit hole bigtime. Watches stuff on You Tube and alt right sites all the time as conventional news sources "are wrong". Goes on social media "Telegram" and watches/discusses endless controversies with like minded individuals. Mocks me for my "stupid sheeple ignorant thinking". Doesn't believe that men walked on the moon, believes 9/11 was an inside job, believes that Big brother is watching him constantly and that "powers that be" control the world, doesn't eat bread cos it's riddled with chemicals designed to kill us, doesn't eat fish cos it's been poisened by radiation, doesn't believe in ANY vaccinations (tho he is fully vaxxed apart from COVID/Flu/Pneumoniccal) and has stirred up controversary with our married son and his wife when they vaxxed their son (he was so anti this that he stopped talking to son and even tried pushing his "study" onto them regarding antivax. He also told me that if anything went wrong with their baby it would be MY fault!!). It's been hell... and we don't have young kids. You are doing the right thing. Don't think mental health can help because he is able to have his own way of thinking but it isn't a nice place to be when they constantly tell you "you can't do this"..."you cant do that".... "You must believe what I believe".. it's damaging and very very stressful. No married life should be like this so good on you for takiing a stand for you and your children. Sadly I don't think he will come back from this as my husband has not. He would rather his viewpoint then be a husband/father/grandfather. So very very sad.

Why are you tolerating this?

While I believe there’s some risk from covid vaccines, I don’t believe all vaccines are bad, the MMR for example in my view is essential - in my field of work I work with people who caught childhood diseases and are disabled and brain damaged.
My bosses healthy 2 year old caught meningitis and is now brain damaged, deaf and blind,
My cousins weren’t vaccinated, one got whooping cough and was very poorly as a toddler, the other caught mumps as an adult and was in a lot of pain & rendered infertile…
Tell your husband if it wasn’t for vaccines children would still be dying from small pox and people suffering and dying from tuberculosis !
I think saying 9/11 and the holocaust didn’t happen is so disrespectful to the victims and their families..I couldn’t be with someone who had such views and it seems he’s unwilling to compromise on schooling and vaccines… (His way or the Highway?) and his unwillingness to even discuss it… these children are yours too!! No doubt it will be you off work when the children are being ‘homeschooled’? Or when they’re hospitalised with measles or mumps!

He seems mentally ill!

I’d be getting kids vaccinated. But yes I’d be telling him this can’t continue & if the house is to become him telling you rather than discussing and listening to your views then one parent needs to move out - I don’t think you and the children should be the ones to leave!

Sorry - it sounds like he needs sectioning!! And medicating!
I think the weed has triggered paranoia !
Is there any schizophrenia in his family?

Op, just to say, when possible I would try to push back on his Holocaust denial. Denying moon landings etc is crazy but Holocaust denial could tip into anti Semitism and hateful conspiracies.

My sister is into this kind of stuff and believes a lot of these things. Not a conversation goes by without 'chemtrails', 'heavy metals', 'underground basements where children are abused" and who knows what else being claimed. I try to ignore to keep communication going but I clamped down really hard when she began spouting Rothschild conspiracies and supposed 'evil Talmud quotes'. I showed her the quotes were fake & the ugly path this kind of theme could take her down. She is not anti Semitic and has stayed off these since I explained firmly..

I understand thus may not be possible for you to do & you must prioritise your health & safety etc but if possible I think you should challenge anything which leads onto Anti Senitism, racism, misogyny etc

The director Billy Wilder had a simple reply when he met a Holocaust denier, 'Where is my mother?'

What does your husband think happened to the Holocaust victims? Does he think they just died due to illness in the camps (I've heard this one?) Does he think all the relatives are lying, and the survivors? Why would they do that?

Thank you. It's like shooting fish in a barrel, these conspiracies so often fall apart within a few minutes of questioning...

because I'm old and it would blow apart the family dynamics. Also have elderly mother who wouldn't cope... complicated and I'm so tired I don't have any fight left.

I'm really sorry 🫂 I hope your husband can come out of this...

The only thing I can think is somehow cutting off Internet access but I suppose that would be impossible...

The Internet is really good for some things but if it didn't exist, there could never have been this mass radicalisation into conspiracy theories...

These types afaik tend to claim thr death toll was exaggerated and that there were no gas chambers, people just died as a result of overwork and poor nutrition in the 'labour camps'. This is obviously still rubbish, though. And relies on thousands of survivors being liars...

You can buy the services of astrologers & chiropracters. Those sectors are doing fine - that doesn't mean that they're effective in what they claim to do.

@Stressymessymum any update? This was a very sad read with huge implications for all of you

Well given that there's currently not a single shred of evidence of 'famous and important people' being part of a blood drinking, child eating, sex trafficking ring, I guess it's working out quite well for anyone sceptical that such a thing exists.

This is the perfect example of a conspiracy theory. Conflate a load of absolute waffle with something true, then claim that proof of one is proof of all.

Jeffrey Epstein trafficking women and girls doesn't mean that everyone he associated with was part of a sex trafficking ring. It doesn't mean that celebrities and world leaders are eating children, sacrificing babies or drinking their blood. It doesn't mean that the world is secretly run by a cabal of devil worshipping pedophiles.

You obviously haven’t delved into the Epstein files then 🤦🏽‍♀️

There's no evidence whatsoever of anyone - famous, important or otherwise - eating children or drinking blood or anything similarly ridiculous in the Epstein files. It simply doesn't exist.

I'm genuinely curious to know why you'd suggest otherwise.

Have you? Or have you just soaked up a bunch of exciting fifth-hand drivel from clout-chasers & the mentally unwell? The two categories are not mutally exclusive.