Anyone else have conspiracy theory family?

[ConspiracyFamily]

I have family members who think covid is all just a conspiracy theory, the vaccine is to make politicians money as they have shares in Pfizer etc, the vaccine will have a tracker in it, or the best yet - the vaccine has something in it that will kill off the elderly as it's all about population control .

I just can't deal with them. Also they think the new strain has a convenient time to be found and can be used as an excuse to cancel Christmas.

Tbh I'm worried about the cases rising, I've barely been out the last few days and have massively minimised contacts to try and keep my family safe at Christmas. I'm worried about the long term impact of other healthcare issues - my hospital has already cancelled most outpatient appointments and we were already at breaking point before they cancelled them in terms of waiting list times.

How do you deal with conspiracy theory family members?

That makes it sound like I was seeing loads of people, I really wasn't. By massively minimising what I really mean is I went from seeing 2/3 people outside to seeing nobody.

Unfortunately some people prefer to believe something they have read online, than believe doctors or professionals. Whether you believe or not, you have to do what you can to make your own life safer. My husband was in hospital in April to May this year. The things the nurses told my husband will haunt him forever, telling him how many people they treated the first time round, when they really had no idea what they were dealing with and how they felt useless because they couldn’t save so many people.

How horrible @Mindymomo

I've tried pointing said family member in the direction of reliable sources of information but they still believe all the conspiracy theories. It's so frustrating! Makes me want to avoid them but I'm also acutely aware they are currently suffering with their mental health so need support.

I try and ignore the nonsense but I probably should challenge more but I am a bit of a wuss.

Me too @Northernsoulgirl45 but any disagreement gets taken personally by the family member so I feel like I can't say anything but then no response is just as bad in their eyes. Basically it's agree with them or they end up pissed off / upset with me

I sympathise OP, it is very difficult and so frustrating especially when they are normally sensible people and when it causes families to argue. I am bombarded with links to you tube and twitter posts confirming their theories. I used to counter it by trying to debunk the claims by doing a tiny bit of digging which usually didn't take much. I have now decided that it is completely pointless and no longer engage no matter how daft it is as it is like talking to someone brainwashed by a cult. My only theory is that this is a reaction to an extreme situation and that these people are in fact struggling to cope and accept what is happening. It is easier to believe that it is a conspiracy rather than to accept that it is something completely out of our control.

It is easier to believe that it is a conspiracy rather than to accept that it is something completely out of our control.

Absolutely @NotAKaren it's such a bizarre situation and I guess it's trying to claw back some control when really we have none. It seems no matter what I say or do I'd make the situation worse so no response is better than disagreeing.

Obviously not the worst Covid problem but I hate how divisive it has made a lot of people and how defensive then people become to disagreements. I'm not sure there is much middle ground here when it comes to how we all feel about possible restrictions and things...

Yes I have a sibling who believes it's all a scam. I can't really speak to them at the moment because of the societal damage I feel they are doing by not taking the virus seriously and encouraging others to do the same.

Yes. I just try to ignore them.

I bet if you did a survey there would be a significant correlation between conspiracy theorists and Brexit-voters. You know, not listening to experts, etc etc.

I do and I quite like it. Makes for interesting conversations. The world would be a boring place if we all thought the same

Ooo I love a conspiracy theory- interesting debate, conversation, thinking outside the box, doesn't mean I believe in all of them/ lots of them particularly surrounding COVID, but there must be somewhere in your brain that goes what if.....!?
It's not ideal to think we could be getting screwed over and have absolutely no control.
Though I wouldn't force my thoughts on anyone and would respect everyone's opinion ( mostly)
However- I think you just need to stick up for what you think, orrrr think of an even more ridiculous conspiracy to whatever they're discussing and make them take that view into account and enjoy it all being a bit of a wind up!

@moonsbury any suggestions for even more ridiculous covid theories? Although they'd probably take it seriously...

@TwoIsQuiteEnoughThankYou I think there is likely to be a strong correlation as there is also with Trump, QAnon and antivaxers. In fact lots of stuff my family member shares of I dig into it has emerged from people connected to Trump or his supporters. Having seen a lot of this, I think the only conspiracy I have is that Trump or those connected to him have used social media actively push conspiracy theories online furthering confusion and divisions in the US.

No, thankfully. I have one family member who downplays everything about covid, which I find a bit annoying tbh. I don't bother talking to her about it and give her a wide berth as she isn't really sticking to the rules! She thinks it's really mild and you catch it once and that's you, immune forever.

My mum . She's had Covid, was bedridden for 3 weeks, yet thinks it's all blown up nonsense and there MUST be a reason everything is happening. Then her childhood friend died of Covid, so she's gone silent and I hope it remains so.

Most of my family won't have the vaccine, but at least they aren't talking about microchips anymore. I shut them all up about that earlier on in the pandemic.

The government are making a huge lasagne/ garlic bread and need everyone to stay in whilst they get drones to lift the ingredients.
Netflix/ Disney invented it so everyone would stay in and be more likely to buy over priced unnecessary tv packages.
The Blue PPE masks are laced with a carcinogen and the government are trying to cull the population....

I have a particularly nasty relative that believes that the government are trying to control us, hates bill gates, hates 5g, believes that the vaccines are made of aborted babies. She is utterly toxic! She is homophobic and racist and I try to have as little to do with her as possible. No amount of reasoning will make her see sense. She’s highly religious and makes terrible life choices (eg getting scammed regularly on internet yet won’t help her own kids out). She has refused to even consider getting the vaccination. She quite frankly is a total idiot. She constantly sends us made up bollocks. Warning is not to get the vaccine. It’s incredibly upsetting. I am a scientist and it makes my blood boil.

@Thegentleman I agree that it is right to question governments actions, especially the current government who appear to be like headless chickens and as corrupt and morally bankrupt as they come. However this is not what my family conspiracy theorists focus on, it is more bizarre theories relating to the virus being a hoax and this being some kind of grand international plan, involves all world leaders, Bill Gates, microchips, 5G and something about Satan. Being a 'sheeple' for wearing a mask and chastised for not seeing them during because 'it's no worse than flu'.

*during lockdown

The vaccine has something in it that will kill off the elderly as it's all about population control

Some people are just really dim. Covid 19 is about population control and culling the elderly. Restrictions through 2020 have been about preventing that happening. If we wanted to cull the elderly we wouldn't have locked down.

This is exactly my family @NotAKaren. It's frustrating and upsetting.

@Thegentleman I totally agree also the government should be question. But like other posters, my family aren't just questioning the government, it's much more extreme than that. We've had family members ill with long Covid, have a close family member who is ECV and they still don't take it seriously.

@SallyCinnamonYoureMyWorld that's frustrating they think that. Viruses mutate, that's normal. So it stands to reason we can catch it more than once!

Some of the thoughts people have are awful, some are just downright stupid! Honestly! It's beyond frustrating.

I feel like this person sees me as one of their main sources of support in their mental health but they always want to offload about how covid is a conspiracy and the government are trying to control us etc

@ConspiracyFamily

How horrible *@Mindymomo*

I've tried pointing said family member in the direction of reliable sources of information but they still believe all the conspiracy theories. It's so frustrating! Makes me want to avoid them but I'm also acutely aware they are currently suffering with their mental health so need support.

You can't reason with stupidity.

@User158340 exactly! If they just wanted to cull the population they'd just let it rip through communities. Maybe the vaccine speeds it up and is Bill Gates' way of being able to take control (he hates people, wants to control the population and that's why he funded part of the vaccine research). Honestly don't know what their thought process on that one was.