My DH is obsessed with the New World Order

[Electri]

I need help.

He's bought thousands of pounds worth of equipment - including a machete, an axe, a crossbow and a pellet gun. If he could buy a real gun legally in England he would. I wouldn't be surprised if he bought one illegally.

He's obsessed with the banking industry collapsing, the internet being taken out and power going down. He says the masses aren't prepared because they trust the government too much.

He doesn't talk about anything else. He watches videos all day long on how to "prepare" for what's to come. And stuff from the world economic forum/ mark moss.

He keeps taking about people being shot in Australia and how that will come over here soon.

WWYD?

@skeptile. I have seen multiple videos of dodgy policing in Australia. The authoritarianism is different to the Uks response. Police here only really ever did some stupid things right at the beginning and since then have been pretty reasonable.

I think ops husband is a male version of the hundreds of women on here who are preppers. They seem to be fairly accepted. I think it’s pretty batshit but whatever floats your boat. The reason he’ll want arms is because of situations like Australia when the police over step their jurisdiction and you can’t defend yourself, it’s not entirely ridiculous and exactly how the American constitution was set up with the right to bear arms. There is some sense in it. It’s not totally bonkers given that the past year has seen lots of precedents and citizen freedoms have been played around with so much. We are very anti our citizens bearing arms in the UK, but there is sense in it. Somewhere 🤷‍♀️

There isn’t really any sense in U.K. citizens being armed. In what possible circumstances could that be useful? It would require a critical mass of people prepared to overthrow the government (and therefore take on the army and police). Otherwise it’s just a few isolated nutters with crossbows who will probably hurt someone close to them and immediately be arrested. Pointless.

mathanxiety

Yes, a visual resonance with images out of Belfast was exactly the comment my Brit DH made when he saw the new styling of our police force here.

They've also invested in sonic weaponry.

For our safety, of course.

So I prepped a little for Brexit, the kids non dairy milk, a couple of tins of beans etc and it came in handy for when we we’re shielding. It was all stuff we use any way. This week I’ve put some florentines and I’m chutney in my shopping for Christmas and I’m wondering if I should order the Barbie campervan sooner rather than later. The difference between this behaviour and the OP’s husband is I’m not obsessed with it. I still see friends, go swimming, book a new yoga class, think about redecorating and then think I will wait another year.

OP it sounds like your DH needs mental health support.

hamstersarse

I would never bear/possess arms, but the 2nd Amendment has new meaning for me after the events of the 20 months.

Police are armed here. My DH, a Brit who has lived here since 2014, has always found this confronting, and inappropriate.

I would prep if I had space. We have a little extra food, and decent camping supplies. We would have fled the inner city months ago if we could have.

40,000 Victorians have left this state over the past 12 months. All other states are showing net gains.

@youvegottenminuteslynn

He's hoarding weapons and has set himself up in an echo chamber, presumably with likeminded people online, so he wont to sense check any information he's getting - he will just be working on confirmation bias now so he will spiral into these views becoming more entrenched.

If he was hoarding weapons for any other reason, would you feel comfortable staying with him? I absolutely wouldn't. It would be madness.

Try to read your words back, objectively, and imagine you had a daughter or niece saying this about their partner:

He's bought thousands of pounds worth of equipment - including a machete, an axe, a crossbow and a pellet gun. If he could buy a real gun legally in England he would. I wouldn't be surprised if he bought one illegally.

What would you tell her to do? Do that.

If he's having a mental health crisis then yes he would benefit from professional support but that isn't your job, it's vanishingly unlikely he will engage willingly and you shouldn't have to do anything at the expense of your own safety.

A house where there are weapons and someone who isn't behaving rationally is not a safe place to be.

Women are not rehabilitation centres for men and you need to put your own life jacket on first.

I would leave, be somewhere safe and if you think you need to, call his GP surgery or the police for a welfare check. But he's unlikely to engage willingly and likely to be angry / see it as confirmation 'the system' is against him etc so I wouldn't want to do that while still in a relationship with him.

What an excellent post. Please reread this OP.

@Electri so sorry you're going through this, it sounds very tiring and unnerving. I would like to echo a previous suggestion about considering what advice you would give if your sister or best friend confided the same scenario to you. That might help you focus on the realities of the current situation rather than about the history you've shared and how things used to be.

There is a strong possibility that such intense fixation is indication of severe mental ill-health, as has been outlined in more detail by others. There is also a credible risk of you being in danger, either if he decides that you are in league with or have been compromised by the 'enemy', or as part of a misguided effort to preemptively 'protect' you from some perceived threat.

On top of those risks is the reality of your day-to-day life. It can't be doing your health or wellbeing any good to be constantly hearing this stuff and not able to discuss or participate in things that you enjoy individually or as a couple. Even if nothing deteriorated from this day forward, could you bear this status quo indefinitely? Would you have entered this relationship if this was what it was like at the beginning? If not, why should you suffer through it now?

If you're still deciding what to do, the advice about hiding a small 'go bag' with immediate access to your passport, birth certificate, vital documents, cash, phone charger etc and memorising an escape plan is good - Women's Aid has guidance here www.womensaid.org.uk/the-survivors-handbook/making-a-safety-plan/ . I would also suggest contacting Women's Aid directly as soon as it is safe to do so for more specific advice.

In case it bears repeating - as some commenters don't seem to be seeing the distinction - there is a world of difference between having some extra food, toilet rolls, candles, and sleeping bags stocked up in case of short-term emergencies versus what is happening here; a large stockpile of weapons and fixations on conspiracies to the exclusion of any other topic of conversation or activity.

My brother does this. Bonkers, I thought, until I realised his wife is on it too. They believe it's coming.

Just FYI you can legally buy a gun in the UK. There are over 600,000 legally owned firearms, and over 1.4m legally owned shotguns. That awful shooting in Plymouth this year was by a man using a gun he had a licence for.

@ViceLikeBlip

Just FYI you can legally buy a gun in the UK. There are over 600,000 legally owned firearms, and over 1.4m legally owned shotguns. That awful shooting in Plymouth this year was by a man using a gun he had a licence for.

You can yes,

DS has a shot gun, but we also had police visits at home and his GP records were scrutinised for any MH issues. The gun safe was also inspected and approved. All before his licence was authorised.

For clay pigeon shooting BTW

I think the OP reaching out to the GP is worthwhile, sooner rather than later.

I would be very worried in your shoes. Please keep yourself safe.

I do think that there is more to it than meets the eye.

I am not into CT or NWO theories, but those who are to this degree, I really do believe that there is an underlying issue.

I have, what I call, a little obsessive streak. And this manifests itself very obviously when I am going through a tough time. And because I have had a lot of those the last few years, I have picked up on it.

If I am working through some trauma and I just happen to need something new, (the latest was a new blender) then I will research the crap out of every single blender available. I will download the manuals, read reviews, shop around for best price etc etc. And then in the end I went for the first one I had my eye on anyway.

My current obsession is spf as I recently got a postive skin cancer result. I have bought any and every offer that is going, there is not a brand or an offer I don't know about right now.

These are just two small examples, but I do feel quite strongly that if someone is going through some trauma / ptsd or similar then they do try to find something else to focus on. Unfortunately that focusing can get out of hand. I know I have this problem (I have a stockpile of a year of coffee as for some reason I felt very unsecure about running out).

The problem is identifying an issue. I am aware of mine now so I am able to step back and say to myself, enough now! . But then I need something else to focus on. So now I'm working on getting fitter. Which seems a lot better option. But unless you know to change it, it is very difficult not to. It can consume you.

So I don't know the answer of what to do OP. But perhaps there is something similar happening with your DH. But I do know the feeling of something being completely consuming. I would related to as similar to an addiction.

Did he have a tough upbringing? Has there been unresolved trauma?

I am no doctor or psychologist, I just speak as someone who can relate a little.

40,000 Victorians have left this state over the past 12 months. All other states are showing net gains

No they haven't. Many have moved to regional Victoria.

Oh christ, all these posters talk about whether he's actually right , or what level of prepping is okay, or what's happening in Australia.

None of that matters OP. Hell, he could turn out to be 100% correct and everything he says about the New World Order comes to pass, it still doesn't matter.

What matters is - do you feel safe in your own home? Do you feel happy? Do you feel like your relationship is fulfilling or makes your life better in some way? Or does it make it worse?

You can contact the GP and try and reason with him if you want, but you need to put your own health (physical and mental) and safety first.

@mathanxiety

That photo of the armoured police vehicle reminds me very much of Belfast, UK, in the 1970s and 80s.

Look up saxon armoured vehicle for examples.

I thought that immediately when I saw that photo. Also use of rubber bullets.

Sorry got derailed by that photo and the comment it was like Afghanistan.
I agree with the other posters about leaving, your dh needs mental health assessment as a minimum and agree his gp / police need to know about the weaponry.
Hope you return and read these and keep safe.

I think the advice from you’ve was good about the weapons. But in all seriousness if he was serious about the end of society he should stockpile seeds, some water filtration system and some food not weapon’s !

I’d be very careful around him, very. ESP if you’re thinking of leaving. It’s not actually that hard to get a shotgun licence in the U.K. either, it’s just the other guns ( pistols, automatic weapons
Etc.) that are strictly controlled so make sure he’s not going down that route.
He sounds like he’s having some kind of mental health crisis.

Wow, youtube knows what you want and gives you more and more.

Does he feel safe yet?
Does he feel prepared?

I think in your position I would encourage him to seek help, then leave. I may report him to the Police under the Prevent agenda - that may be overkill but that's for them to decide. (Prevent may not be the right approach, but I'm thinking of the stash of weapons and the developing paranoia - could be a dangerous combination).

You can't cure him or convince him to change, and I would imagine his imaginings and paranoia have affected how you feel about him. If so, you would be staying because you feel sorry for him, or because of how you used to feel, neither of which is fair to either of you.

If you encourage him to seek help, or signpost him to some altermative reading, he may ignore you but you will know you've tried.

@isthismylifenow
Yes i research the bejasus out of everything too, childhood trauma from never being allowed my own perspective. There were more visible traumas but that invisible one is the hardest to recover from.

I am not thinking about apocalypse now but i do have a shed full of supplies, for brexit! Still untouçhed.

So id try going down the route of "do you feel safe now?" Do you feel at ease? Do you feel you have the advantage now?

Because if he is doing all this and he's still worried then the "ignorant" people are the winners

Its better to be over prepared than under prepared.
This is quite a common thing now for people to be joining the preppers bandwagon. Yes, he may be deep in his thoughts about where the world is headed, but that doesn't make him dangerous or mentally unwell.
It sounds to me like he is prepping incase they have to live in those tents he bought, and the weapons are more for hunting etc. Not against people.

Well, accimmulating weapons is not good for the people around him and especially the wife under the same roof.

Im sympathetic to the mindset as i feel it "makes sense" to have 100 litres of water and food in the shed.

@BrendaBubbles

It depends to what extent he has gone. I do think people need to be more prepared for some serious problems in the next few years like food and fuel shortages but it shouldn’t be taking up more than a small portion of his time. I bought tons of food and household essentials in February 2020 and it was hugely beneficial when lockdown occurred so I am mildly sympathetic at least.

Did you buy loads of weapons to kill the enemy within ?

@Haggisfish3

Honestly? I’d leave.

^ This