Has My Sister Lost Her Marbles?

[CroFlames]

Ask her opinion on chem trails.

[Derek Sutton]

Originally Posted by fleury

Dunno if you're serious or not, but I found in my family the people who stayed at home all day and didn't work or socialize, tended to drift away mentally (to put it politely). Obviously I'm no doctor, but I would hope your family can get together and get her professional help, rather than pushing it off as someone else's problem. This stuff only gets worse over time.

Originally Posted by photon

Falling for conspiracy theories is a natural human thing; if it wasn't then they wouldn't be as common and effective as they are.

If someone spends huge chunks of their time looking at videos and reading stuff by QAnon or other groups who create/promote/discuss/obsess over these theories, then it's going to influence how one thinks, period. No one is immune, we all want to fit in and the pressure to think how one's peers think is huge (hence the term peer pressure).

And the mind is almost designed to resist reasoned efforts to change the ideas, often evidence that something is wrong will have the opposite of the desired effect; they'll just dig in further.

Not saying there isn't something specific going on (i.e. mental illness or other life factors), just saying I don't think there necessarily has to be; people are vulnerable enough without having to bring in other factors.

As to what to do about it? I have no idea.. my sister dated a guy who was deep into some of this stuff. Thought the moon landings were fake, asked me about sealing his windows to protect against when the nuclear reactors had the problems in Japan, etc... We all just breathed a sigh of relief when she broke up with him.

EDIT: Yeah talking to a professional about what kind of strategy to take would be good. Ultimately you can't help someone who doesn't want to be helped, but I think they might recommend some kind of strategy that would involve decreasing the influence of that stuff in their life.. Get them out of the house and socialize more.. get together as a family more, etc. No overt attempts to talk them out of their positions, just increasing their connection to the real world to decrease their connection to crazy town.

It is a bit tough because they live about two hours away, we do invite them to a lot of gatherings as our family is quite close but they often do not attend because A) Her husbands anxiety, totally different story there, B) Their dog, C) work. D) thier son who at 20 yrs old they do not trust to leave at home alone overnight. Plus many other reasons.

Her story gets more complicated, as during the late 90's through the mid 2000's they were one those "had it all families". Quads, trailer, boat, diesel trucks etc... But like so many her husbands construction business collapsed and his relationship with his father was destroyed as part of this. We could see that this had drastically changed the brother in law (her husband) and my sister appeared to be the one who held everything together. He does again have a very good job, he landed on his feet very quickly actually, but does suffer from anxiety, depression? Alcoholism? Not sure how happy their marriage is actually or how close they are with any friends. It seems like this could be her escape, somethng to follow and believe in.

[Matata]

I love conspiracy theories and haven't heard of a single one of those, what websites is she linking?

[Derek Sutton]

Originally Posted by Matata

I love conspiracy theories and haven't heard of a single one of those, what websites is she linking?

My brother asked her in the ground text she sent but didn't link any.

She also stated I nine of her texts "I'm not crazy this is serious s***".

[dino7c]

First sign that you are crazy? Saying "I am not crazy"

maybe when these things don't happen send her back some of her old texts

[8 Ball]

Undiagnosed bipolar disorder? My sister has it, and conspiracy theories are huge with her. When she becomes manic, she doesn't sleep for days and her mind plays tricks on her. She thinks the US government assassinated Prince...

[monkeyman]

I honestly hope it's just a crazy conspiracy thing, but it sounds much broader, not on one specific thing. I think you have a right to be concerned.
Tough situation, good luck man.

[Matt Reeeeead]

Could be schizophrenia based on the paranoia. Not sure exactly, but she is very likely suffering.

It's going to be a tough battle for you to help her or convince her she needs help. I would contact a therapist to see if they can get a close diagnosis based on what you tell them, and help put together an actionable plan.

Best of luck.


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[calgarybornnraised]

You really need to call her and talk one on one. Does she still resemble your Sister?

This sounds so much like my friend, he had it all, great job,good income, happy wife and happy life,then he started to lose it. Started to use drugs and alcohol more and made outrageous claims.
He ended up taking his life. Now we all talk about the warning signs and wished we did something different.

[djsFlames]

I can empathize, I don't like the world as it is either, and aliens, supernatural phenomenon and the internet going down would sure make it a lot more interesting. Honestly, we could use that kind of a shake up.

Sadly the machine will keep going.

Also Trudeau doesn't have stones that big.

[photon]

Originally Posted by Derek Sutton

It seems like this could be her escape, somethng to follow and believe in.

Could be, sounds like a tough situation, it's good on you that you care, and make sure you're taking care of yourself too.

[Scorch]

Well, I know one things for sure... many of us will be back to this thread on the 26th for reactions and the aftermath

Please please have this thread open till then

[Dion]

/

Originally Posted by Matt Reeeeead

Could be schizophrenia based on the paranoia. Not sure exactly, but she is very likely suffering.

It's going to be a tough battle for you to help her or convince her she needs help. I would contact a therapist to see if they can get a close diagnosis based on what you tell them, and help put together an actionable plan.

Best of luck.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I was going to say the same thing but then wondered if she was heavily into conspiracy theories. My sister once dated a guy who believed the moon landing was faked and the same with 9/11 Pentagon attack. He would go into great detail as to why he thought this was true. The more you argued with him the more animated the discussion would get. She eventually dumped him, much to the relief of the rest of the family.

[DeluxeMoustache]

Be sensitive, just in case this is related to a mental disorder. Not saying it necessarily is, but I had a similar experience with someone with a disorder.

It’s certainly not as simple as countering with facts and reality.

[flylock shox]

To the OP: is this behaviour a marked departure from the way your sister usually acts/thinks?


If it is mental illness - which it does sound like - keep in mind that it is much more insidious than a physical ailment in that if it goes untreated it will destroy her relationships with those closest to her, isolating her over time and pulling her in further. Basically it creates a downward spiral.



Best thing you can do is to talk with her directly, get an early sense of what's going on, let her know you're worried and there to help, and figure out how serious the situation actually is. If it looks bad on closer inspection, bring the rest of your family into the loop to make sure she gets help if she needs it.

[LIP MAN]

Originally Posted by 8 Ball

Undiagnosed bipolar disorder? My sister has it, and conspiracy theories are huge with her. When she becomes manic, she doesn't sleep for days and her mind plays tricks on her. She thinks the US government assassinated Prince...

They did. It was called Operation Purple Reign.

[Locke]

Dude, its entirely likely that she never had marbles to being with....they were just those luminescent hovering balls she saw in her mind!

[FlamesAddiction]

She could just be lonely and found an online community to engage in, and then got caught up in it. Like Photon said, interest in these subjects is normal, but people can get caught up. It doesn't mean she is ill, but you should reach out. But don't push her away or make her feel stupid. If there really is something going on, then she needs support.

It could also just be a phase. Is she an impressionable person? When I was young, I was very impressionable.

[Thor]

Has she recently been isolated alot, history of alcohol or drug abuse?

[SeeGeeWhy]

Has she followed her own advice and sold everything etc?