Has My Sister Lost Her Marbles?

[blankall]

Sounds exactly like what two separate friends of mine did at the start of a manic phase of their manic depression. Both ended up hospitalized for severe psychotic episodes.

That being said I know several bored people who do the exact same thing. Keep in mind that flat Earthers and 911 truthers exist. Even the politics of the both the far right and left have always Incorporated similar ideas.

Still I'd be very concerned. Have someone talk to her ASAP. If she starts applying this same pattern of delusion to her lifestyle and basic hygiene, that's usually a pretty big tip off that someone's in serious trouble. Both people I witnessed go through these episodes, eventually abandoned normal sleep and eating patterns. They replaced health care and hygiene with alternatives. They both ended up at least partially homeless. What's concerning the most is your sister's urgent need to warn others about these theories.

[rbochan]

My oldest sister was like that - t least until she got a job and didn't spend 24/7 on the internet. There was a point that I didn't want to hear from her at all because all it was was inane ramblings about various conspiracies.

[Scroopy Noopers]

Originally Posted by 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.

Just here to second this comment. She isn’t “crazy”, that’s dismissive language. I would treat this seriously and with sensitivity.

[Dynamic]

I know an actual person that believes we didn’t go to the moon. She watched one of those conspiracy shows and she was convinced. I also have heard rumours of an actual flat earth earth believer where I work. Just shockingly guliable and dumb. I don’t consider them crazy because they have otherwise stable lives and hold a job and contribute to society.

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

I also find it troubling when people talk in breezy terms about mental illness. It is something that affects families and relationships very deeply and should be taken seriously and treated sensitively.

It is 100% true that many people who are not mentally ill fall for conspiracy theory lies and the like. But that doesn’t mean this can’t be or isn’t a symptom of a change in your sister. You were concerned enough to post here—I would trust your instincts. Part of you knows this isn’t right, because you know your sister. I would talk to her and see if she is willing to get some help.

[puckedoff]

Was deliberating sending you a PM last night, but thought if I did that then others would not have the potential benefit of reading it. You have received some rather cavalier responses in this thread, and hopefully they are right and it is not something serious.
However; a close relative of mine exhibited similar symptoms, and it ended up manifesting in a psychotic episode. If we had known to treat it as mental illness initially, the outcome of the episode may have been much less bad. Again I don't want to alarm you but I would at least investigate and try to get her help, or get her assessed to be sure.

[Sliver]

Yeah there are some surprisingly callous responses in this thread given it's 2018 and all we know about mental illness.

Unfortunately, I think the best option you may need to consider is just staying out of her way and distancing yourself the maximum amount you can. Visiting, texting, and talking on the phone with her won't help - it's just too limited an interaction compared to the time she's putting into immersing herself in the internet. You can't counteract it.

Sadly, there aren't any tools I'm aware of for you to employ here. Preserve your own sanity for struggles in your life you can make a difference with and hopefully she'll come around at some point. You can try to have her committed, but she needs to be way more far gone than this so you're not at that point. There are no other ways to intervene using the medical system.

[DuffMan]

My religious leader told me the world is going to end on the 25th anyways, so...

[CaptainCrunch]

I think that its a big stretch connecting a conspiracy theory believer to a mental illness, it just feels like we're trying to wedge a person into mental illness because of beliefs, and if anything it could cause a massive rift in a family.


Just because a person believes in conspiracy theories doesn't automatically make them a victim of a serious mental illness. Maybe she just chose to believe based on her own research.


In the early 1980's in the Soviet Union the KGB changed their methods, they decided that to betray the state was a sign of mental illness and they became determined to find a way to treat it, instead of treating it like a crime.


You must be nuts to betray the glorious worker state.


In this case though, I've found that its pointless to debate conspiracy theory people or try to change their belief system, instead I give them a wide berth and tell them that I don't want to debate these theories because its a debate your never going to win.

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by DuffMan

My religious leader told me the world is going to end on the 25th anyways, so...

Remember when the fundamentalist Christians were spouting off that the Rapture was supposed to happen on May 21, 2011, and the only one who passed away was Macho Man Randy Savage?

I do.

[getbak]

That's because Savage was the only one righteous enough to get Raptured. The rest of us just didn't cut it.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

I really wish people wouldn't try to diagnose others they've never met and know next to nothing about with mental illnesses over the internet. First of all, none of you would be qualified to do that in person, either. But more importantly, people who have no mental illness and are psychologically "normal" (for lack of a better word) are susceptible to bad ideas and conspiracies, because we are imperfectly evolved simians with brains that aren't disposed to functioning exactly as we might all wish they would.

It's not particularly helpful to the stigma that people who are actually diagnosed with a mental illness deal with to have everyone lumping in people who believe in conspiracy nonsense with them.

[Oling_Roachinen]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

I think that its a big stretch connecting a conspiracy theory believer to a mental illness, it just feels like we're trying to wedge a person into mental illness because of beliefs, and if anything it could cause a massive rift in a family.

While it's true that not everyone who believes in conspiracy theories have mental disorders, it does not appear to be an uncommon sign of some form of mental problem. Even if it's as little as stress, anxiety or isolation. However, delusions and paranoia are staple symptoms for many mental disorders. Even seemingly unrelated mental disorders like Narcissistic personality disorder seem to have some relationship with conspiracy theories.

I think there's quite a big difference between even big "world-changing" conspiracy theories like "911 was an inside job" that a seemingly normal person could get involved in after watching some youtube videos and believing that

"different people" who are "reliable sources" who "can't just come out and say what's going' it's a series of clues with a lot of letters that turn into number clues"

The latter seems to be much more a sign of delusion or paranoia than your simple run-of-the-mill conspiracy.
--
Although I would suggest getting expert help, if you didn't want to go through that just yet, then I think I would engage with your sister to find out where she is getting this information. No need to challenge her, at least not yet, but if she's just spouting out the exact same stuff some conspiracy website is, at least you would know she's just fallen for it. If she's unable to answer you, is vague, won't reveal sources, I would question if she was a conspiracy theorist and more going through some form of psychosis. Again though, I think I would look at finding some form of expert help.

[DuffMan]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Remember when the fundamentalist Christians were spouting off that the Rapture was supposed to happen on May 21, 2011, and the only one who passed away was Macho Man Randy Savage?

I do.

Ooooh, Yeah!

[Blaster86]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Remember when the fundamentalist Christians were spouting off that the Rapture was supposed to happen on May 21, 2011, and the only one who passed away was Macho Man Randy Savage?

I do.

[Ducay]

Originally Posted by DuffMan

Ooooh, Yeah!

Come on and SLAM!

[Matata]

[longsuffering]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Unfortunately, I think the best option you may need to consider is just staying out of her way and distancing yourself the maximum amount you can. Visiting, texting, and talking on the phone with her won't help - it's just too limited an interaction compared to the time she's putting into immersing herself in the internet. You can't counteract it.

Sadly, there aren't any tools I'm aware of for you to employ here. Preserve your own sanity for struggles in your life you can make a difference with and hopefully she'll come around at some point. You can try to have her committed, but she needs to be way more far gone than this so you're not at that point. There are no other ways to intervene using the medical system.

Sister possibly experiencing a mental health crisis?

Sliver says "Cut her loose! Save yourself!"

Wow. You're a real humanitarian.

I'd hate to ever be in a foxhole with you.

Sent from my MIX using Tapatalk

[Locke]

You're assuming that she ever had control of her mind in the first place.

[GreenLantern2814]

If anyone's tried to have Trump killed twice, it'd be Merkel. And if she'd actually given such an order, we'd know because Trump would be dead.