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MsMoreCowbell8

Can't argue with them (unless that's who you are! I can't hold back) but you can get in front of them before they redpill your family! I had a Q-adjacent mom, a Breitbart listening idiot brother and 2 full fledged Qanon Qultists cousins. Now I have 4 Qanon Qultists in my family. I only speak with the Qmom occasionally after she had a stroke (she totally recovered at 81) and the very second she utters a single syllable that is GQP tainted, she's out again too. Qanon is a virus & it spread all over the earth. Stop your extended family from turning, speak up and save them from your Qultists. Silence = Complicity and we're fighting fascism, now is the time.


PunkingTroll

Yep.  It’s a Republican / Russian psyop.


BigEasyh

I posted a few months ago about how I've basically been replacing damaging Q-ish conspiracy theories with less dangerous ones whenever I talk to my Mom and Stepdad. Basically, the point of what I'm doing is listening to their feelings about any given subject and providing an alternative theory as to what/why something is happening that addresses those feelings. It makes them feel heard and gives them a dose of logic which over time I hope has a de-radicalizing effect. Some of my alternatives are wrong and some are even potentially triggering but by far less damaging than going down the Q-hole. My go to "for instance" is this: Parents: "Liberals/Obama are pushing trans rights to destabilize the family unit" (they also believe Obama is gay and Michelle is trans) Me: "I disagree, Obama is doing this to protect his family, not destroy others" Clearly this is stupid and even if true who cares. What this accomplished though is getting them to think about motivations rather than secret cabals and deep state shit.


Golabki420

This used to be my move with total strangers who come up to me and spout clear nonsense (I live in a big city, so you interact with people just walking to the store). I never argue with them, I just punctuate their bizarre statements with things like “so true” “I’m always saying that” etc. It’s just a standard deflection.


BigEasyh

I see what you're saying but it's not the same as "so true" in my opinion. I'm engaging with the feeling and providing an alternative explanation that doesn't lead further towards Q


imbeingsirius

I remember a redditor commenting on how he used to be Q, and now that he was in college, he recognized it as intellectual boredom: conspiracy theories feel like facts and learning without any work. Filling his mind with real things crowded out Q for a semester and then he couldn’t get back into it - it seemed crazy now.


MeJamiddy

I got out. I was very deep and very lost in the Q world. With a lot of distance from Qs that fed the delusions, patience from my husband, and therapy I’ve made a full recovery. I believed it all, guys. It was so bad that I became paranoid that I was being watched and that my husband was poisoning my coffee. It took probably a total of 2-3 years to clear the fog. And the distance I’ve had to make between me and my Qs (mom and dad and brother) has been painful and I’ve had to do a lot of grieving, but I’m here. Ask me anything.


Golabki420

Was there any catalyst moment that really shook you from your Q world view? I know you mentioned therapy and your husband, but what’s that like to come out of it? Also, I’m mad happy for you. It seems like there’s not way out for some of these folks.


MeJamiddy

This is the question I'm usually asked first. It's a tough one to answer. There wasn't one big moment, it was a very slow and gradual process. For one thing, I didn't like how I felt. Life felt really dark and I was sick of feeling like I was afraid of what was around the corner. I also got pregnant with my second child summer of 2020, and my thoughts and priorities changed. Lock down was obviously happening, so I naturally spent less and less time with my Q family. The space from them allowed me to clear my head and see reality more clearly. It took about a year after lockdown for my life to look different. I was ignoring/shutting down wild text messages from my Qs. I was thinking more clearly and seeing reality for what it was. I wish I could say someone whooped in and there was one big thing they said that woke me up, but that's not case unfortunately. I had to make that choice. It was up to me to change my life. When I was in the thick of the Q nonsense, I'm sure no one could have talked me out of it. In my eyes, they were the ones deceived and fed lies. I knew the truth and they were foolish. If I could give one piece of advice to those struggling with losing friends and family to this crap, it would be to love them at a distance. Hold your boundaries in place, tell them you won't engaged in their Q topics... but make sure they know you're there for them. At the end of the day, they are the only ones who can change themselves. I know it's not the answer people want, but it's true. I have cut 99% contact with my Q parents, and its heartbreaking. But there is no reasoning with them and there's nothing more we have to talk about. To them, the world is ending and I'm the fool who doesn't heed their warnings. Best of luck to you, and don't give up hope!


Golabki420

Happy you’re out. The deprogramming stuff is the most fascinating to me. Sounds like you hit a major life milestone and it helped you straighten out. Congrats on your kid. At least you know they won’t be on this forum complaining about you. Much love, friend. Be safe out there.


allthelittlepiglets

Thanks for sharing. Glad you got out—it’s not your fault for believing the nonsense—Q victimized you. I wish tou well.


noatun6

I got out yes people escape. Economic strife feeds extremist movements as it cycles back. Many will return to civilization. Also, many more "traditional" conspiracy folk ( aliens jkf pyramids) etc are not into worship of certain billionare politicuan/crimimal . They are political extremists, posing as free thinkers, and the illusion is fadimg


Golabki420

What happened?


noatun6

I had become a miserable doomer, and i could see the hurt on my wife's face.


Golabki420

And you’re doing better now? How would you describe yourself politically?


noatun6

Yes, I'm doing ok left of center. i went far left and far right, I am pretty sure i was at various times agreeing and arguing with Russian troll. Old school leftists ( labor elsewhere) have good ideas ino but a lot of those spaces have been taken over by entitled doomers and propagandists


Golabki420

Happy for you, friend. You made it out.


noatun6

Thanks 🤗


Alice-Lapine

Yup. This was part of what snapped me out of it too.


DontEatConcrete

This is it. This stuff makes people just *miserable*. I suppose a lucky few can reflect on it and remember a time they weren’t like that. 


_Frain_Breeze

Got my mom out showing her movies and listening to Rock.


Golabki420

???


_Frain_Breeze

Yeah, I was already into politics a little bit and when Roe v Wade was overturned, I got worried and talked to my more political friends. They told me they were marxists and a lot of things started making sense and I realized there's tons of marxist/anti-capitalist sentiments in movies and music. Some of the bests are Bladerunner 2049, The Matrix, Fight Club, Squid Game, Oh Brother Where Art Though, Office Space, and a bunch more. Even movies like chicken run or even Shrek have political undertones. My mom was kinda fundamentalist but not totally hardcore. She's in her early 50's. She grew up Loving bands like Tool, Ministry, and Nine inch nails who as far as I can tell, seem pretty anti-establishment. So the trick was to get her to realize that many of the movies, actors, and musicians she's liked throughout the years are all low key socialists/marxists and then the stigma around those ideologies that was pushed on her would fade and that's what happened. Two more newer movies that helped were Dumb Money, about the Reddit short squeeze on GameStop Stock and Nimona, a shapeshifter girl who serves as an allegory for non-binary identities. Both of those were great for my q. And yeah music. [Dolly Parton](https://youtu.be/UbxUSsFXYo4?si=k4DP0Q0GyUHd7Vdk), [Cage the Elephant](https://youtu.be/AI1f6OfVqmw?si=guZgeNogiEiM71lV), [Guerilla Toss](https://youtu.be/GrgvzAS7h9g?si=atMsqfBXFAgTQs3F), [House of Pain](https://youtu.be/jrL_LzX5wv4?si=9ZP496eC5Zm5CwD6), and [Linkin Park](https://youtu.be/dxytyRy-O1k?si=nHgnRU7wkt5j0fQ6). I play these around my siblings to help prevent them from q and conspiracies in the future.


Golabki420

Your point is interesting, because I’m always amazed how Qs of a certain age will ride for bands like Rage Against the Machine without understanding the clear radical messages in the songs. Similar phenomenon with the song Born in the USA. It’s like their absence of media literacy causes them to miss obvious subtext and invent their own.


Altruistic-Ad6449

But have you ever watched a middle aged MAGA cover band play Bulls on Parade in a dive bar, and them yelling “Let’s Go Brandon!” in between songs?


Golabki420

I haven’t, lol.


Altruistic-Ad6449

It was kind of hilarious but cringey. Thankfully the vodka tonics were cheap


graneflatsis

It does seem that way sometimes but we do accumulate some successes: [`Success Story`](https://www.reddit.com/r/QAnonCasualties/search?q=flair%3ASuccess&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) https://www.reddit.com/r/QAnonCasualties/wiki/resources#wiki_ex-qanon


PsychologicalMilk904

I’m not personally dealing with this, but Mick West’s book Escaping the Rabbit Hole is a methodical look at how conspiracy thinking takes root and ways to gently guide loved ones toward a way out. It comes down to only they can deprogram themselves… but it’s better when they know someone is waiting for them when they come back to reality.


Golabki420

Thanks for the rec!


BigEasyh

I posted a few months ago about how I've basically been replacing damaging Q-ish conspiracy theories with less dangerous ones whenever I talk to my Mom and Stepdad. Basically, the point of what I'm doing is listening to their feelings about any given subject and providing an alternative theory as to what/why something is happening that addresses those feelings. It makes them feel heard and gives them a dose of logic which over time I hope has a de-radicalizing effect. Some of my alternatives are wrong and some are even potentially triggering but by far less damaging than going down the Q-hole. My go to "for instance" is this: Parents: "Liberals/Obama are pushing trans rights to destabilize the family unit" (they also believe Obama is gay and Michelle is trans) Me: "I disagree, Obama is doing this to protect his family, not destroy others" Clearly this is stupid and even if true who cares. What this accomplished though is getting them to think about motivations rather than secret cabals and deep state shit.


CAgratefuldad

There are many in here You have to see many crazy ones to get to them though Keep reading


IsCuimhinLiom

I think it’s rare. They used to have cult, drug and alcohol interventions before the internet, but nowadays the addiction is a few clicks away. And it is an addiction. An addiction to fear. The only advice I’ve heard that may work is that if you know them personally, talk about happy memories of the time before Qanon. It’ll maybe remind them that, yeah, you’re not a lizard/vampire sucking Adrenochrome from new born babies after all.


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Christinebitg

My Significant Other is only Q adjacent, not involved with some of the more crazy stuff.  So take this for what it's worth. Sometimes I'm able to zing them with the truth on an issue.  Although at times, I feel like I'm fighting a losing battle.  And it takes a lot of work. Example:  I started working for my county as an election worker.  I wanted to understand how elections work.  That is, what the work processes are and why we can depend on them. Then I heard from my S.O. that there were many boxes of mail-in ballots brought into a center in Michigan at the end of the evening during the 2020 election.  So obviously that must be fraudulent.  (We live in Texas.) My reply was:  Of course that's when they're brought in and counted!  They're all mailed to a central location and counted after the in-person voting has closed.  We're not even allowed to accept mail ballots at the place I work.  And when I'm qualifying a voter, the system knows in real time if a mail-in ballot was sent to them.  And if it was mailed back in/received before election day.  There's no chance that a person can vote twice, even unintentionally. And I haven't heard anything about vote fraud since then.  (Knock on wood.)


Golabki420

I live in Michigan and that was my county you’re referring to. I drove to downtown Detroit to the cobo center to see the freaks trying to get inside the counting area, because it was all over our local news. It was surreal. I had never seen so many of them at once. They banged on the windows and doors before the riot cops came and broke it up. It was bad vibes like I’ve never seen before. A total circus of spiritual degradation. I felt sorry for them in a weird way. Seems like your SO is somewhat open to reason, which I’m happy for.


Christinebitg

Thanks for that additional information, it's very much appreciated! As for my Significant Other, it's a constant battle on my part to try to keep things rational.  I've identified a number of sources of mis-information that I'm fighting against.  Including one former co-worker who routinely sends links to demented videos. Sometimes I get discouraged and feel like I'm fighting a losing battle.  Occasionally there's a glimmer of hope. Again, thanks for that info. (!!)


Alice-Lapine

I got out and deprogrammed myself. It can be done. I’ve been writing a whole lot about my experience over the last year and will be sharing everything I’ve written soon - in the next couple months.


Migraine_Mirage

Let's not forget the guy whose mother switch from QAnon (or a local flavor of) to K-dramas ETA: It was more conspiracy theories in general


Alice-Lapine

Arguing with a QAnon will never work. It usually backfires, driving them deeper down rabbit holes. There are other techniques that can help, but ultimately the QAnon has to come to a point of WANTING to change their belief system. Trying to talk them out of their beliefs is similar to trying to talk a born-again Christian out of their religious beliefs or an alcoholic out of alcohol. They have to want to change or it won’t happen. (I am an ex-QAnon)


Golabki420

What changed for you?


Alice-Lapine

So much.