Intervention for My Conspiracy Nut Parents?

Question by Yingerman: Intervention for my conspiracy nut parents?
***BACKGROUND***
My brother and I are legitimately worried about our parents. My dad is a bedridden disabled veteran, and my mom is becoming an alcoholic who takes care of him and cooks. Both are hardcore Christians who are unemployed and they live on Social Security and Veteran’s Disability Compensation. For the last few years, they have been spending ALL of their their time researching conspiracy theories on their computers. They are probably spending about 8-12 hours every day “researching” this stuff and they have no other hobbies. The house is a sty, they have very few friends, and they never go out and enjoy the world. These conspiracy theories have completely consumed their lives, and they need a drastic change in lifestyle.

My brother and I are planning an intervention when we get back from college over the summer. We plan to discuss their unhealthy amount of time they spend researching this stuff, my mom’s alcoholism, their desperate need for new hobbies, their need for friends, and their use of unreliable sources (such as blogs and agenda driven news websites) as fact. We have struck a few walls though…

***WALLS***
The problems that they are so deep in this that we’re afraid we won’t be able to pull them out. They have a very strong confirmation bias, in which they search for evidence that fits beliefs while ignoring evidence not fitting beliefs.

Another problem is that my dad will have very few alternate things to do besides research this stuff. My mom is still fit and able, so she can actually find alternatives, like getting a job. My dad on the other hand is severely disabled. He can only barely walk, and he’s starting to lose his vision and it’s getting difficult for him to lift his arms. He doesn’t like science because it goes against his beliefs. He has very little contact with outside family because he thinks they’re bad people. And he has very few friends because he can’t get out much. One of my friends suggested he learn an instrument, or get really good at an online board game or something. I feel terrible, because he really doesn’t have much to live for it seems.

***QUESTIONS***
How could we overcome the barriers listed above. How can my brother and I make sure that they know that we are doing this out of love. How could we ask them to stop looking this stuff up without asking them to completely change their lives and question their beliefs (they are quite stubborn)?

I could really use the communities help on this, and any advice would be appreciated. THANKS!
@David B – Ron Paul. They were some of the lead campaign officers for in in my corner of the state.

Best answer:

Answer by Judge Judy
The irony being they are anti socialists but survive solely on socialism.

What do you think? Answer below!

 

 

 

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