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Showing Original Post only (View all)Cosmopolitan: Thousands of People Are Trying to Leave QAnon, but Getting Out Is Almost Impossible [View all]
https://www.cosmopolitan.com/lifestyle/a37696261/leaving-recovering-from-q-anon/?fbclid=IwAR3mgxihUf8QFJO6SdT6kIDZTEfO1CD3QDJpc-cZncyQX2DNzLmXtOOpjqIIn a Cosmo exclusive, women on both sidesthe former believers and the doctors theyre turning toshow us what it takes to escape.
For Anna*, a 23-year-old pharmacy student in Pennsylvania, it felt like being trapped in a vortex of fear. I had feelings of hope, but at the same time, I was incredibly scared, distressed, and anxious and even had panic attacks, she says. She spent as many as eight hours a day poring over feeds on Telegram and Gab, listening to fringe podcasts. Doing just about anything else, she admits, was really hard.
Another person compared it to a monster gnawing away at me. On a message board this summer, they wrote, My mind keeps circling back to it, no matter what I do. I dont want this to happen, Ive seen what it does to people, but I just cant shake it off, Im losing my goddamn mind, I cant focus on anything and my anxiety keeps shooting up, this isnt who I am.
It, for all three, was QAnon, the infamous and violent pro-Trump conspiracy theory whose followers mushroomed during the pandemic to include suburban moms, yoga teachers, grandmas, and seemingly half of your Facebook feed. The movement was so easy to get intoa provocative post by an acquaintance, a few clicks, a video that rang true, which then surfaced other videosbut would prove to be much harder to get out of.
After the 2020 presidential election, followers disillusioned by Qs false predictions of an overwhelming Trump victory flocked to Reddit message boards like QAnonCasualties and ReQovery, their posts tinged with vulnerability and desperation. They swapped articles, books, podcasts (commonly the New York Times Rabbit Hole series), and tips on how to let go of conspiratorial beliefs. They numbered more than 200,000.
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Alot more from this insightful article & affirms what we've known all along - Q is a cult that social media has helped create.
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Cosmopolitan: Thousands of People Are Trying to Leave QAnon, but Getting Out Is Almost Impossible [View all]
onetexan
Oct 2021
OP
How do you deprogram for social media? That's most of it, and its not just Qanon.
Bernardo de La Paz
Oct 2021
#2
I did a college paper on cults and brainwashing. The person needs to be removed from all sources.
TheBlackAdder
Oct 2021
#17
It's fundamentally "outrage media for profit": FB, Instagram, Twitter, Talk Radio, cable "news", ...
Bernardo de La Paz
Oct 2021
#4
tRump is the Irredeemable for the Deplorables. They say "He's one of us!". . . . nt
Bernardo de La Paz
Oct 2021
#6
They're dopes, but they're also assholes, who frequently don't really care about the children
muriel_volestrangler
Nov 2021
#27
It's like any other cult - they got brainwashed without realizing it, and that's how they got in
FakeNoose
Oct 2021
#16
"Truly, whoever can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.
Roisin Ni Fiachra
Nov 2021
#28