"My wife tuned into a completely different person. I live with her, but I feel like she's gone to another world," lamented a company employee in western Japan.
A full‐time homemaker, his wife used to be gentle and calm. The man has allergies, and his wife would spend time and effort choosing ingredients and preparing meals. At the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, she gave him a face mask every morning, saying: "Be careful. The coronavirus is a scary disease."
However, around summer last year, the man noticed something strange. His wife stopped wearing a mask and when she was criticized for this, she got angry and said, "Everything about COVID is a lie."
His wife had gotten hooked on YouTube videos about conspiracy theories, and her views were affected as she watched them everyday,
Earlier this year, the man prepared a document compiling the opinions of public institutions and experts on the coronavirus and vaccines, because he wanted to talk with his wife about whether they should get vaccinated based on correct information. However, they couldn't agree because his wife cried and claimed that a "deep state" government would control people with the vaccines and that the central government and the media were hiding the truth.
When they received vaccination coupons this summer, his elementary school daughter said: "Dad, you should never get vaccinated. Never!"
His wife joined a group calling for the central government to cancel the vaccination program, and made their daughter join as well.
The man and his wife have stopped talking to each other, and he's spent more time in an internet cafe after work. He has thought about a divorce but has been unable to go through with it when he thinks about his daughter's future.
The man believes people are spreading false rumors on the internet to make money.
"My family was ruined. It's unforgivable," he said, clenching his fist tightly.
There are many social media posts recently saying such things as "My family member is under the influence of conspiracy theories. I'm tired."
In the United States and some European countries, family rifts caused by conspiracy theories spreading online has become a social problem. More than 180,000 people have signed up for an English-language website where people affected by this exchange information.
Ways to deal with the issue have been featured in the press, such as: ''Don't reject the other person" and "Show empathy while listening, and then encourage the other person to check where the information came from."
However, a 31‐year‐old female company employee in Saitama Prefecture said that would not be easy. She talks with her mother, who lives in the same house and is in her 70s, but their relationship just gets worse.
"She believes people she knows online but has never actually met more than me, her daughter," the company employee said. The situation is hard for her to accept.
Many families share the problem of having no one to ask for advice.
Some people have created a place where those struggling with this issue can talk. Up to around 20 people who got acquainted on social media communicate online on a regular basis.
"I don't know how my husband can get back to normal," a woman in her 40s living in eastern Japan said one night in August.
Her self-employed husband has distributed flyers saying, "Don't get vaccinated" to nearby residents for several months. When he learned that his mother had been inoculated, he was so upset he threw a piece of furniture at his mother and shouted, "Don't come near me!"
The woman cried as she talked about the experience, and other participants listened to her through their computer screens. They encouraged her and shared their own experiences, saying things like: "I have the same problem. Please don't carry the burden by yourself" and "If you're worn out, you might want to stay away from your husband for a while."
The woman didn't discover ways to immediately resolve the situation, but ''my mind was eased a little," she said.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
