sorry I only know my half brother smoked a lot and it bent his mind to the point of paranoia  and a life time of not being able to worki. I think your instinct is telling you the answer is yes. Delicate brain chemistry may be genetic and easily upset by maranuaja, I am not a professional but have seen and heard of it many times. Brother is diagnsoed with anpersonality disorger which is treated with the same drugs as schizophrenia, has jumped in the sea passport and all to avoid people out to get him, jumped off a train, brought a plane down early believing terrosists were on board and has many many theories about conspiracy, so maybe not diagnosed schziphrenia unless he sees his own shrink. Good luck, follow your instincts but he may think YOU are the enemy.

I would be concerned about your husband if I were you, so I understand your question. It just so happens that an obsession with conspiracy theories was one of my major problems when I was psychotic, and my schizoaffective disorder (which was diagnosed as schizophrenia first) was full-blown. Not everyone who has an obsession like that is psychotic, of course. But if a person begins to be paranoid about groups/organizations/people coming after him/her, or if she/he is obsessed with the idea that the end of the world is coming, or if she/he thinks it is necessary to hide belongings, I would say that it is likely something psychological is wrong. Since his sister has Schizophrenia, and since mental illnesses are more likely in family members of someone who has Schizophrenia, I would suggest to him that he see a psychiatrist for an evaluation. It is possible that there are more paranoid, delusional beliefs that your husband has than the ones that he talks about with people. Many times, people who are psychotic do not discuss all their symptoms with others, so it is hard to know how ill they actually are by simply viewing their behavior. Since your husband is so adament about his beliefs in these conspiracy theories, it sounds like they are deeply held beliefs which may be delusions. I cannot diagnose someone, as I am not a psychiatrist or a medical professional of any kind. I would recommned that he sees a professional to discuss these beliefs and any other paranoia that he has going on. I wish you the best of luck with helping him. There is only so much we can do to help others. If he is unwilling to see someone, because he does not believe he has any illness, it may be a very difficult situation. You might wish to contact your local NAMI (national alliance on mental illness) chapter as they have excellent Family-to-Family courses and educational meetings in many parts of the United States.

Also, I wanted to add:

As Elissa said, smoking marajuana every day for years can certainly lead to paranoia, or increase paranoia that already exists. I would not rule out your husband's marjuana usage as a possible explanation for his behavior and delusional thoughts.

I believe that certain things can't be denied in conspiracy theories and that some of them may be plausible. The problem that occurs is that people start to read and listen to broadcasts from people that may have actually had some experiences that we may think are absurd.

The problem is that there are way too many conspiracies brought in at once, instead of proving one first then continuing things like Illuminati lead to Reptilians and from there to space and aliens -that's three conspiracies in a row, one explaining the other, and so forth. Point is that it gets harder to verify whats true and not and how much of a conspiracy is true and false. People end up listening to a person talking about these things and believing that everything they are told is true. It's a dangerous thing, you should question authority but that also includes those spreading the conspiracy theories as I am sure they themselves say things they are not sure about yet people take their word.
I have nothing against conspiracies, but I think that people should not get too involved and to believe everything, people have different backgrounds and one thing for me may seem like "the truth", if I then mix that in with some actual conspiracies that may be true, I end up tainting the conspiracy by some of my subjectivity. Then other people hear/read me and start spreading what I said.

I don't think there is much one can do as the world created by this wall of conspiracies comforts those that are weak, hurt or psychically ill in some way. It helps to cover up the bad with an alternative explanation to why things are the way they are. Some of it may be true but some of it most likely is not. Not knowing what is and what is not one starts to believe in everything and ends up being totally paranoid.
It may seem like schizophrenia but may also be simply because one is confused what to believe in and what not. I wouldn't say it's a disease of some sort, but I don't know how one could help someone out to "snap out of it" and at least have a certain balance between our world and the conspiracy world. It's healthy to balance, it's healthy to question authority and think outside the box but there are limits. People have responsibilities for their families and friends.

I myself have a family member that is into these things, that person have had some experiences that strengthen the belief of some conspiracies, but on the other hand I myself notice things like "The Matrix (1998) reveals that 9/11 was planned" is going too far. That Neo's passport says it expires on 09.11.2001 does not mean it's any kind of proof, it's most likely to be a coincidence -but how would you believe it's a coincidence if you spend most of your time reading conspiracies? Your mind gets trained to believe anything.Yet it's not right to say that the person is mad or psychologically ill.

This is all from my point of view, don't take this personally nor think this is how things are. I just shared my toughts on the subject of conspiracies and how I see people get affected by them. My thoughts probably got a bit messy, I don't usually write in English and to be honest I also have problems expressing my feelings in the proper order, I usually write what comes to mind first.
On subject, I hope things worked out with your husband though from my experience people never go back to how they were, in a sense they have been changed as conspiracies are to some extent a comfort as well as they could be true, even if some lack evidence -one never knows.

It is sad you haven't researched these things for yourself or you may find them equally disturbing instead of dismissing the poor guy as some kind of crazy. 

The real absurd conspiracy theories are the one's put out by main stream politicians and main stream media. When the facts are looked into a disturbing truth emerges. 

People were once burned at the stake for arguing that the world is round. Others were murdered and tortured for holding contrary beliefs to the catholic church. People like you are the sort of people who were responsible for this irrational purging of contrary ideas because you are incapable of thinking freely yourself.

It is not your fault, you have been conditioned like an animal through years of repetitive dogma that is drizzled onto you by your TV and main stream news. 

The utter nonsense that is fed through the idiot box about economics, politics and so on is so ludicrous that when you actually investigate the facts and the science properly and not dismissively you will find that the real crazy people are the zombies who watch TV, drink beer, and "shop till they drop", while millions of people in other parts of the world are being slaughtered with absolutely no justification - and this is being funded by their tax money. 

The fact is your husband is going through what a lot of people have been and will be going through in the future. He's an intelligent guy and is clearly searching for a little more meaning and humanity in a shallow and materialistic society that ignorantly turns a blind eye to utter evil. You clearly lack the same insight that he has.

My sympathies are with him. 

If you want to strengthen your relationship I would suggest researching these things yourself. The whole area is littered with the most horrific truths it would upset anybody. Typically there is a lot of disinformation surrounding these areas too.  You could analyse things together, gather the good arguments and cut away the chaff. Campaign against illegal wars, write to your MP and ask why illegal loans were made to private business using British taxpayers money - a known and admitted 'conspiracy' (look the word up it means something real!)

 Your husband is clinging to cannabis to ease the trauma he is going through due to being an intelligent human being with a soul living in a world surrounded by evil and mindless idiots...its not easy. Perhaps if he had someone to share his experience with he wouldn't need to cling to this drug, because in the long run overuse of it will damage his ability to think and behave rationally.

There is some exceptional journalism and science that has been prepared on many fronts. If you want a good introduction into gaining some insight into the real world and not the imaginary one you live in try starting with "Hidden Agendas" by John Pilger. His books have more journalistic merit in one page than most comic newspapers have in their lifetimes. He also quotes all his sources as indeed many alternative media journalists do for people who actually want to scrutinize what is being said from an analytic viewpoint and not a knee jerk irrational opinion which is the way most people operate. Oddly main stream media rarely provides journalistic merit to this degree - and people never seem to question what they are told.

Other books I would suggest for starting out are:

 "The New Pearl Harbour" - Michael Meacher

"Confessions of an Economic Hit Man" - John Perkins

Conspiracy theories aren't something to 'be in to' like a mindless fashion trend, a football club, or a fad diet. They are quests for the real truth behind events fed by a natural humanitarian impulse for justice, something the psychopaths leading the herd don't have.

The simple fact is that when you understand the people with all the power are not egalitarian humanists but selfish power hungry mafia types then everything else makes complete sense – the lies about WMD, the Iraq war, 911, the Afghan farce, the banking collapse paid for by tax payers and so on. Of course they'd love people who have realized this to then go on and believe some absurd idea about aliens or reptiles or some other nonsense because it takes away the obvious and striking truth - they are not, they are human (although with vicious psychopathic tendencies) - and if enough people realize this they can be dealt with very easily indeed. 

 That is why they need to cling to violence, misinformation and their duplicitous charade in order to maintain their positions of power and wealth and they rely on a shallow sheep like herd who cannot mentally tear themselves away from the ideas planted and reinforced daily by main stream media.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dear M. DIVA: There is nothing WRONG with your husband. You're right... he isn't the "same" person you married... you should be THANKING GOD that your husband has become FULLY awake and is prepping for what is to come. And you're dead wrong regarding "theories"... it is CONSPIRACY AGENDA. Your husband does not have a mental illness... being mentally ill is not like catching a cold. And I will voice what I just read on one of the comments: YOU SHOULD ALSO BE RESEARCHING...

P.S. I am single - I WISH I had a husband like yours...

Dear Jennifer: M.DIVA's husband is not paranoid... he is being WISE... LABELING a person because what they know to be true is absolutely wrong. If you haven't looked at what is going on in the world maybe you should. This has NOTHING to do with the husband smoking weed. And they aren't Conspiracy "theories"... a theory is something you can't prove... there IS an agenda. I would SUGGEST strongly that you look at ... you might learn something.

He's fine. You are the sheeple and I hope you enjoy your FEMA concentration camp. 9/11 was an inside job!

http://infowars.com

http://prisonplanet.com

http://thenorthernsurvivalist.com

Ditto Consumer Slave. 

P.S. Collecting supplies for disaster preparedness is the sanest, most responsible thing a human can do. Where have YOU been?! Didn't you see the thousands of stranded, desperate victims of Katrina? How about Haiti?  I suggest you read up on the current state of affairs in our country before attempting a psychological evaluation on your man. There are several "theories" that sound stranger than fiction, but if you care to LEARN a little, you'll begin to understand where he may be coming from.

Figures you sheeple BIG PHARMA minions would delete my last post. Doesn't sell medications to well does it?

I don't think this was meant to be about how dumb this wife is because she isn't interested in conspiracy theories.

Major personality changes, neglect of his job (ability to earn an income is important, sorry but it is) and prior ambitions, loss of interest in other things, inability to speak about outside topics, as well as stockpiling food and withdrawing all his savings from the bank putting it in gold and putting that into his newly purchases safe.

These are bizarre and striking changes in her husband which she finds worrying.

Telling her that she is the one with the problem because she is not interested in conspiracy theories in not helpful and again, misses the point. She is not upset or worried because he happens to be interested in conspiracy theories and she is not, and that is a very childish and simplistic understanding of what she wrote.

She finds worrying everything I just mentioned at the beginning of this post- personality changes, inability to focus or speak about anything else, loss of outside interests and neglect of ambitions and job....impulsive behavior.

Additionally, the marajuana use and positive family history are concerning too.  Regular pot use increases your risk of schizophrenia from baseline (1%).  Having a family history of schizophrenia confers increased risk as well.

Speak with your family doc about this, trust me, alarm bells will ring and you will be advised further.

All the best.

Omg, i am 17, and when i was 13 i moved with my dad... 

He said once that horses were talking to him, he thinks the government do things to piss him off on purpose and he is a strong believer in UFO's and conspiracies, like your husband, he smokes weed and never stops going on about all this stuff its like he thinks he can change the world, he is obsessed, he doesnt want to work either, he just got a job and he is now saying he is never working again after this because he will be worse of... he is so selfish and thoughtless, he doesnt provide for me enough.... its so hard to deal with when he is the only family i have here with me. what can i do when he would get really aggressive if i told him i think he is mentally unstable?

 ps. i am not a sheep, everyone had different believes, and even if all this stuff is true, we would all be happier if we just did what we wanted to in life and played to the rules of the land, there is nothing wrong with doing it... And there is more to life than exposing the government, what about your own aims and ambitions, has the world gone insane?

I really feel for you. It can be confusing and frightening for you both, in different ways, to find yourselves in such a situation. May I suggest you and your husband read a little of what writer and philosopher Neil Kramer has to say. He is a wise and compassionate voice and offers some useful insights into what your husband may be experiencing. Rest assured, your husband is not schizophrenic - he's more an explorer. I wish you both peace of mind and heart.

http://neilkramer.com/way-of-the-infinite-explorer.html

Sounds like you are a closed minded fool that accepts everything the government says is true and won't even entertain your own damn husband long enough to make your own conclusions.  You're letting the societal stigma of "conspiracy theories" convince you that he is wrong, when in reality, if you do enough digging into the facts that the government and mainstream media won't tell you, you will realize he's more sane and realistic than the rest of anyone you know.  Look up David Icke, Richard Hoagland, Jeremy Narby, and anything regarding DMT.  Actually, go smoke some DMT and tell me you still believe he's crazy.  Extradimensional beings (called aliens/demons/faeries depending on who you are talking to) are affecting us all of the time.  Think about why alcohol, which we KNOW is poison, is called spirits.  Yet we still drink it.  It's the dark side of yourself taking over.  Now, expand your mind to the WORLD.  The DARKEST part of our entire selves (the people who run our government and banks, to take and kill from others) are doing it on the largest scale.  That means they are inflicted by the darkest demons, the most.   Just do you damn research into this stuff before you sluff off your husband.   You're crazier than he is, you're stuck in the matrix of 3d reality and want to stay there.  He's realizing that our 3d reality is false, and we are being kept here by beings outside of our 5senses.    Look into ANY religion and you will see explanations of these "demons" controlling "men".      You are under their control as well.  When you do good things, it is the good side of this 6sense reality acting through you.  When you do bad things, like harm yourself through drug use, or harm others, the bad ones are acting through you.    

Look up Thomas Szasz as well.  He was a psychiatrist at Princeton who wrote a book in the 1960's about how mental illness is a complete myth.  It's just society deciding someone is waaayyyyy too different for them to handle.  Which means your husband is more unique than MOST people you know, because he doesn't accept what other people tell him, he wants to know the TRUTH, THE WHOLE TRUTH, AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH, so help him god.  You on the other hand are complacent and accept whatever you are told, so much so that you are now questioning your love for your mate, which I assume is very real.

Chad T knows what is up and does his own research obviously.

Conspiracy "Theorists"? I consider myself a conspiracy factualist. As a victim and survivor of 9/11 I can tell you first hand there were explosions underground that went off prior to the plane colliding with the North Tower at 8:43 AM. I was right across the street. Sounded and felt like a train had come off the tracks and slammed into something in the subway below. 9/11 was an inside job. First off, Bush gave three different accounts of his reaction of the event. Meanwhile he was reading a book "My Pet Goat" with children while he held the book upside down. Goat is a sign of the Devil known as a Baphomet or Pan if you will. And the upside down thing is a passage out of the Bible that says Behold your enemy turns things upside down. Bush blamed Osama for the attacks when in actuality Dick Cheney needed a war to begin so they could make money through Haliburton which makes weapons for war. Bush orchestrated it with Cheney and Blamed a Rogue CIA agent that His father hired for it all. Look it up for yourself. I've done 10 years research on it and it's al true. The Bible predicts all these things whether you believe in God or not, it's in there. But that's right I'm delusional because I smoke pot due to my chronic arthritis pain, and I suffered post traumatic stress from running from asbestos filled smoke chasing me down a NY street. My bad. Didn't know I was supposed to believe in the crap stories CNN puts out or the propaganda the FOX News spreads. I'm supposed to be a good little sheep and conform to a globalist conspiracy meant to kill 80% of the population. I supposed to be a Patriot and vote for Arrogant Bible Mocking politicians like Obama, who claim to be Christians. I stand next to your Husband on this one. His eyes are open. He can see through the veil. That why they call it Revealation. The Veil will be lifted and the truth will be REVEALED! Welcome to the End. FEMA and the UN will have this world by 2015 implanting the CHIP in their hands as the Mark of the Beast and I'm supposed to be happy that my neighbor is going to accept a False Messiah as his his/her King and be Damned for it? I won't. I will fight until I am raptured or I am beheaded for my belief that Yahweh (GOD) foretold of these events. Quit reading the Black on the page. Read the White. It means read between the Lines and Lies.

And if you take this as me being cruel, I don't intend it to come off that way. It's just I stand firmly behind my belief in Yahweh and Yahushua (God and Jesus in Engish)  and I want people to realize that the Prophecies are true and the world is nearing its end in this realm. Please join the family who wants you to be in Heaven. Please look at this as not a sales pitch, but an invitation to join the best family of all, the spiritual family of the LORD. And please don't think that just because some people can see the truth while most can't that we are crazy and need psychological help. We don't. Most people need Spiritual Healing so they too can see the truth. Doctors just fill people with pills through a misnomered diagnosis to nullify their senses and understanding of God's truth coming alive.  They try to use science to explain God away, when in actuality Science is just a tool, depending on who is using it, can be done for good or evil.

My husband does not smoke pot or drink.  he is sure the govt is out to get us. He wants to withdraw all his 401K and buy gold and silver.  He has stocked up on weapons too.  He has not stockpiled any food, water or survival supplies, I guess that;s too much work for his paranoia to handle.

He is obsessed with religion too, although he doesn't attend church. He records, but doesn't watch, religious tv programs.  He preaches to me nonstop, but no one else.

He rants and raves, he gets heart palpitaions and short of breath when talking about the govt.  It's freaky.  I ask what he is going to do about, and he hems and haws but never answers the question.  I think he is suffering from and anxiety disorder.

He tells me that me and most everyone else is going to be burning in hell, even though we all think we are Christians.  he is constantly telling me I am going to hell.  I tell him I am already living in Hell.

 He has no friends, no social life, he goes no where but to work and then home.  He is so sure the govt is coming to get us and take everything we have.

He also "knows" that the rapture is going to occur this year.  Although the Bible says no one will know ahead of time, he says he knows what the Bible says, but he knows the rapture is coming this year.

He is mean to me, he blames me for all of his shortcomings in life.  Every failure of his is somehow my fault.

I don't know if pot is the writers husband's problem, but my husband is just plain crazy.  I am about ready to pack it up and get the heck out of here. 

My so-called boyfriend is exactly the same way. He has no friends, delivers pizza for a living and refuses to do anything of merit until the world ends, when he claims he will be a hero. He only talks about liberal idiots and commies and how Obama should be shot, and how he should go buy a gun. Point is: how can someone who is so obviously a failure in life profess to have all the answers to the world's problems? Is this mental illness? It's driving me crazy...he has comepletely changed into a paranoid hermit.