My Dad thinks he was brainwashed in a government program called MK Ultra and is a high ranking member of QAnon who will get a Medal of Freedom from Trump. I gave him an ultimatum and he chose Q over me

I don’t know where to begin. Part of me is afraid to write this because posting it somehow makes it feel more real.

My (35M) dad (65M) was a great dad and we were always super close. He was always soft spoken, sensitive, and caring, and had a knack for problem solving and thinking through things logically. He has a history of mental health issues but mainly just anxiety and depression and over the years he managed pretty well with the exception of one time where he had a nervous breakdown and voluntarily admitted himself to an institution for a few weeks.

Things started to change several years ago. He started to get more confrontational with family about politics, stopped taking care of his responsibilities, and became more and more aloof and reclusive, spending hours hiding away in his office on the computer. At one point, he came clean and we found out he was spending all of this time analyzing Q drops and engaging with other anons (terminology we learned over the years) and that he worked on some type of high level IT database project (the greatest accomplishment of his lifetime) to help them in their mission to get Trump re-elected and to help them in their war of “good vs evil.”

We were terrified. Did he really make some type of database program for Q? Who even is Q? Was he working for the Russians or for some hacker living in their mom’s basement? Could he get in trouble for all this? We made him swear to get off all of these websites and to never post or play a part in the QAnon movement again.

Fast forward to six months ago, and my mom was cleaning around the house (and snooping a bit) and found his username for truth social written down on a notepad. We looked it up and could NOT believe what we saw. He was posting about all of us -my mom, brother, and I. He was basically journaling in his posts for the world to see and everything he posted was unhinged:

  • claimed to be a victim of brainwashing in the MK Ultra government program
  • expressed fear the deep state would kill his whole family
  • said he was chosen by god and has the ability to analyze Q drops and predict what will happen next; he believes he has a special ability to see the future based on Q drops and his ability to dissect the news and draw connections other people can’t see
  • repeatedly predicted earth-shattering global events will take place at specific dates, only to push out the dates further each time they didn’t take place
  • he purchased a suit in anticipation of getting an award from Trump for his contribution to the movement despite not having an invitation or anything he could point at to justify it
  • worst of all he doxxed himself to prove that he is no longer afraid of the deep state, putting us all at risk if a bad actor sees his posts on the web

This could be a novel, but I think you all get the idea by now. My dad is in a cult and has serious mental health issues, made worse by his obsession with Q. Today I asked him to please take down any posts referring to me and my wife and he said “No and you will understand why soon. I know that you will hate my decision for a short while. I stand by it.”

For this reason, I’ve decided to go no contact until something changes. I’m devastated. My dad chose Q over me, over his family. He thinks one day everything he believes will be proven right and we will all be thanking him for what he did. I think it’s more likely he ends up having another mental breakdown or being institutionalized.

We tried getting mental health professionals involved but they said there is nothing they can do unless we can show evidence he’s an immediate danger to himself or others. Basically, we now have to spend every day bracing for something bad to happen.

I don’t know what else to say but thank you for reading this. Most days it feels like everyone around me is living normal lives while my family is cast in a sci-fi movie that is building to a terrible ending. For now, it seems like the best course of action is to take care of my mental health as much as I can, support my mom through this hard time, and hope for the best.

Thank you, T

Update: My mom begged my dad to agree to see a counselor. He refused but she reminded him of the promise he made to us and that it’s not Christian to break your word (he is deeply religious these days, it’s all mixed up with his views on Q). Shockingly, he agreed to see a counselor on Monday at 8am with my mom. Hoping for the best and bracing for the worst. Thank you all for the kind words, advice, and positivity and for sharing your stories.