u/Iamthehottestman

Over the past 6 months my dad has gone really deep into YouTube videos about stoicism, psychology, “CIA manipulation tactics,” surveillance, mind games, reading people, hidden motives, etc. But honestly a lot of it just seems like AI-generated self-help slop designed to validate people’s egos and paranoia.

He spends HOURS watching this stuff every day. Now everything gets framed as manipulation, control, dominance, people trying to outsmart each other, motivation vs manipulation, detecting lies, illicit information, etc. He tries applying these ideas to real life and relationships even when it makes zero sense.

The weird part is actual stoicism seems like it’s supposed to teach self-control and emotional discipline, but he’s become more reactive, cynical, and critical.

My parents already have a rough relationship and argue constantly over the smallest things. My mom recently went to India for a religious trip, so now it’s just me, my sister, and my dad at home. Since she left, it’s honestly been exhausting.

I’m 21, still in university with 2 years left, and currently doing a 9-4 internship. After work I go help at our family business until around 6. I’ll admit by the evening I’m tired and not operating at 100% energy.

But my dad will explode over tiny mistakes.

Example: he told me to close the POS machine at the end of the night. I did it while multitasking bringing inventory in and closing gates. The machine usually prints a statement after a minute or two, but it ran out of paper and timed out. He immediately started calling me useless, a loser, selfish, saying I contribute nothing to the family, etc.

Then he said he’d remove me from the will and donate everything to charity. I just responded with “yeah go ahead, I condone it, just don’t accidentally give it to one of those organizations that burns half the money on consulting fees.”

And this is just ONE example. There are tons of situations like this almost daily.

My sister, mom, and I have all mentioned that he’s changed recently - and not in a good way. These videos seriously seem to be damaging the way he thinks and interacts with people. But anytime we bring it up he gets extremely defensive and argumentative, so eventually everyone stopped trying.

He also swings moods a lot. One moment he’s normal and joking around, the next he’s ranting about manipulation, respect, selfishness, hidden intent, or attacking someone over something minor. I’ve honestly started distancing myself emotionally from him because it’s draining being around someone who constantly sees life through this hyper-defensive lens.

At this point my plan is basically to finish school, become financially independent, and leave.

Has anyone else dealt with a parent who got consumed by online pseudo-psychology / self-help content like this? Did it ever get better?