By Erin K. Costello ![]() (Continuing reason why anti-vaxxers won't vaccinate) VACCINES CAUSE (INSERT ANY KNOWN PHYSICAL, EMOTIONAL, AND OR PSYCHOLOGICAL AILMENT HERE). This belief by the av community is vast and can be broken down to several of their other tenets. I do not list or elaborate on every ailment they insist is caused by vaccinations since no one really knows how many things they credit vaccinations for having caused. Instead, what I have done is pasted a list that had been posted to Facebook by the page Peace, Love, and Threats from anti-vaxxers, since it’s the most extensive list I have come across thus far. You will find that I have added to the list by elaborating on certain illnesses listed to reveal just how deep the crazy claims become with avers. This is where shit gets a lot weird. Acute Flaccid Paralysis: Claimed to be one of the polio diseases re-named to seem like polio is gone ADD ADEM: Claimed to be one of the polio diseases re-named to seem like polio is gone. AIDS: Though, the two do not go “hand in hand,” there are enough Avers who are also “AIDS/HIV” denielists. Allergies: They routinely claim vaccines are responsible for all the peanut allergies that exist today. ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis): Claimed to be one of the polio diseases re-named to seem like polio is gone. Alzheimer's Anaphylaxis Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) Aplastic anemia Apnea Appetite, anorexia: They regularly share a video from the Dr. Phil show about an anorexic girl who says she became sick after a vaccine. Arthritis Asthma Autism: Most will still spout the Wakefield claims but the ones who jumped off that sinking ship have a different explanation. They claim the Tdap vaccine causes what is known as “that Tdap scream” in babies because the shot causes swelling in the brain, which is then what causes autism. Autoimmune diseases Bell's Palsy: Claimed to be one of the polio diseases re-named to seem like polio is gone. Birth defects Blood reactions Bowel disease Brain damage Brain swelling BSE risk Bullous Pemphigold Cancer Cerebral Palsy: Claimed to be one of the polio diseases re-named to seem like polio is gone. CFIDS/ME Chronic inflammatory CIC (Klinkers) CJD risk Coeliac Disease Convulsions Criminality Crohn's Disease Cysts Death Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) Demyelination Demylenating Polyneuropathy (CIDP) Depression Dermatomyositis Development disability DDT poisoning (I added this one. Avers believe that polio was never really a disease but the result of DDT poisoning) Diabetes Down syndrome: How does a vaccination cause a chromosome to go missing? Well, it starts with the “aborted fetal tissue” in vaccines. Avers claim there is aborted baby DNA in abundance within these shots. If you’d like to learn the facts concerning this I suggest you check out a post I wrote about a year ago that covers this claim. Anyways, since some pregnant women choose to have the amniocentesis to test for down syndrome, it is then assumed by Avers that the women who show to be carrying a fetus with down syndrome then opt for termination. It is then alleged that those fetuses that were terminated are then used to make vaccinations. They believe the down syndrome DNA then gets injected in to pregnant women, and then causes the fetus to develop down syndrome. Dravet syndrome Dyslexia Dystonia Ear infections (otitis media) Eczema Encephalitis, encephalopathy Encephalomyelitis Epilepsy Erysipelas Erythema multiforme Eye damage Fabricated and induced illness (FII)/Munchausesn's Fanconi's anemia Feline sarcomas Fever Fibromyalgia Foetal damage & death Foot and mouth disease Gait disturbances Gangrene Gastoenteritis Glomerulonephritis Graves' disease Gullain-Barre syndrome: Claimed to be one of the polio diseases re-named to seem like polio is gone. Gulf War Syndrome Hair loss Headache Hearing loss Heart damage Heller's syndrome Hemolytic anemia Henoch-Schoenlein Purpura Hepatitis Homosexuality: (added by me since it was not originally listed) Much like how aborted fetal tissue causes down syndrome, they think children injected with a vaccine containing DNA from the opposite sex makes them gay, and makes then transgender. Oddly though, you never hear the DNA being blamed for creating trans-males, only trans-females. Hughes syndrome and antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) Hyperkinetic syndrome Immune suppression Infections Infertility: This claim is made by those who believe vaccines are a form of population control. Inflammatory bowel disease Intussusception Kawasaki syndrome Kidney disorders Lennox-gastaut syndrome Leprosy Leukemia & lymphoma Lichen planus Liver disorders Lou Gehrig's disease Lung, breathing issues Lupus/all autoimmune disorders: vaccinations and autoimmune disorders involve the immune system, they must have a causal relationship. Lyell's syndrome Lyme disease Lymphoma Macrophagic myofasciitis (MMF) ME Meningitis Meningoencephalitis Menopause Miscarriage Mitichondrial disorder: Claimed to be one of the polio diseases re-named to seem like polio is gone. MS: Claimed to be one of the polio diseases re-named to seem like polio is gone. Mumps Myasthenia gravis Myocarditis Narcolepsy Nervous system damage Neurological Obesity Optic Neuritis Orchitis Osteoporosis Otitis Media Pancreatitis Pancytopenia Panic attacks Panniculitis Parkinsonism Peanut allergy Pericarditis Pneumonia Polio POTS Premature ovarian failure (POF)/premature menopause Psoriasis Renal Respiratory RSV Sarcomas Scleroderma Scoliosis and vaccines Seizures Serum sickness Shaken baby syndrome: Yes, this is exactly how it sounds. They claim SBS is not a real injury and that it can’t be caused by abuse. The believe this injury is an undiagnosed vaccine injury. They often make posts alleging perpetrators have been falsely accused, charged, convicted, and sentenced. If you think this is bad, well, it is about to get worse. During my first month with What’s The Harm?, I was scrolling through the group Stop Mandatory Vaccination when I came across a SBS post. This post was a bit different though. Normally I would see most commenters defending the person on trial. This time, though, most the thread was condemning the person charged and only one person was coming to his defense. Group members commenting jumped on her pretty hard for making excuses for this person, and eventually they wore her down. That was when she said the following, “In that case, IF this was really an injury from abuse, and IF this person assaulted her and caused the baby to die, then it’s only because he (person charged) himself was vaccinated throughout his life and the damage caused him to do this.” It was at this moment where other members began to come around and agree with her assessment. Shingles SIDS: Sudden Infant Death Syndrome is more commonly referred to by Avers as VIDS, Vaccine Induced Death Syndrome. Sinusitis Skin disorders Smallpox Spanish Flu SSPE Sterilisation Stevens-Johnson syndrome Sudden death Suicide and pharma drugs Syphilis TB Tetanus Thrombocytopenia purpura Tics Tonsillitis Tourette's syndrome Transverse myelitis: Claimed to be one of the polio diseases re-named to seem like polio is gone. Typhoid Uveitis Vaccinia Vasculitis Vasculomyelinopathy Violent behavior Whooping cough Zika CHANGING THE MIND OF AN ANTI-VAXXER We are often asked by readers what is the best way to go about changing the mind of an AVer. We even ask this of each other on occasion. Here is where many of us admin will differ in opinion, because make no mistake, this is all based on opinion. None of us have done any studies on changing the mind of an AVer. That being said, I believe most of us have something to offer the discussion. At this point, most of the admin I have come across do not believe you can change the mind of an AVer. For the most part, I have to agree with them. Sure, some admin will then interject about those AVers who are on the fence or those who express genuine worry regarding vaccine safety. I know first hand that these AVers DO exist, even if some of us refer to them as “unicorns.” I have witnessed these unicorns happen a couple of times, though I have yet to come across one myself. Even though they do exist and their minds can be changed, we don’t encounter them often. For the most part, regarding the majority of AVers, there is no changing their mind. At least, not that we are aware of. However, if you truly wish to try to change one’s mind, you should first look at why it is they became an AVer. There are different reasons why one decides to believe the nonsense in the AV community, thus making different types of AVers. A bunch of us admin once tried to give guesses to which type of AVer was most common and so on, though we were unable to agree entirely. So what I will do is list the groups that most admin believed to be the most common, and then list the remaining groups we covered. The most common AVers are, and in no particular order: 1. The mom (because most are moms) who genuinely has a child with an ailment that occurred around the time an vaccine was administered and is unable to find or believe it to have been caused by something in particular. Meaning, if the doctors are unable to give her the answers she seeks of if they are able to provide her with answers she will either not understand the answers or not like the answers. Vaccines though will provide her with a cause that “makes sense” because of the ailment’s timeline, or will provide her with a place to lay blame that also allows her to take back some of the control she feels to have lost by having a child afflicted with something. If the cause was vaccines, then by refusing all future vaccinations for her afflicted child and other children, she feels she can control the condition from happening again to another child, or she feels she can prevent it from worsening for the child already diagnosed with the condition. This group genuinely feels they are doing what is best by no longer vaccinating. 2. The mom (again, most are moms, dads appear in other reasons) is often a young sahm (stay at home mom) who likely had an unplanned pregnancy with their first child and feels isolated and alone. This mom will also often have an education that is lacking in areas of science as well as very little life experience. I am not judging these moms, mind you. This was the kind of mom I was at first. I understand how these moms feel. It’s difficult to see your friends go off on their own and live their lives, to find a purpose in life or a calling, to find their identity and a sense of belonging, while you are at home making little to no difference in the world. It isn’t enough to know that you are making all the difference in the world to the world of your child. I’m sorry to say that, but it just isn’t fulfilling enough for the majority of humans. All humans need more out of life, especially when we are younger. So while these moms are missing something in their lives they are more open to suggestion. If you add on top of this a child with any kind of disability or even a quirk, then they’ll become even easier to convince. If these young moms, or even some older moms, are also routinely mocked by family or friends for not being very intelligent or experienced in life matters then they will find a community that listens to them in the AV world. Partly because other people they meet on-line here can relate to them in all these areas, but also because the more one person convinces other people to agree with them, the more their choices are validated. The more confident they feel, the more sure of themselves they become, and they see people listening to them when they have something to say. In life where one rarely sees this from those around them, feeling like your thoughts and ideas matter can be highly addictive. This group also feels they are doing what is best by not vaccinating. 3. Your conspiracy theorists. In this group you will find both moms and dads, though I couldn’t confidently give an opinion on which gender we see more of. I think either gender is just as likely to fall in this group as the other gender. This group doesn’t necessarily disagree with vaccination by itself, but they believe everything the government is involved with must exist for nefarious reasons, and nothing about it should be trusted at face value. It doesn’t help at all that in the past there have been some conspiracy theories that have turned out to be largely true, or even remotely true. Incidents like the Tuskagee experiment, Pentagon papers, Gulf of Tonkin, the funding of the Contra wars by the CIA with crack-cocaine being sold on U.S streets, or every time a known “tough on (insert crime, drugs, sexual harassment/assault...)” politician is then found out to be guilty of the very thing they are “tough” on punishing, are all reasons conspiracy theorists use to convince other people that their other crazy beliefs must be or could be correct. Transparency won’t do much to convince a conspiracy theorist they are wrong, but transparency will make a difference in preventing other people from falling victim to the “rabbit holes.” I do not know if these people genuinely believe they are doing the right thing by no longer vaccinating. I don’t think it is that simple with this group of people. And, I’m sorry to say that I do not possess the degree to elaborate on this type of mindset any further. What we believe to be your less common groups of AV parents are those who know they are full of shit. There are different types con-parents who get involved in this movement from what we have seen. The most common con-parents we have seen, and again in no particular order, are: 1. Your parents (both men and women fall in to this) who want to make a name for themselves. This is largely done for attention. Sure, maybe money is a possibility down the road, and a definite plus, but attention is their main driving force. This is where we find the MAMs and the wanna-be MAMs. Although, I must stress I am not a professional in this regard, I also think this is where we could find the most narcissistic parents in the AV movement. I can’t be sure if these parents genuinely believe they are doing what is right by no longer vaccinating. I think it depends on the reasons they each give for refusing vaccinations. If they give reasons that they themselves created, then I think they believe their reasons because believing other wise would mean they were wrong, and how many narcissists admit they are wrong? However, I think there could be some who parrot reasons and know the reasons are likely false, but admitting they are false would lose them popularity points. I also wonder if these parents vaccinate on the down-low. 2. Your public figure shills and obvious con-people. These people don’t have to be parents. Larry Cook doesn’t have any kids, Erin and Mercola don’t appear to have any kids, but even those with kids can also become a shill or con-person. Wakefield, for example, has kids. This group of people know they are lying about vaccine dangers but do so because they see a market in the AV movement. I highly suspect they all also vaccinate their own kids. 3. The fundraiser parents. These people, I believe, are mostly parents since lying about the existence of their kids would be extremely risky. However, I’m sure there are some who do lie about even having kids. These people aren’t known or famous though since they are largely able to pull of their scams thanks to anonymity. I don’t think we come across many of these AVers though I can’t be sure on how many of them there are. None of us have the time or energy to search down every “warrior” mom, every fundraiser mom, or every new wanna-be “crazymother.” I’m sure most have the kids they refer to, and some may even have kids with conditions or illnesses they describe, but these parents are only posting in the AV community in efforts to exploit their situation, if not invent their situation. Their whole purpose for doing so is financial. Whether it be money earned in donations, or because they believe their actions will assist them in scoring compensation from a NVICP petition, their actions are all motivated by money. They also know they are lying about vaccine dangers, and will only refuse further vaccinations for their kids if it helps their money-making scheme. If they can vaccinate and keep it a secret, they will probably vaccinate. I mentioned earlier that the chances of changing the mind of an AVers could largely depend on why that person become an AVer, and which type of AVer they are. I do believe this to be true, though, I can not offer any advice for any of the types of AVers I have mentioned. I do think that some efforts may have a better chance depending on what type of AVer you are dealing with, though. There have been some studies released that offer some insight to answering this question. I agree with their results and do not doubt that some efforts proved to be more successful than others, however, I also think that whatever effort proves to be successful will also depend on the AVer hearing it at the right time and/or by the right person. So, in other words, you can only plan so far in changing an AVers mind, the rest will likely fall on chance. I am sure there are other types of AVers I failed to mention. I only mentioned the ones myself and colleagues have come across and the ones we have come across the most. We are not a point in which to base a study on and are very possibly a small group of people to represent a small area of the AV movement. I would also like to point out like I mentioned before that I am not a professional in areas of psychology. I am only giving my opinion and the opinions I have gathered from other admin. These have been our experiences in the AV community, and have been our “take-away” from those we encountered. Perhaps our experiences and the information we have learned from AVers can offer others more qualified a place to start from. On a personal note I’d like to add that I have only been doing this for about 2 years. There are colleagues of mine who have been doing this for close to a decade, and some even longer. It is because of their efforts that I was able to learn the things I have learned about the AV movement. As frustrating as it has been for me at times to have the things I tell family and friends fall on deaf ears, it must be so much more frustrating to them since they have been at this so much longer than I have. I just want to take a moment and thank each and every one of them for never giving up and for working through their frustrations. This goes for your more public sites and pages, as well as the lesser known ones. It is because of them that any amount of PV efforts exist on-line.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWhat's The Harm? Archives
May 2020
Categories
All
|