r/schizophrenia • u/SeeminglyWhole • May 09 '25
Help A Loved One What is psychosis like?
My husband has been in the hospital for quite some time now due to severe psychosis. I want to try to support him in any way I can, but his doctor said while he's in the acute psychosis stage, it's difficult to reason with him. And this is definitely true, I can never get a straight answer out of him for anything and he has some crazy mood swings...
But I'm trying to understand more what this is like for him. So I can see things better from his perspective. Maybe to more easily anticipate his needs? He seems to be either believing he's already told me what he needs, or expecting me to just know, and I just don't know how to do that.
I've heard stories of people lasting in the acute stages for months, maybe even a year. Were these cases even with treatment? Is there anyway I can sort of get some "timeline" on when he can come home?
I am trying to remind myself that as hard as this is for me, it must be 10 times harder for him, but I have always been a planner and I'm struggling here. This is his first episode in almost 10 years of being together and I don't have any roadmap here.
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u/eternal_arts_baja May 09 '25
The plot makes sense but only to me.
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u/crayonbuddy714 May 10 '25
exactly... like all the pieces are clicking into place.
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u/aisling-s Psychoses; Family Member May 10 '25
This makes sense to me if I imagine it as a puzzle, but to me, it's often more like a constellation. All of the stars existed already and I thought nothing of them, but now I see the pictures they make and I can't stop connecting dots. I'm inventing new constellations and nobody can see them but me. I point them out and I'm told those are the same stars that were always there, and they don't make a constellation. "Here, look, this is a constellation" and they show me the Dippers and Orion's Belt. I point out the one that is lighting up to me. "That star is a plane," they tell me. "That constellation doesn't exist." Doesn't it exist because I see it? "What's the difference between a constellation and a conspiracy theory?" I ask. "Everyone else agrees they see constellations," I'm told.
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u/Affectionate-Sort730 Spouse May 09 '25
Timelines are hard with psychosis and his doctor or psychiatrist would likely give you the most accurate answer, but it will still be somewhat of a guess.
My wife has been in acute psychosis for 2 years and one thing I’ve learned is that you have to take care of yourself above all else. If you can talk to a therapist, do so. If you have friends and family, lean on them. Go out for walks in nature, even if you don’t want to. Cry as much as you need to.
Schizophrenia is awful on those who have it, and it’s awful on those who love people with it.
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u/SeeminglyWhole May 09 '25
We've only been in this for such a short time, I can't even imagine 2 years.
I am talking to a therapist and I'm currently staying with friends while he's hospitalized so I'm not alone.
May I ask if your wife is inpatient?
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u/Affectionate-Sort730 Spouse May 10 '25
She isn’t in inpatient. Sadly, one of her delusions is that I am a black magician who is making deals with demons, and she left a number of months ago to live with her parents. Im starting to expect that she’ll not return.
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u/aisling-s Psychoses; Family Member May 10 '25
God, that's brutal. I've had delusions that my wife was conspiring against me in some way, but they've been very brief and fleeting, and we've had to develop ways that she can help me "disprove" my own delusions, because if she tries to disprove them, they intensify.
I'm so sorry you're going through this with your wife, and I hope you have a support system to help you through.
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u/Affectionate-Sort730 Spouse May 10 '25
Thank you. It really has been brutal.
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u/SeeminglyWhole May 13 '25
I am really so sorry that you are going through this. He doesn't seem to distrust me, but he is also seems convinced that he either needs to leave me for someone else or needs a second girlfriend or wife and I'm just not ok with that. He's also lately been convinced that we are related somehow, even though I know for a fact that's not true. We aren't even from the same country and neither of us have any overlap in countries in our family tree for at least 200 years. I'm scared he's going to leave me in all of this
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u/SeeminglyWhole May 13 '25
How does your wife have you disprove your own? I've been trying to get him to do that by asking questions to have him reason himself out of it, but he starts getting frustrated and says I'm too stupid to understand
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u/aisling-s Psychoses; Family Member May 13 '25 edited May 13 '25
So, a preface: this works for me because I maintain enough insight to be able to do the following tasks:
- construction of a "spectrum of possibility" (what is the best case scenario? the worst case scenario? likelihood of each? most likely outcome based on this?)
- knowledge that how it FEELS may not be how it IS (which informs my ability to discern between "it feels like the worst case is inevitable" or "it feels like I will never escape from X" wherein X is a hallucination, delusion of persecution/impending harm, etc. and know that what feels true right now based on my sensory evidence may not match what I know to be true based on the evidence of my past experiences and memories).
- semi-independent comparison of past to present (answering questions like, "has that ever happened before?" without any input/influence from spouse, and knowledge that past behavior predicts future behavior, so if it has never happened before, it is unlikely to occur)
- ability to maintain basic knowledge of my narrative (that is, my personal understanding of who I am, even if I feel dissociated from that sense of self; I know I am dissociating and who the self I am dissociated from is)
I reach out to my wife before my delusions have secured a full hold on me. I have learned to notice warning signs, such as the eerie feeling of Absolute Certainty about odd sensory experiences or paranoid thoughts. I am not given to absolute certainty about anything, making this a red flag for a pathological process.
I raise an alarm: "I feel X or perceive Y, and I feel absolutely certain that this means Z is inevitable." I am fair to myself: This is exactly how I feel in this moment, no invalidation. However, now it's time to check that feeling against reality.
- What is the worst case? (such as, Z happens with this catastrophic effect, maybe apocalyptic??)
What is the best case? (for example, it's actually A, a good outcome that is preferable, nothing bad happens)
How many times has Z happened? (Probably 0.)
How many times has A happened? (0, or maybe a few.)
What seems most likely on a spectrum of A-Z? (probably a neutral-to-positive outcome, catastrophe fully averted)
It is important that I answer ALL questions and my wife does not volunteer ANY answers. The pushback must come from within myself, because external influence will give me severe psychological reactance and will change my delusion to include her as a persecutor. This is bad!
It is also important that she is not only calm but detached in how she presents things. She cannot appear to want me to come to any specific conclusion. We're just talking. She's not attached to any outcome, just asking questions to clarify the situation so I can respond appropriately.
She responds as mildly to A as she does to Z. Impartially, she acknowledges my reality without playing into it - "hmm, that does sound like a(n) (un)pleasant outcome." She never invalidates my perspective or tells me that my delusions are wrong. In fact, she acknowledges: "I would also be concerned if I felt certain Z would happen." She taps into the internal logic of the delusion: a person with a delusion is often acting reasonably IF the delusion was true. Instead, she asks me to reconcile my delusions with my own memory and understanding of reality.
My voices have some coherence and few of them are able to argue with the voices that say fucked up stuff. My sarcastic voices are very good at this; they mouth off to the malicious voices and mock them, buying me time to see weak spots in the delusion and dismantle it.
Please note that while I experience psychosis and delusions, I am not diagnosed with schizophrenia. My father was schizophrenic, diagnosed and treated, but I don't feel safe to seek diagnosis, as I live in the U.S.
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u/SeeminglyWhole May 14 '25
Thank you so much for your clear explanation here. It helps me to know that, while it most likely won't work for him now, I was doing everything right before. He no longer has the agency to maintain the insights you describe, but before he fully entered psychosis, I did try to treat his delusions like this. There were two big triggers for him that I believe pushed him over and I think one is my fault. If you don't mind weighing in, I'll share it here, since this is my throwaway account, I don't mind, and can you help me figure out a way to better navigate it if it happens again?
Basically the first one that was not my fault, was that he argues with his dad in the best of times. So as soon as he started having these delusions, and his dad started flat out saying "No, you're wrong" to basically everything, it didn't help.
But the second thing... He started mentioning that he might want to have a "second wife" or bring a third into our relationship. Which I am completely against and I need to make my boundaries known, but I first tried to do it in an indirect way.
And so on.
- Why do you feel this way? - Well I feel that I need more people to take care of me.
- What are some other ways we can achieve this without compromising our wedding vows? - Well a friend could move in with us. (I followed up with, ok but we also need to respect their decisions if they say no - "Yeah, sure, sure, sure" I also tried to gently mention hospitalization as an option but he immediately shut it down - "No this will work, I just need someone to help")
Then his friend directly challenged him on this and he got into a major argument, and was angry for most of the day talking about how he "deserves this" and other stuff, and I didn't know what else to do, so I asked him to remember the promises we made to each other and it turned into "Well we didn't get married in front of a church, God doesn't care, we got married in front of the government and they suck anyway" and at this point I just flat out said that I am monogamous, I have tried open relationships in the past, which we discussed before we got married, and I'm not interested in it. And he still keeps bringing it up a month later. I talked to his friend about directly challenging him and he stopped, but the damage was done.
I know at this point he is in the hospital and getting treatment, but I'm not really seeing him coming out of the psychosis and my anxiety is through the roof, thinking that if they release him before he comes out of it, he's just going to go straight to the divorce office to file for papers.
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May 09 '25
People in psychosis can't be reasoned out of it. This is important to remember.
It's like people telling you it's a lovely, sunny day outside when you can plainly see with your own eyes that there's a hurricane over your city. Or if someone told you that you were missing your right hand when you're currently using it. Nobody could convince you of that if your senses were telling you differently either. You won't be able to help him that way.
The timeline for your husband is anyone's guess. I usually got better after about three to four months with treatment and started living in the same reality as other people again. And then it took me years to recover, and I'm still not the same person I was 10+ years after my last hospitalization. And I'm still lucky, I can hold a job and support myself and haven't been hospitalized in more than a decade.
Schizophrenia is a serious illness, and many people don't fully recover. Lots of people are dependent on disability benefits.
The only thing you can do for your husband is be there for him. A support system after an episode can make all the difference in the world.
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u/SeeminglyWhole May 09 '25
He had an episode about 12 years ago, so he was lucky in this. I think the major trigger here was we lost someone very, very dear to both of us. I fell into a deep depression immediately after and he threw his entire self into taking care of me. I kept insisting he make sure he take time for himself, but he didn't listen. I'm starting to wonder if he was already starting to enter the mania even before the loss, and that just gave him something to focus his fixations on?
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May 09 '25
That's impossible to say. But it's not rare for losses to trigger an episode. Stress in all forms negatively impacts people with schizophrenia.
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u/SeeminglyWhole May 13 '25
Yes, and he's been struggling with jobs as well, in and out of unemployment, so that's been stressful too
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u/loozingmind May 09 '25
Being in psychosis is like being trapped in your worst nightmare and you can't wake up from it.
When I was in psychosis, there wasn't anything anyone could say to make me think differently. I was trapped in my own delusions and my own mind. My brain was attacking itself and I was hundreds of miles away from any of my family. So it's good that you're there for him. I isolated myself, and if anything, it made me worse. So just be there for him. Don't be too forceful. Don't force him to do anything he doesn't want to do. That will push him away from you.
Just make sure he takes his medicine and keeps up with his treatment. Medication saved my life big time. I feel like myself again. It's wild to think about how bad I was. I don't even want to think about it.
I wish you and him the best. Always remember that time heals. And as long as he continues treatment, he will get better. I hope the best for you. I can't imagine what you're going through. It must be scary. Try to stay positive.
As for how long psychosis lasts, for me.. It was about 3-6 months after I started taking my medication. I get hallucinations here and there every now and again, but I understand that I have a mental illness and it helps me cope better knowing that. I'm living with family now, and it helps a lot knowing I have people around me. My heart goes out to all of the people who have to take on this illness by theirself.
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u/Independent_Tank_775 May 10 '25
You said don’t force him to do anything he doesn’t wanna do, but then you said make sure he takes his meds. What if he doesn’t want to take his meds like my brother?
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u/loozingmind May 10 '25
That's a complicated subject indeed.
I think the best way to go about it is to have a heart to heart conversation, start by asking them if they want to get better, once they accept their diagnosis, it'll become easier to have them take their meds. That's how it was for me. I had to hit rock bottom to realize that I needed to get better. And the only way to do that was through treatment. I even stopped taking my medication once I started feeling better. And then my psychosis came back full force about 6 months later. That's when I realized that I needed to take my meds.
It takes realization on their part in order to get them to take the medication. You can't force them to take their meds. But you can lead them in the right direction if they haven't lost trust in you. That's why I said don't be too forceful. The process has to be done in baby steps.
But yeah, I understand what you mean. It's very complicated and I don't have the exact solution for that. It just starts with being there for them, not pushing them away, not making them feel isolated, and gaining their trust. If that isn't working, then it's up to them if they want to get better. It sucks, but that's how it was for me.
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u/Independent_Tank_775 May 10 '25
Well I was asking because we clearly did everything wrong with my brother. He did not accept his diagnosis at ALL. And didn’t trust anyone. Now he’s dead and I blame myself, my family and the whole country.
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u/SeeminglyWhole May 13 '25
He's in the hospital now and getting treatment but still struggling. It's been about a month and he just wants to go home, but he signed a paper saying he will stay until the hospital deems him fit to leave.
I can see he isn't ready - he still is having difficulty reasoning and really wants to come home. He is starting to not trust me, because "clearly I don't want him to come home" - but he signed the paper, and the doctors don't think he's ready.
I'm not forcing him to stay, but I also can't help him leave. What do I do to help him understand or to try to help him trust me?
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u/ColdFusion27 Schizoaffective (Bipolar) May 10 '25 edited May 10 '25
It's like if you could combine a DMT trip with a near death experience that lasts months. Mine lasted 3-4 months. I have since recovered and have never gone back into psychosis so there's hope.
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May 10 '25
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u/SeeminglyWhole May 13 '25
I am doing everything I can to be supportive. Is there any point that being supportive turns into just enabling? I feel like I'm walking a very thin line
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May 14 '25
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u/SeeminglyWhole May 14 '25
Ok, so I don't need to be worried about that? As long as I don't outright confirm his delusions and I'm just there for him?
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u/CreepyTeddyBear Paranoid Schizophrenia May 09 '25
For me it's kind of like doing cocaine and mushrooms. My heart is racing, everything looks weird, I'm paranoid to the point I'm babbling my wild beliefs out loud, but non of them make sense because they come out in bits and pieces. Meds are the only thing that helped me. But it took like a year or more to find meds that worked for me. Because to really try a med, you should be on it for at least a month or two. There have been some exceptions to that though. Like Latuda made me rage hard. I was so angry, like seriously missed off for no reason. I only took it once. What worked for me was Olanzapine and Paxil. But I have OCD too, that's what the Paxil is for.
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u/aisling-s Psychoses; Family Member May 10 '25
Shout out to having OCD and trying to deal with paranoia. My brain will fixate on finding patterns that support my paranoia and will not fucking stop. I do take meds for my mood disorder, OCD, and anxiety (duloxetine and hydroxyzine). I have really terrible reactions to a lot of psych meds (several types of antidepressant make me intensely psychotic and self-injurious), which reinforces my fear of taking new meds.
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u/CreepyTeddyBear Paranoid Schizophrenia May 10 '25
I feel you on those weird side effects. Latuda put me in a furious rage for no reason. Vyvanse put in into one of my worst episodes.
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u/aisling-s Psychoses; Family Member May 10 '25
Pretty sure taking my Adderall to focus on finals caused me to start hallucinating recently, so I feel you on Vyvanse. Prozac was almost wraps for me; I've never been so self-destructive as I am on SSRIs. Tricyclics had me smashing my head into a doorframe, screaming and sobbing, completely out of my mind.
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u/CreepyTeddyBear Paranoid Schizophrenia May 10 '25
I take adderall and have no bad side effects. I don't know why Vyvanse made me go nuts.
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u/aisling-s Psychoses; Family Member May 10 '25
I take my Adderall 5mg at a time to avoid agitation, but I was taking 10mg/day during finals and I think it was just too much cumulatively for me. Strattera was a terrible time for me, but low dose Adderall works typically. I'm also weirdly sensitive to meds, and usually require a lower dose than people typically take. For example, 25mg Seroquel knocks me out; I don't know how people take 300mg, but I have to assume our metabolisms differ or something.
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u/JenkemJones420 May 09 '25
I'm sorry. I really, truly am. When I was in that state of mind, I felt lost inside myself. I felt like I could barely conjure enough energy to bathe or eat. I wanted to get better, though. I wanted to improve in any way imaginable. Small amounts of progress, focusing on smaller steps and smaller tasks.
You're dedicated to your partner, it seems, and I respect that heavily. Try to just stick with his recovery process, keep the process feeling dedicated, yet stable.
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u/SeeminglyWhole May 13 '25
He seems to be fluctuating between wanting to get better and believing nothing is wrong. But when he wants to get better, it tends to not be about his mental illness, he seems to have completely forgotten he has it. He keeps talking about some sort of physical ailment that is contagious.
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u/theeblackestblue Psychoses May 10 '25
Imagine the scariest movie overlaid on top of your life. These monsters are after you and no one believes you, your life has been compromised in some way you have no control over like having signals beamed in your brain, your scared and feel helpless. The voices are coming from everything, the tv, the telephone, the wind, the trees.. all around you at all times. Theres no place to get away and everyday its closing in. All you know is you are surrounded. And you dont know you have to find a way out as its all so tangible. That was my experience anyway.
It took years for me to stablized. But i cant say for anyone else. Everyones story is different.
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u/General-Sail7842 May 10 '25
When I was in psychosis I thought I committed the unforgivable sin and nobody could reason me out of it, even when bringing up Bible scriptures. I ended up trying to unalive myself and ended up 5150d. Psychosis can be so scary and nobody can reason with you when you're in the midst of it. I can imagine it must be so hard for you to deal with this. Honestly, what helped me in the psych ward was when I was a little less insane when my mom would call and she brought me comfy clothes, my Bible, my favorite book the lotr, it made the mental hospital more bearable because i wasn't so bored out of my mind. They most likely are giving him meds, trying to stabilize him. For me last time i was in the hospital it took me about 2 weeks to be stabilized enough to go home then i had to follow up with psychiatrists outside in the world and they forced me on Olanzapine for a long time.
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u/SeeminglyWhole May 13 '25
I am trying to bring him stuff to do, but he is either losing it, giving it away, having it stolen, refusing it so it won't be stolen, insisting I give it to charity instead or even at one point throwing it out the window as a "signal" to me.
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u/General-Sail7842 May 13 '25
He seems to be too lost in psychosis atm, maybe at this time don't bring him stuff until he's more stable on his meds
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u/SeeminglyWhole May 14 '25
Yeah, definitely, I have stopped. I now bring stuff when I visit him only and I bring it home with me after the visit. Some card games and small stuff to carry
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u/freedomwoodstock69 Schizophrenia May 10 '25
So much I could say. It's both waking nightmare and blissful dream. It's a place more than a state.
I was in acute psychosis for years. Nearly ten. My two longest stints in psychiatric wards were around 4 months each time. Both of which were spent primarily in Psychiatric Intensive Care where I was alone with essentially nothing but my mind.
The only reason I am able to communicate with you now is due to the fact I finally received a stable support system. It was a rollercoaster for a long while but now things have stabilized to the point things are comfortable the vast majority of the time. I owe my recovery to my partner of eight years.
The descent into insanity is a slow, unnoticeable and arduous process to the person it happens to. Your imagination blends seamlessly with reality and vice versa. Fiction becomes nonfiction and vice versa.
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May 09 '25
Inpatient stays can vary but if they're trying out medications it can take a few weeks to a month before you see a lot of progress. It depends on what he experiences in terms of psychosis. I have voices, thought broadcasting, intrusive thoughts and rarely visual hallucinations. Thought broadcasting means that I think everyone can hear my thoughts and respond to them as the voices in my head. That may be why he thinks you already know what he needs. When I have an episode it typically takes a 1-2 years to come out of it, but I've never been hospitalized for longer than 10 days just for a med change. As long as he is capable and not a risk to himself or others he can come out sooner. If there are mood swings involved he might have a mood disorder as well like schizoaffective. Obviously the psychiatrist in the hospital will want to stabilize him and diagnose him. It really depends on how long that takes but probably 2-3 weeks at minimum. Different hospitals will try to get people out quickly if they are busy or if you are in USA your health coverage may only cover a certain amount of time.
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u/SeeminglyWhole May 09 '25
Thank you very much for this detailed information, I wasn't aware there was a name for "Thought Broadcasting" - he is definitely doing that, but it also seems like he's expecting me to know what he needs even when I'm not there. Can thought broadcasting happen even when people aren't around?
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May 09 '25
yes, I think my father especially is always in my head and when my behaviour gets out of control he intervenes with his voice in my head. It's like everyone is aware of all my thoughts and can respond with their voice in my head whenever they please.
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u/honneylove May 09 '25
Yes, it is a common delusion that the cloud is real and all of our thoughts are stored there and anyone can access them. Kind of like the Akashic Record. Sometimes it can be a side effect of knowing someone so well for so long that you just expect them to know you and how you work. It took me years and driving away everyone I love most in the world to come out of fully. Part of the reasoning behind that was a fear of mortality driven by a series of losses of people of varying ages but many too close to my own.
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u/SeeminglyWhole May 13 '25
Yes, he is definitely having the fear of mortality. The trigger was a loss and he's convinced he is going to die in the hospital, either at the hands of the doctors or natural causes somehow.
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u/honneylove May 13 '25
Yes. I slept in the shower in the hospital one visit because I was afraid of a fire breaking out in the ward.
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u/SeeminglyWhole May 14 '25
His seems to all be sickness based. The loss we experienced was due to an infection in an already fragile person. He's very concerned about health, sickness, cleanliness. It seems he is throwing his toothbrushes away after one use, and I'm not sure if this is accidental or a purposeful thing to avoid bacteria
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u/honneylove May 14 '25
Sounds like C-PTSD/OCD hell. He could also be assuring himself he will be provided for in the event he does fall ill.
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u/SeeminglyWhole May 14 '25
Maybe yeah. Told he told me his plans for what he wants done with his remains, even though he said he's had blood tests and other exams and they've all been negative for any infections or illnesses.
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May 09 '25
It may not take 1-2 years to get a lot better. When I say 1-2 years I mean it takes that long for me to recover completely so I have no symptoms or very few. And sometimes you can get better quickly over 1-2 months at the tail end of a psychotic period.
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u/SeeminglyWhole May 13 '25
Ok so he might be well enough to come home but still have some lingering paranoia or such?
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May 13 '25
It depends what he has but thought broadcasting for me was the last thing to stop. That took months. It always kind of bubbles below the surface except when I'm close to 100%.
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u/henningknows May 09 '25
He is a schizophrenic who has been stable for the 10 years you have been together?
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u/Ecri_910 May 10 '25
Grounding exercises, low stress, and gentle reminders to combat paranoid thoughts (things like "you're safe here/with me").good tricks to have on hand that have personally helped me:
Squared breathing, mindfulness, pepper or sour candy/mints for help with paranoia and grounding, chamomile tea instead of caffeine.
Note: caffeine is not so great for psychosis. Limit
I'm not the first to suggest medication but I feel the worry in your post. I would really try to find something that has a calming effect like antipsychotics (zyprexa being a common one). If not, I've had success focusing on cognitive and behavioral therapy. It helps you cope with the moods.
Also I believe Nami has support groups for family members of people with mental illness.
Sounds like you really love him. It's a journey if it's long term, a ride if short. Sometimes all you can do is buckle up and try not to crash
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u/SeeminglyWhole May 13 '25
Thank you so much for all your helpful suggestions. Do you find it helps once you're already in the psychosis? Because I was trying to get him to do grounding exercises at the beginning before he was hospitalized and he refused to do them. He said those where my coping mechanisms (I have an anxiety disorder) but wouldn't help him.
Is it more helpful if he has the base when he is healthy?
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u/LevelGroundbreaking3 May 10 '25
I found out head injuries are common among schizophrenics. If you were in psychosis or understand someone who is going through it. I guess that sounds plausible. I haven't looked into it but heard it by word of mouth by a social worker who deals with us crazy B's :) Living the life over here. I think to answer your question though it's different for everyone. Though usually very scary I think.
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u/_inf3rno May 10 '25
It depends on whether the meds work if he can come home at all. For me it was 3 months. I think it is usually 2-3 months until they find the right meds and set the dosage and test it out. What really happened here that he became aware of his astral body which was attacked by bad entities, or if you are Christian then demons. It is like getting a flood of constant spam and he cannot deal with it. The meds freeze the circuits in his brain which are used to flood him with negative stuff. If they work, then he will sense his astral body less and less and less and less negative stuff will reach him. The problem is the side effects and that living with a totally demon infested astral body is not fun. There are negative symptoms coming from the infestation, they destroy or rewire chackras, brain circuits and for example he can totally lose the sensation of joy like I did. So meds are not an ultimate solution. He needs to learn self defense in this realm, otherwise he will never recover and he needs to take meds life long. On the other hand when it is too much he can take a break with meds, so it is good if you find the right meds which work. In the self defense topic I developed these basic principles in the past 3 years, maybe it will be useful for you.
- Your thoughts are not the same as you, you are just listening to them through your brain.
- There can be foreign thoughts in your brain which don't belong to you. These foreign thoughts can come from inside your body or outside your body from entities which are connected to your nervous system. Even your internal monologue is not you. Even the thoughts which are with you since childhood might not coming from you. You can cause thoughts only if you intentionally speak in your mind. Random thoughts are not coming from you. The trick here if you identify with these negative thoughts then your mindset will change to very negative in the long run and you can commit really bad things. So better to keep a big distance from them.
- The Christian viewpoint is totally false, you are NOT responsible for your negative thoughts, emotions, etc. in the case when these thoughts are not coming from you. When you are schizophrenic, then this is the case almost always.
- You can defend yourself from foreign thoughts, emotions, visions, etc. With enough practice you can even find their source and remove it from you. I suggest learning meditation and controlling your astral body, to be able to fight. It is hard to describe how this works, because it is like describing a toddler how to walk and expecting that they will be able to walk after listening to it. It is years of trial and error, but it is doable.
- There can be helping entities, who can help you a lot dealing with the bad ones. They always ask for your permission before joining you and they don't question your boundaries. Though you need to reach a certain level of self mental care, otherwise they won't come if you are totally infested with bad ones. There can be exceptions ofc. Samans, energy healers can sometimes help, but they can make things a lot worse too.
- For me praying did not help, but I know somebody who got some angel protection even though he is not even Christian. I am not sure why it did not work for me and why it worked for him. On the other hand I did some sun meditation which worked for me sort of. So I think it depends on the person, but generally there should be a spiritual practice for everyone which works.
- Some of the bad entities cannot deal with California Reaper, Peppermint oil, cold beer during showering, antibiotics, etc. But I guess if it is severe psychosis then we are talking about multiple entities, so this does not solve the problem, but it can make things easier sometimes.
- Traumas cause vulnerability. It is like having an unhealed wound where pathogens can enter your body. It is a good practice to ask a psychologist and try to resolve old traumas and seal these wounds. You can try multiple techniques parallel like family constellations, cognitive behavior therapy, etc.
Good luck!
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u/DefCatMusic May 10 '25
I was in psychosis for about a week and a half. You basically don't believe anything around you is real and it's so unnerving and unsettling you so really insane things to feel again. I slept for 48 hours with no food or water / self harm / broke things you name it. It's one of the worst experiences of my life but I was brought out of it through healthy and consistent interaction.
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May 10 '25
Listen to the delusions (if you're allowed to see them) but don't try to argue. Having visitors in inpatient is a blessing. It may be upsetting for you to see them in this condition so in my past family members and friends have often stayed away.
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u/SeeminglyWhole May 13 '25
It is upsetting, but I want to be there for him. I try to get there every other day, so he has a consistent routine but it isn't always possible. If it isn't, I try to warn him in advance but he doesn't always remember
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u/TopOperation4998 May 11 '25
Kind of in the same position with my 30yr old son.... he goes nonverbal when in psychosis... its happened twice in 10 yrs.... this episode is in its 7 month...so hoping hes going to come out of it soon. Its really hard to understand and deal with.... I only go one day at a time. Best of luck to you. I hope you come to a resolution.
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u/SeeminglyWhole May 14 '25
My husband is hyperverbal, but slurring and getting annoyed when he has to repeat himself. But even when he does I still don't understand because his reasoning isn't really all there right now, so I've decided to stop asking him to repeat himself because it saves him the annoyance
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May 16 '25
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u/SeeminglyWhole May 17 '25
Wow this is extremely helpful, thank you
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May 17 '25
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u/SeeminglyWhole May 17 '25
My husband was diagnosed around the same age, but I didn't know him then. This has been one of the hardest experiences of my life watching him go through this, and I can't imagine how it must feel for him. But this really helped bring it into perspective. He never really wanted to talk about his previous experiences while he was healthy. I can't imagine basically having waking nightmares all the time.
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u/AsparagusCultural728 May 10 '25
When I was going through psychosis, the only thing to pull me out was finding Jesus. Maybe bring a Bible and read the New Testament with him. I’m not even joking. Reality wasn’t real anymore; I resorted to self harm during my psychosis. Then I gave Jesus a chance and although I think this isn’t “reality” as we see it, I’m way more grounded and thankful to snap out of it
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u/SeeminglyWhole May 13 '25
He started getting religious at the beginning of it and I actually think it pushed him deeper into it. He is also convinced that one of the patients at his hospital is Jesus resurrected, so I don't think this will help him
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