so, I wanna address something.
I feel like a lot of people aren’t sure how to deal with people who are psychotic who experience delusions and hallucinations, and don’t know that those delusions or hallucinations aren’t real.
so here’s what I, a psychotic, find most helpful when I’m having a psychotic episode. note that this is geared towards delusions or hallucinations that are frightening the person, not delusions of grandeur and the like.
don’t tell me it’s not real. telling me it’s not real isn’t helpful–my mind is utterly convinced that this hallucination or delusion is real. telling me it’s not will result in, best case scenario, a lot of frustration for you, and in worst case scenario, me freaking out even more and potentially trying to hurt myself.
don’t reinforce the delusions. agreeing there’s a demon in the house or telling me what I need to do to get rid of it is reinforcing the delusion and giving it power, not helping it to go away. don’t play into the delusion either–don’t insert yourself and insist you have magical powers to vanquish the demon, for instance. this will not help. it is my delusion or hallucination, and you do not control it, and trying to is not going to help in the slightest.
ask me what I need to do to feel better. “what would help you to feel better right now?” if I know, I’ll tell you. it might be something ridiculous that’s going to take a lot of cleanup, like pouring salt on the carpet in front of my doorway. let me do it anyway. I need to do it in order to make myself feel better and safe, which is the primary goal in helping someone who’s undergoing a psychotic episode.
if I don’t know what will help, try and just tell me that I’m safe, and that nothing can hurt me while you’re with me. this usually works for me. it may not work for others, but it’s always worth a shot.
if you can and are willing, help me do the thing I think is necessary to stop the monster or whatever from getting me. if I need to salt every doorway in the house, grab some salt and start pouring. yes, it’s going to take a while to clean up, but it’s better than me hurting myself or being paranoid and upset for hours on end.
that’s all that I can really suggest right now. if anyone wants to reblog and add to this, ways that they’ve helped psychotic friends or things that they’ve been told by a psychotic person will help, or things that you as a psychotic person find helpful, please feel free.
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