21/F Hi there (: I've searched through lots of your research pages and tagged pages, but I can't seem to find any answers! ): I have a friend (also 21/F) and I'm extremely concerned about her mental health, she has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and I'm not sure how to help her when she's experiencing auditory / visual hallucinations and delusions? she called me last night and was almost incoherent with fear. and I wasn't sure how to help! :c she lives quite a distance (tashie123)
from me at the moment and it seems like these attacks are triggered when shes at home. if she calls me again and is experiencing hallucinations, how can I help her to try and come back to reality, to calm her down? She's seeing 3 different therapists but is now looking for someone new (thank god), those sessions are quite far apart sometimes. apart from being educated on schizophrenia, how else can i support her if I cant see her in person? I need a reply urgently, thanks friends <3 (tashie123)
Hello Tashie,
It's really great that you're looking for ways to help your friend through these hallucinations and delusions that she's experiencing. It can be a very scary thing to experience, and having support is always a good thing. I agree that reading up, and educating yourself on schizophrenia is a good step to take.
Apart from that, there are a couple of things that may help your friend. I think that working through calming and grounding techniques may be a really good idea, and could really help. I'd recommend starting with helping her to calm the anxiety she's feeling, if she's calling distressed. We have a page here on Calming Anxiety and Panic with a few tips on helping to calm anxiety. There's also a different breathing technique that I find more helpful, which is: Breathe in over 7 counts, hold for 7 counts, breathe out over 9 counts… in over 7… hold for 7… out over 9… in over 7… hold for 7… out over 9… in over 7… hold for 7… out over 9… in over 7… hold for 7… out over 9… Just close your eyes, place your hands on your stomach, and focus on the counting. Keep doing this for as long as you need, until you feel your heart rate and breathing slow. Know that you can use this at any point you need, to help you keep on top of the anxiety.
The one that I use involves doing a big breath in, holding it, and then breathing out over a longer period of time. This helps anxiety in a few ways. Firstly, regulating your breathing and following a pattern tricks your brain into thinking that you’re in a relaxing situation, and in turn, it start to tell your body that it doesn’t need to be tense, because you’re relaxing. So the patterned breathing can really help to calm the symptoms of anxiety. The second way that this breathing technique helps is that it ensures your body is getting enough oxygen. When you’re finding it hard to breath, or hyperventilating, what usually happens is that you take big breaths, but exhale in small amounts. This means that you’re not getting rid of the air in your lungs. So when you breath out longer, it ensures that all the carbon dioxide can leave your body, and more oxygen can get in. Oxygen then helps, as the body knows that it’s getting the amount it needs, and can start to relax as well.
Once your friend has got control over their breathing, I recommend working through some Grounding Techniques with her. Our page has a long list of different techniques, and it may take a few goes to find one that helps your friend, but what they do is help to connect the mind to reality and the environment surrounding the person. The guided technique may help as a way to calm anxiety and ground, as well. I find ones that involve describing things around the person, or the sight, sound, and feel of things can be really good for grounding. So try to talk her slowly through the different techniques to help bring her back.
Lastly, it may be worth talking to your friend when she's not experiencing hallucinations or delusions and asking her what you can do to help. There may be things that she knows can work for her, and she could share them with you to help you to support her through the episodes.
Good luck, lovely. I hope this helps both you and your friend.
Take care,Alexandria.