Does my friend have schizophrenia, and what should we do?

Family
1

so I’ll try to keep this brief yet detailed.
I need help with my friend/bandmate who may be suffering from what we think is schizophrenia. it all started about two weeks ago. he had eaten a weed brownie given to him by my bands manager, so we can trust him that it was not spiked with anything crazy. he started to act kind of weird, but I’ve been high with him many times before and it was nothing out of the ordinary, he was always sort of a lightweight with any mind altering substances. one beer and he’s drunk, one hit he’s high as a kite. then it started to get weird. he spun around in his chair yelling “please, god” over and over. and then stood up and started laughing. After that he got violent, and threw punches at us. He then threw his laptop through the wall and thats when we had to hold him down on the bed to prevent him from harming himself or anyone else. he started yelling “f*ck you” to everyone, including our singer’s mom when she walked into the room and asked him what was wrong. we called 911 and when the paramedics arrived he threw up and they took him to the emergency room. we were afraid that he may have tried some other drug, like i said, I’ve been high with him many times, and while he does get ridiculously high whenever we do, never have i seen anything like this before from him. his toxicology report came back with nothing but the weed in his system though, leading us to believe this was just a bad reaction to the weed he had. my manager ate some and did get high but nothing else, so we chalked it up as just another example of him being a lightweight. it may sound naive and almost irresponsible, but how could we think anything different?
everything had seemed to go back to normal and he was fine for a while, but on thursday, it happened again. this time completely sober.
to sum up the last part of my story, the next day he sat us all down and told us he knows its god talking to him. He thought to himself after the first incident that it may have been god but was doubting it. ill try to quote him as best as i can.
“i kept sitting there, thinking, 'this couldn’t be god talking to me” and i kept saying ‘if it is you god, do it again, prove it, show me its you.’ then i heard a knock on my door of my room and it was god."
he then went on to describe what god was telling him, once again this won’t be exact quotes but it’ll be as best as i can recall.
“you guys won’t believe me but I’m telling you, this is god talking to me. he’s shown me why we’re all here, the purpose of our existence, and thats to love each other. its not to make music or write songs or get with girls, its to love each other. its all just math.” i have no comprehension of the relationship he was trying to make to math, but I’m trying to show you some of the nonsensical things he was saying
"i now understand why those homeless guys are standing on the side of the road shouting to people about god and its because they had the same thing happen to them, theyve been shown things by god just like me. and for some reason god is telling me that Nolan (our drummer) will understand me the most, i don’t know why god is pointing out Nolan in particular but he is. I’m telling you guys I’m not crazy this really is happening to me, and I’m not scared, I’m happy, I’ve been shown the reason behind life"
there was a lot more, we sat there for about an hour listening to him but this is the most i can recall somewhat accurately. other than that rant, he’s a completely different person than what we are used to. he used to be a carefree, funny, fun loving guy, who at times could be annoying with how fun he could be, almost like a young puppy, always so playful. i remember him chasing me all around a venue up in seattle with a nerf gun, so much that i was scared of walking around corners for the fear that he’d shoot me. and on our first tour, where we had to cuddle together in the trunk of an suv because it was the only place to lay down and sleep during the 8 hour drive. these are things that this new persona that has taken over him would never do. whenever he’s not talking to us about what he’s hearing, its like he’s on autopilot, theres no smiles, no jokes, no playfulness, no dancing around, he’s just, there.
so after that he went to go meet with his pastor, and that was the last time i talked to him. It took so much for me to not take him straight to a hospital, but i didn’t know if that would be the right course of action.
the band and i strongly believe that this is schizophrenia, and we have no idea what our course of action should be, i don’t want to make him feel like we think he’s crazy. we want him to be helped. we’re afraid that things will get worse soon and the “god” that he’s hearing is going to tell him to do something to harm himself or others. i don’t want him to be that guy on the street yelling about god. i want the guy I’ve come to know and love back to the way he was. if anyone can say if they believe this is schizophrenia and what the best course of action would be, please do, any and all help is welcome. ill close out with any other information about him that i feel you may need to know

  • hes 21 years old
  • lived in san diego for his whole life up until about 2 months ago, he moved in with our - singer in laguna niguel, but since all this has gone back to stay in SD with his parents
  • mexican
  • the only other disorder we are aware of is ADD or ADHD, I’m not sure if theres a difference but its one of those
  • he’s in two full time bands, as well as a barista at starbucks, and in college, we considered it being a stress thing at first since he has so much on his plate
  • pretty healthy eater, doesn’t frequently drink or smoke weed, no cigarettes. like i said, a pretty big lightweight when it came to the influence of alcohol or weed.
  • fairly thin, definitely not overweight, on the shorter side, maybe 5’6 (not sure why this would be of importance, but, whatever)
  • a pretty religious guy, i don’t think he was attending church frequently, but a strong christian belief even prior to this

one last thing worth mentioning. he told us that this is gods way of punishing him for his recent actions, he’s been drinking and getting high and having sex more often than before. he said he had been distancing himself from god, and this is gods way of punishing him. we found this part very strange. The previously mentioned Nolan said to him “if this was god, do you think he’d want you to say and do things that are causing extreme discomfort and worry to your loved ones? would god make you do these things?” and that was the one and only time he stopped and thought for a moment. almost as though he had been snapped out of it for a moment.

i think thats all i have to say. thank you in advance for reading my long winded story, and i appreciate all the help we can get during this time. any and all response are appreciated. please help

2

Hey. Do you have any idea what kind of reaction his parents may have to this? Maybe they can help you guys or convince him to go to a psychiatrist.

With this said, when I was psychotic I believed I was god and everyone was trying to hide it from me. I went to a psychiatrist appointment because my family and some friends said it would be for the best. I believed them then, maybe your friend can too. I don’t think it would do any good trying to show him that god doens’t talk to people, his reaction will surely be “but I know he talks to me”, so like someone did for me, try and find a way to say that you’re worried about him and you want to make sure he’s not hallucinating. This is just an idea that worked for me when I was floridly psychotic, maybe it will work with your friend.

Good luck.

3

Well, many studies show that smoking marijuana can trigger schizophrenia is someone with the propensity to get it anyway. And delusions about god are a very common symptom of schizophrenia. It makes me wonder how much marijuana was mixed in with those brownies and how strong .e. potent the pot was… Eating a brownie out of a batch that has an ounce mixed in it is different from taking one hit. So that might explain his extreme reactions to those brownies and his extreme behavior. Also, you aren’t able to follow him around 24 hours a day, he could be off doing hard drugs when you are not with him. They could be contributing to his problems. That’s just conjecture though.

Also, I think stress can trigger schizophrenia in someone who has the tendency to get it anyway and I know from experience that moving is VERY stressful. I would get him to a psychiatrist, how ever you can, whatever it takes. You’re fear that he might hurt himself is a very valid fear especially since it sounds like he’s depressed (you say, "No jokes, no smiles, no playfulness).

Obviously something is seriously wrong with him and it needs to be dealt with quickly before it spirals out of control. Whether it’s schizophrenia or whatever it is, he needs to see a psychiatrist who can talk to him professionally and observe him. Yes, his parents should be notified quickly about all this and you can all work together to help him.

And try to keep him away from any more drugs, obviously they will make the situation worse for him. Like I said before, you can’t be with him 24 hours a day, but DON’T offer him any and make sure no one else does either (if you can). Schizophrenia is the most disabling and serious mental illness there is so it needs to be dealt with quickly and professionally (if he even has it).

4

Well spotted. Get him to see a doctor, if you can. Maybe go to the doctor with him. If he doesn’t want to go, then see a doctor yourself to get advice on how to proceed with involuntary hospitalisation.

5

Hello @jamesboone1

I hope you don’t mind me posting,

I’m sorry your friend is hitting a crisis. What ever is going on with him, he does need some professional help. It’s hard to tell what he’s going through without a professional diagnosis.

Please get his parents in the loop, they might know of a childhood illness or things in the past that can give a clue. What ever diagnosis comes back, sticking by him and being a friend will be a huge help to him.

On the host site, there is a link with first aid for psychosis:

http://www.schizophrenia.com/sznews/archives/005561.html

Early Treatment Centers in the states:

an overview of other symptoms that come with Sz:

I hope your friend gets on the road to healing soon.

I also wanted to add, for resources in your area (San Diego Cal,)

Thank you for letting me post

6

He needs to see a doctor, preferably a psychiatrist. Try inpatient hospitalization or outpatient. My first psychotic break was from marijuana and I wish, in retrospect, that I would have seen a doctor and put on medicine sooner. It took me 6-8 months to get on medicine.

7

What worked with getting me help was to be led to the hospital by those I trusted most, my dad and my older brother. Maybe if you have Nolan around to help when you do admit him to the hospital it will help more. Also, you need to tell the doctors what you wrote here, because people with Schizophrenia have anosognosia, meaning lack of awareness or insight (he doesn’t know that he is sick). I hope he gets help soon. Thank you for caring about him. People like you give me hope for the distruction of stigma.

8

A lot of the millennials hear the voices some of the time and they are able to work after a while. It is almost normal now to hear the voices some of the time…He could have caught it as last person in area who had not heard the voices yet, new to area, pissed off someone wealthy…

A lot of people handle hearing the voices by literally stalking people and verbally harassing them about something private. This is thought broadcasting by one person; by gangs of people, this is called gang stalking. If gang stalked, do not answer and you will be safe but you need to leave the area as it is not safe for you. This is denied by mental care…So if he meets some people who are not quite right or say something nutty to him, this can happen after what you described usually called psychotic break or induced psychosis after some hard drugs…Mental care will deny this calling it delusional which is not in best interest of patient but this is policy. Your friend needs to know if he ever gets confrontational with mental care, he will be locked up for as long as Dr wants in mental hospital at his own expense. If he doesn’t like the care, don’t go back and find another Dr.

Sometimes, a female will come up to him and say something kinda of private about him or nutty and help to just get him through this. But can be a witch trying this too if she calls him a mental case or something as some of the women are looking for a breeder they can call a nutcase and ride a disability welfare check on him…Need to make sure he understand he will be fine but will take a little while for this to pass.

If he pissed off someone recently, you don’t want to talk to them again or anyone he met through the person. If he is stalked, just tell them he would like to be left alone and ‘we are good’. Lots of these situations will try stalking after a fight. Do not discuss this situation much. NEVER FOLLOW ORDERS FROM VOICES OR TALK ALOUD TO SELF. Voices may stop on own. Insomnia can happen…So trip to mental care could be necessary as is only way to get sleep pills for more than 10 days. Seroquel is nice drug to request. Just take it at bed, cut into pieces and expect to take extra time to sober up in morning. Start at 50 mg & work way up…Will make you really drunk if you take this stuff with too much pott or alcohol…Would not give a second thought to needing the meds for a while until he sleeps okay and feels in control of most of it. He may be harassed by strangers about taking the psych drugs and some church people will even target him to use him bad, he needs to ignore this mostly. Some get stuck in bad situation going to wrong church really run for dirty business men to make money and get stuck there with no way to leave as threats are made against family and money stolen. Or can be rejected by the church and thrown back out onto the street with more people harassing him, maybe unable to work due to the stupid attacks by nuts at his job.

When this situation happens, most need to almost sit still for a while so he needs he still has enough time to drop his classes for the semester at least and work only if he feels able. May need to return to family for a while and just not discuss his symptoms…This could be good idea to see if his symptoms stop…Can also track whose company he is in when symptoms start back up as sometime it happens around another person hearing the voices so he really needs to just stay away from this person.

He needs to just chill every time the bad feelings pass through him…DO NOT ACT. Needs to learn to just meditate or pray so he doesn’t get himself locked up for battery.

I will mention, someone’s internal voice can be hijacked. It is bad joke. It makes little kids and old people around a psychotic sound like they are possessed, talking about something they should not know. He needs to know to ignore this as kid cannot help it and doesn’t even realize it happens…This is thought insertion.

Your friend may feel better after reading up on ‘targeted individual’ but you have to realize no one in government gives a damn about we peasants. We get a finite amount of time on this planet with someone’s hand rammed up our back or jerking us around some of the time…We just try for some enjoyment out of our lives and more good times than bad.

Your friend will feel better soon. Your friend will find a lot of guys on here with induced psychosis after a little drug use…There will be someone on here who relates but most spout the mental care policy of ‘reality perception’ which is denial of everything I just explained to you even if it results in harm to the patient.

Better to add, your friend may want to try working for someone he knows if he has any problems with workplace harassment by coworkers or customers. If he doesn’t have much public contact, it can be easier to remain employed. Do not answer anything rude said by anyone at work, just ask if everything is ok.

9

Your friend can also keep asking aloud why he is hearing the voices. If he is told something coocoo to do, do not comply. But some people will get an answer about whoever he needs to avoid and they get to go on with their work & lives without another problem. Except will hear it again sometimes and need to ask why. Is episodic because he is around someone else who is hearing it or new schizo. Would not judge anyone based on what the voices say as it can be inaccurate or only done to humiliate someone who pissed off a wealthy or lady going through a divorce situation. I would refuse to even say anything off to another person as could result in their death…Most of the Christians would snivel this out and stab someone in the back or screw them which is especially becoming bad with the poorest (black especially) which are being used as thugs. It is the anti-christ kind of thing in most of the biggest churches. Strong resilient Christians who just keep working and refuse to get involved is growing minority of people. Psychopathic and passive aggressive is rewarded in some Christian circles & totally why some people got rich, they knew who to screw but have to do other favors demanded by the devil (voices) or lose all the $$$…