I have been with my boyfriend for almost 2 years. he is schizophrenic and manic depressive. I want to have a long future with him and I am still learning how to work with him. he is currently having a lot of paranoid issues and delusions… he thinks we have had a huge fight that only exist in his head and I don’t know exactly what to call them but I need help learning how to cope with them and help him through them. he has also recently started taking supplements to help him with body building and they react very badly with his zyprexa, this is where I think his recent issues are coming from and I don’t know how to help him understand that these supplements are bad for him.
I get this. I wake up convinced that my sis and I have had a huge fight, and in this fight I’ve hurt her very badly emotionally as well as physically. I’m convinced I’ve broken her arms, punched her. But then when I walk out of my room and see her, there’s not a scratch on her. She’s fine. fight never happened.
It’s a delusion. They are hard to work through. You can just reassure your guy that all is well. You can’t talk people out of a delusion. But you can be supportive in affirming that you’re Ok and you still love him.
If your learning how to work with him I would suggest
to find a support group and meet up with other people in your boat. My sis says she benefitted from her support group for many years.
has a lot of information on this illness, FAQ’s, and lots of other information.
As far as the supplements messing with the meds, that might take some research and maybe there is a supplement that won’t mess with the meds.
Good luck.
You are facing a life long struggle, but if you are strong you can help him.
schizophrenia is episodic. The patient can be poorly one day and good the next. It just takes patience, and caring. He will get better and your support will help a lot.
If he is tense, get him to take some meds to relax. Don’t worry too much about his paranoia, this will clear up of its own accord. Don’t bother challenging him on any of his bizarre views, what I mean is don’t ridicule or dismiss him as this will just annoy him. Just accept him and accept that he will be well in time.
Welcome to the forum.
These sites may help:
http://www.leapinstitute.org/ - under resources are free videos on using LEAP
LEAP is a way of communicating to build trust. Listen-Empathize-Agree-Partner.
http://dramador.com/ - Dr. Xavier Amador is a clinical psychologist whose brother had schizophrenia. He is the founder of the LEAP Institute. Wrote the book: I’m Not Sick I Don’t Need Help! Can buy from his website.
Search Xavier Amador and LEAP on youtube.com and you should find some long videos
Treatment Advocacy Center - under problems you will see anosognosia
Anosognosia looks like denial but is different.
Bayes for Schizophrenics: Reasoning in Delusional Disorders - LessWrong - helped my understand delusions
If you can I would recommend talking to his doctors about the supplements as his medications may need to be adjusted for a little bit while his body adjusts. Supplements are not necessarily bad it’s just that they do change body chemistry therefore how medications interact. Depending on the supplements and the reaction he could need a medication reduction or increase as his dopamine levels are being affected.
My husband also has delusions of things that have never happened. I’ve tried to voice to him this and he says my memory is failing because he’s positive these fabricated events have occurred. He works out at the gym hours daily and takes supplements. By hours I mean he’ll be there 4-5 hours and then sit in the sauna for 3 or so more hours which is unhealthy. I want to go sit with him often to make sure he’s okay but I can’t endure the amount of exercise he does and the long hours in a suffocating sauna. I don’t think the vitamin supplements are good at all either. I hope you find a solution and please share here because I could use the same advice.
I`m in the same boat with my son. He is always taking b supplements. I sometimes think it may not be good. It would be great if he would just eat better. Need to do some research on this one…
Thank your so much for all of the links. They are very educational. It is very useful having so much accurate information to learn from.