My son hasnt been officially diagnosed, the letter from hospital where he spent 5 months earlier this year says delusional disorder.
He has a monthly injection of paliperidone which has calmed him immensly and he isnt angry or blaming us anymorw, hes closer to us and has his loving nature back but he still has a lot of the delusions. He still thinks people can read his mind, and that do people take meds to learn to do this? We just say no its not possible and move on.
He hasnt got much motivation and doesnt go out very much. Always with either his dad or me or both of us. Occasionally he.ll take our dog a walk.
Its better than it was last year for sure. Is the mind reading delusion common? Anyone relatives talk of this?. Thanks.
It’s very common - so is thought broadcasting, people bugging your house, you’re being monitored by satellite technology.
My son even came up with the thought that you can smell what’s on the end of the other line of the phone.
He also thought his therapist could connect into our phone without it ringing and listen to us - he would constantly put the phone off the hook or unplug it.
How long has he been on the injection? My son started his Monday a week ago.
Edit: He also had a few weeks where he thought he could communicate telepathically. I kept telling him I couldn’t do it - if he wanted me to know something, he had to say it - because I could not read minds.
His answer: he was psychic, his dad was psychic, and I was either too dumb or too hardheaded to be psychic. But, at least he doesn’t think I can read his mind.
Hi yes similar here. He has been on injection 5 months, due a review with psychiatrst this friday.
My son also has thought in the past that a neighbour was also able to listen in. He when at his worst thought the house, laptops, phones were bugged.
About 3 years ago he used to say things like he felt his intelligence had been taken away out from his brain as he said he “used” to be intelligent.
He also thought his bones were changing and his soul had been taken.
I find it amazing there are so many bizarre similarities in these cases of our family members.
I’ve heard the soul thing before from someone else here, but they didn’t mention the bones - have you posted that before?
My son was once big into government conspiracies and time travel when he had very paranoid delusions.
This time, they’ve been more grandiose, but he did right out of the blue ask me one day why I took him to the surgeon to put a cell phone in his head. I asked him where the scar was - he said they can do it without a scar now. I asked him why I would want to do that. He said to help him communicate better. I then told him I hadn’t done anything like that, but we could go get an X-Ray to find out what was in there so he knew for sure - he said he wasn’t bothered by it enough to go to that kind of effort.
He’s also thought the President & other people were talking to him through his TV, that he had invented a bunch of stuff (both known & unknown stuff), and that he was due millions of dollars from TV residuals.
As I mentioned, he just started the shot about a week or so ago & his talking about the delusions seems to get less & less everyday. In fact, I’m not sure if he brought up anything yesterday at all. Maybe your son needs an increase?
My son isn’t having any side effects with this one so far, except his appetite is up. But, at least he’ll eat anything right now, so I plan to adjust my shopping/cooking habits and fill the house with healthier food to try to head off the weight loss. Maybe look up all the stuff I used to know about negative calorie food, glycemic index, etc. back in the day when I cared more about my own appearance.
Wow there are similar themes here. My son once said that surgery he had to remove his tonsils as a child was connected to all of this now. He also daid matter of factly a few years ago that his stretch marks were caused by a “chip” being inserted.
Its fascinating about your sons explanation about no scar etc, he actually has an answer that seems valid! My son says stuff like “i dont know but it just is” when I pursue for explaination.
Oh yes I t was me who spoke about soul. He says it was taken away at age 11 or 12. Now I think this coincides with puberty and slowly Im thinking this illness was starting from then and didnt develop till at least 6 or more yrs later.
Mine was a happy , bright outgoing loving child. What about your son? How old is he?
We are in England and hes 25 in 2 weeks.
I believe his meds of 150mg of depot is quite high. It was increaded before he left hospital in August.
He was always shy and reserved. Looking back, I think he started having problems in elementary school. I saw early signs of social anxiety when he was about 8, but figured it was normal shyness & he’d find his way.
When he was about 10/11, he had an isolated incident where we were in a drive-thru at the local Dairy Queen and he was sure this younger boy inside was looking at him and making fun of him. The boy never glanced his way.
He hit puberty early and fast at 13. He started getting more anxious & reserved at that point and had his first full-blown psychotic break at 15. Another at 17, and again at 18. At this time, he had very good insight and took his medication like he was supposed to, and was fairly normal (for him) between breaks. That lasted up until this past year, and it went down hill quickly.
Lots of people use other meds in addition to the depot injection. Maybe he needs something else too?
My son can come up with tons of reasons for everything, but sometimes, he has the “it just is” reasoning too. That’s his reasoning for why he had psychosis several times before, but this time he’s not psychotic.
My daughter also believes people can read her mind. Yesterday she told me that she is being set up for a crime and she is going to prison. She acted very frightened when she told me. I told her in the calmest and softest voice that I promise no one is setting her up. She’s also acted very agitated lately – she can’t sit still and is constantly pacing.
I’m happy to read that your son is doing a little better on the injections. The injections is something I want to bring up to her regular psychiatrist on her next appointment – it sounds promising.
Ahh molly I feel for you and your daughter. My son also believes he will be framed for a crime and go to prison. He also says he is going to be kidnapped and trafficked i another country. Then last night daid hes gping to be framed as a “terrorist”
I hugged him and said no one is taking you away , I.promise I wont let you be kidnapped. That quietened and reassured him but he.ll bring it up again the next day.
He has a review tomorrow. Hw has 150mg depot of paliperidone every month.
Mind reading (both ways) and worries being set up for prison are frequent topics in our situation. Conversational nuances, body language and normal flow of conversation is hard for him and in the past he interpreted this as mind reading. Over the course of time, that belief has lessened but the being set up has not. He even has scenarios in which I am setting him up. I don’t try to dissuade my son it couldn’t happen, but I do ask him why he thinks it would happen to him. It doesn’t stop the obsessions, but it seems to calm him if I agree it could happen, but let’s figure out why and maybe even how it would be handled if it did. Is this the best way to handle it? Maybe not, but it works for now.
He also often insists cell phones be turned completely off and placed in another room because people could use our conversation to set him up. Ironically shortly after doing this one day, a major news outlets broke a story on smart phones for distribution in China have built in software to assist in listening to conversations or reading texts and were possibly distributed in the US. He actually laughed and said, see I am right! Humor in the face of obsessions makes it a good day.
He has tried different meds. The ones that worked the best to calm the delusions and hallucinations made him a couch potato. We have come to terms the boy he was is gone and the man he is maybe somewhat different, but we are coping and if that is the only win we get, we are taking it!
Molly, I’m still trying this but I think here is a good way to handle that. Someone jump in if I do I t wrong.
Oh no, you are being set up for a crime? And going to prison? What crime? Do you know? How can I help? Is there anything I can do? What would help you feel safer?
I think this sounds good to me. It’s when he wants to turn off all or power that I get concerned. That hasn’t happened in awhile. Once when he was starting to get upset I asked him if I could pull the shades down for him and he seemed to be comforted by that. It passed a lot faster I think.
I’ve done that too. My son likes to be hugged and will often initiate a hug with me and his father. My husband isn’t a hugger but I give him the look. Let him hug you. We’ve been married so long we can do that.
Right now I honestly don’t know but I do know that one of her meds is Depakot. My daughter is increasingly more secretive and paranoid and she doesn’t share anything about her medication. Oh yes another is Buspar and I think there is one more.