Undiagnosed - Refuses Help

Hi, This is related to my husbands current mental state. He is a genius, he has ADHD and takes Adderall 15mg everyday. He is in extreme turmoil and I AM COMPLETELY LOST.

My husband is a genius. He is much smarter than I am, and thats fine. I’m an artistic mind, hes the intellect. Its worked for years. But recently, after a series of strange, coincidental things (a kitten died, a troll knew a bit more than they should in an online chat, his laptop died, a trip to Atlanta went ary) he started becoming very upset.

It started when we started watching a popular live stream in which the streamers would talk to the chatters, and they would specifically try to annoy the chatters. Seemed to me a pretty good tactic to keep people watching but my husband read into it way more than that. He instantly started believing these people were hacking our devices and listening to our conversations. I wrote it off as just a wild accusation and put it aside. We decided to plan a visit to the studio and I had it all arranged but my husband caused some trouble and when we got to the city, they cancelled on us. This made him very angry and upset but I was as well. We then went on our originally scheduled family vacation where he spent a lot of time photographing the crowds, looking for people who were there to mess with him. (There wasn’t anyone, and if anyone looked familiar it was pure coincidence, but who am I to argue right?)

When we got home, things seems to calm down a bit, he got a new job, it was working okay, we have 5 cats, they were fine. Until the baby got sick, on our anniversary our youngest cat was diagnosed with FiP which is a common kitten illness and untreatable. We had to sadly put her to sleep and this is where the worst of things begins. His paranoia amplified almost immediately. He lost his job within a week of her death and started this absolutely terrifying downward spiral into a world where his cellphone, laptop, tv, everything was either tracking us, stealing our faces, recording us, manipulating our minds (mine specifically) or more. He believes there is a game being played and they want something from him. He believes his mom isnt him mom. He’s hit me twice now. At first, I didnt know it was mental illness, and I went along with it, even pretending to know what he knew because I figured he was way to smart to actually believe this and maybe it was his way of coping with the loss of our beloved kitten.

Then he hit me and I realized something was very VERY wrong. I called his parents and they said he’s been through this before, but he got counselling and met me and I helped fix it. I dont know if he has schizophrenia but his delusions, fears, and beliefs lead me to think he may. He doesnt say it but I know he hears voices, he constantly snaps his fingers to try to change things. He thinks this is all a simulation. He wont get help. He believes the doctors are shell companies, he wont get a job, he wont even look for a job. He is in constant pain, he needs help and I dont know what to do.

I have been sick lately and am starting to think I may be pregnant and we have been trying for 5 years, I dont want to lose everything just when life starts to get good.

What can I do, what options do I have to try to get him help? Where can I go?

If you are pregnant and he has progressed to hitting you it could possibly get worse! You would have a child to think of and no matter how much you love him and no matter how much guilt you may have, the child comes first! It would be time for you to say you can either get help or you can no longer be with him. You can’t just keep putting it on the back burner hoping it will get better! Usually in these cases they don’t get better untreated. You could film him and then show him the video when he’s in a more stable frame of mind and maybe that would help, but usually they still will deny they have a problem.

Oh goodness. This doesn’t sound like a good situation right now. If you’re in the US your husband can be hospitalized against his will if he meets certain criteria. It is usually when an individual is a danger to himself or others. You mentioned that on 2 occasions he has hit you. That should constitute being a danger to others. You may want to contact your local mental health agency or police to inquire about how to get help for someone in psychosis when they are unwilling. If your area police department has a crisis intervention team, you may ask for their assistance. It certainly sounds as though he is in a psychotic state and you will want to try everything to get him medical treatment as soon as possible for him to begin recovering. Please keep us updated.

If you can get him to the emergency room at a hospital, that would be a good start. You can even call an ambulance when he’s acknowledging hallucinations.

I agree with this! In my experience this first diagnosis while in delusional state can be very helpful for the planning of the road ahead!
Good luck!!!

You need to get professional help for him. If you don’t it will only get worse for both of you.

Like others suggested; call an ambulance when he gets one of his turns.

That’s how we got my brother to see a doctor when he was delusional.