I help out at a street kitchen which feeds the vulnerable, today this guy who I've seen plenty of times, usually seems pretty mild mannered and keeps to himself, starts talking to me about aliens and demons and devils and the bilderburg group and all this shit.
Like you get all this sort of crank conspiracy stuff when dealing with this sort of crowd, so that was par for the course, but then the guy started saying he was a demon (he also referred to it as a Djinn) who had possessed the body I was talking to. He started referring to himself as "we" like fucking Venom. He was irl fedposting about some pretty violent shit.
Eventually I was doing something else and he bailed, but me and the other guy who had been trapped in this conversation were kinda rattled. Usually you just nod along with some conspiracy types, push back a little if you can. But this seemed like a total break with reality. He even told us how "I [as in the demon] started as a voice in his [as in the guy i was actually talking to] head, but now I'm in control". He told us about going to the psych ward so clearly he's not been helped by the system.
Wtf do you do. This dude has always seemed fine but now I'm worried he's gonna play out the last act of the movie Bug at one of our kitchens one day. Like wtf. What the actual fuck. I just want to feed the hungry bruh.
Worth remembering that the vast majority of mentally ill people are not violent.
First off, I'd check if there's some kind of non-cop-related crisis response in your area. Some cities are getting better about that.
Sounds like the dude was having delusions. It's a shitty situation to be in. Medication helps some people, but people in that state are often unable to recognize that they are delusional.
Honestly I don't have any good answers for you. This is a problem that individuals can't do much about. It needs a societal response and we don't live in that society.
I would suggest looking around for a psych nurse subreddit or forum and asking for advice there. Psych nurses and er nurses are tough as coffin nails and most of them have dealt with people in crisis who were erratic or even violent. They might have some useful advice or insight. You might also try asking, very respectfully, in some bipolar or schizophrenia forums how people would like to be treated if they were to be encountered in that situation.
I'm not accusing you of collaborating with cops, but please keep in mind that cops are a far greater threat to a person having a mental health crisis than that person is likely to be to you. It may be impossible for them to comply with orders and police will usually respond to that with violence.
I have some experience working with mental illness and working in a psychiatric facility briefly as a student... There are people, predominantly with schizo-affective disorder (schizophrenia + a mood disorder) who often have episodes with such frequency (and often a lack of personal/familial support) that they end up spending prolonged periods in psych wards... their prognosis is often so bleak, that the goal is almost never for them to "get better" but try and shorten the duration they spend their, and prolong the time they spend outside of the facility. ... its bleak, and often the comorbid conditions, vulnerability, and social problems are often so complex that there are often other compounding, serious issues (like being subject to and/or perpetrators of sexual violence)... I am not saying that is where this guy is at, and not every schizo-affective personal has such a poor prognosis, but I saw a lot of this first hand as part of my experience... I also worked in ERs for a long time...
So like, what is an actual emergency? What are you supposed to do? Since you aren't a mental health professional, and you are simply trying to help another human, there are limitations on what you can/should do, or what is your responsibility imo... They also still have agency over their decisions, like when they need care, and you aren't necessarily qualified to take that agency away. That agency is typically only removed, either voluntarily or when they are a threat to themselves or others... The real emergencies would be an expression of suicidal ideation (where there is a realistic plan, serious intent,resources, and other factors like previous attempts) expressions of homicidal ideation (also with some of the same components, or with specificity as to who they are homicidal towards), and command auditory hallucinations... this is where the "voices" or "other things" in the persons head are explicitly commanding them to hurt others or themselves. (not just having voices or strong delusions that seems scary) ... those things are all alarm bells... simply having a complex delusion, even one that seems scary isn't really necessarily cause for a good samaratin to intervene (even if it is frightening and they probably do need help)... you simply might not have enough information to understand their norms and when they would need intervention... that all being said it does still sound concerning because there is a change from what you understood to be their norm. however, they could also just have decided to start opening up to you about their delucions... idk I am not in your shoes.. ... if you are concerned enough and you have developed report with them, you might express your concern to them and suggest they get help somehow. Maybe by listening to them first and trying to express your concern without challenging their delusions directly... I have done that, and seen that done many times... it never works when someone is caught in their delusion. I have even shown people direct evidence to contradict a delusion and it only opens an opportunity for an angry outburst when they double down... You might want to consider building a relationship with a social worker or some other type of organization that actually can help when this problem comes up again? That might help you and your org feel more safe and equipped to deal with these issues without having to directly manage them or risk falling into a job yall aren't qualified to do.
try to get him to see a psychologist maybe? ik it can be pretty difficult to convince someone who is having an episode to do it.
that shit is expensive. if you could have the therapist show up at the street kitchen to help the guy, maybe. some might be willing to do that pro bono
the issue is schizophrenia cant be talked away, he needs medication, so really you need a psychiatrist for this
Yea, psychiatrist. My dumbass always gets confused between the two.
That is a scary situation. I don't think you can do much more than you did - have empathic conversations, suggest finding help, direct any resources available to you that could help. But sadly we live in a society where we are deliberately very short on real resources available for this.
Top marks for the praxis, comrade. It's a really upsetting situation :meow-hug: but we can only do what we can do.
When they are having an episode their delusion seems completely real to them, as if it was a matter of fact. Just focus on their emotions rather than the content of their message. If there is community mental health services in your area, communicate that they will also listen to what they have to say.
Not always a thing you can do, can ask if they can suggest someone to call for them, but if you don't know them well enough to know emergency plans they might have, probably they don't want to go to a hospital cause that can work out bad, so just nod along and don't be scary and just like don't do shit and mind your own business. You aren't in danger from kooks you're in danger from drivers looking at their phone
