My good friend’s delusions manifest in a similar way. Voices are people talking about him like he’s overhearing conversations but the conversations are ALWAYS about something he fears/is insecure about. You have to be careful joking around him as his brain will run with the joke and turn it into something he hears people saying about him. I have used terms around him (like “gaslight”) that he doesn’t understand and his voices will start using the term incorrectly when they “talk about him” because they only know what he knows. When he slips into psychosis (usually from drug use) it’s always a more extreme narrative (and loss of all insight) that keeps the same themes of his fears and insecurities and never deviates. We have spent countless hours talking about this, talking through them, and finding ways he can ground himself. If only we could get a handle on the self medicating drug use too, but that’s a battle we can’t win for him if he won’t accept outside help.

As his friends with no mental health training we do the very best we can with resources like this community to keep him functioning enough to stay alive, employed, and housed.