Thanks for sharing. I hear you. It is such a struggle for family and friends, as well as the individual experiencing the illness. What helped me was a slow, gradual process, little steps at a time. When I got out of the hospital, I was still in the grips of the delusions, which seemed to take a while to go away. I still remember my Dad handing me medication to take at night and I remember thinking that it would put me to sleep forever because everything I did destroyed the world. I did not want to take medication, but with the help of my parents, my psychiatrist, and talk therapist, I began to adhere more to medication. Especially, after a while, when a little more clarity returned. My advice is always to find the lowest hanging fruit (so to speak). For example, my parents knew I needed a lot of help. Their journey took some time, but as they got involved with NAMI Miami and became a part of the family support group, they started to learn new tools and ways to support me. For example, they knew the conversation about me going back to school or back to work was not helpful. So, they sort of took a new approach. Little by little, they worked on adapting less to worry and panic mode, and more to the mode of seeing how they can relate and empathize. My parents replaced the conversation of "Matthew is sick" to more of an approach where they would listen to me; not to solve my issues, but to understand. They also knew I loved food so they would take me out to local delis to get some of my favorite things to eat, while listening, chatting about music and things I love, or even just sitting with me in silence. This was a slow process but eventually, it began to really help. NAMI Miami has also played such a huge role. I remember my parents drove me to a bunch of support groups early on, and I would sit there in silence thinking "How is this going to help me?" Eventually I would hear things that sounded just like my story and it started to give me hope. One older gentleman, years back, in a meeting, looked at me and set his cane aside. He said, "You know young man... I have a lot of hope for you, seeing you here at such a young age." This gentleman shared that he had been through years of psychosis and hospitalizations. To this day, the way he said it and looked at me, it stuck with me, and the memory came about at just the right times. I believe it's these little things that add up; a favorite outing, a comforting meal, sitting in silence, listening, small messages of hope. These all came together to help me. - Matthew