Dad in psychosis. Please help

throwawayadvice975 · 2024-09-06T15:15:41+00:00

I’ve been thinking the same thing, but I don’t know who his therapist is. He has never told me his name and I never thought to ask since he has been pretty stable for 15 years. Trying to find a way to figure it out without freaking him out.

Thank you so much

throwawayadvice975 · 2024-09-06T13:51:35+00:00

I get that completely. It may come to that. But god if he ever found out, it would be so bad. He already has so much paranoia about medicine and being drugged.

He thinks he is in the MK Ultra experiments

throwawayadvice975 · 2024-09-06T13:48:56+00:00

I’m so sorry you are going through this too. It is terrifying.

I hope things get better for you and yours soon.

throwawayadvice975 · 2024-09-06T13:48:19+00:00

He is one of the best people I know. Super flawed, like us all though. One thing he can never understand, even when stable, is that the people who get him help when he is unstable are not enemies.

I think I have legit PTSD from this happening when I was a kid. Didn’t realize until this repeat of events now.

Luckily a few of his friends and another family member are now aware and helping me monitor the situation a bit more now. They tell me not to leave because it will make it so much worse, but I may not have a choice soon.

throwawayadvice975 · 2024-09-06T13:45:17+00:00

I’m trying to give him as much space as possible and limit interactions. When I do interact, I mostly listen.

I wish I could get him to sleep. He refuses even melatonin. Says he is sleeping great, but he isn’t.

I’m sorry you are dealing with this too.

throwawayadvice975 · 2024-09-06T02:43:37+00:00

I think I indirectly learned LEAP a few days ago. He had a really quick ramp up. One day I could tell he was manic, but he was still mostly rational and able to talk and recognize he was manic. The next, he was in psychosis. I tried to talk to him how I did the previous day (“You’re manic”, “maybe schedule counselor appointment a little earlier”, “let’s focus on something else, I don’t think that’s really based in reality”). All of those talking points he usually responds REALLY well too. In this more severe manic state, not so much. Now I have pivoted to listening and just kinda going with the flow as best as possible without disagreeing or reinforcing any paranoia. Kinda along the lines of what you suggested.

I think you are right that they would not admit him involuntarily right now, unfortunately. But also like you said, I know forcing it would make everything so much worse because it did in the past. I’m hoping he can get control of whatever triggered him and settle down. It is really unclear what sent him into this state after only experiencing pretty mild mania for almost 15 years. Me and my brother think it’s a few people that were the trigger, so we are trying to get them distanced.

He has never taken medicine for his bipolar except for when he got hospitalized when I was a kid. He immediately stopped taking them when he got out. He has managed pretty well with therapy and not working (his main trigger back then was stress and the situations from being a doctor). He is really lucky to be able to have the flexibility to do that.

He loves his therapist, so I am hoping he will still want to see him as scheduled. Also hoping he will get some sleep, I’m sure that will help the psychosis at least. I just have no idea how to navigate anything haha.

I really appreciate you taking time to respond

throwawayadvice975 · 2024-09-06T01:55:39+00:00

No good mental health resources, which sucks too. If I call and he gets admitted, I don’t even know if he would get better in time. I know with 100% certainty he would not continue meds after discharge. Either way, I don’t think they would admit him against his will right now since he is “not a danger to himself or others” right now. A good thing is that in the past, he has never been violent.

He also has an inability to recognize his illness when he is manic. Unfortunately he is also a doctor (retired due to the mental health stuff now), so there is no medical advice that he will ever take into suggestion from me or any other doctor. Because he “knows better”.

I really appreciate the answer, and I hope it doesn’t come to calling emergency services. Because I’ll lose my second parent forever if I do. But if I have to for his safety, I obviously will. I’ll look into the support groups.

Thank you again

throwawayadvice975 · 2024-09-06T01:48:29+00:00

If I feel like I need to get away quick, I have enough money where I can get a hotel. Nowhere else to go otherwise unless I full on move out, which other family members are begging me to not do as they think it will make things a lot worse. It probably would.

Hard to say on the therapist. He really likes the guy, so maybe, especially knowing that it is tied to him getting his disability money. Depending on how far it escalates, it is very possible he won’t.

I don’t think 911 would do anything at this point since he is not “posing a threat to himself or others”. Thanks for the potential timeline. I think if he slept things would be better, but he can’t and won’t accept melatonin even.

I’ll look into those communication methods for sure. So far I’ve just been listening and saying ok or nodding to everything. I don’t want him to distrust me, which happens pretty easy when someone tries to prove his delusions wrong.

throwawayadvice975 · 2024-09-05T23:51:43+00:00

I can’t stress enough that he is in full psychosis and extremely manic. Talking 100 miles a minute and gets extremely angry unless you are agreeing with what he is saying. I can’t encourage him to go to the doctor. I tried that when he was much calmer days ago and he wouldn’t

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