Talking To Someone With Schizophrenia: 8 Ways To Cope With Someone's Erroneous Thoughts

Whoops! I said "10 tips," not 8. Sorry! There are only 8 tips.

You may find yourself wondering "What Are Delusions and How Are They Different From Hallucinations?" If so, this video will offer tips on how to communicate with someone who has schizophrenia or delusions.

In this video I discuss 8 ways to manage communication with someone who is struggling with delusions. I am not encouraging you to "ignore the person" or use some other triggering behavior. I am encouraging you to "roll with the resistance."

Thanks for watching!

[TherapistTamaraHill]

Apologies for the music! My very first video and I wish I could go back and turn it off. Lol

[bnnieg]

Tamara, I’m just an average Jane Doe and have a friend who I knew had extreme emotional and physical abuse. She was under psychological and psychiatric care. When her father died she told me she thought she was having delusions, particularly that a rat was gnawing under her sink. Once we were talking on the phone and she said she could hear the gnawing. I asked her if she could open the cabinet and take items out of the cabinet while staying on the phone with me. She said she could and she took things out one by one until the cabinet was empty and she described each item and the wood of the cabinet and that there was no evidence of gnawing. She said her fear and anxiety were gone and she realized she was having a delusion she thought was probably brought on by the loss of her parent. I believe this worked for her because I was on the phone with her at the right time and because she trusted me. Trust once developed goes a long way.

[spiritsighs]

I have an old childhood friend who has extreme delusions. After her mom killed herself is when all of it started. She still believes her family is alive but have been kidnapped. She texts me constantly very delusional things all of the time. Says things like she’s being raped and tortured or ppl are out to get her, reading her mind controlling her life and cries out for help but I don’t know what to say or do for her. She’s currently homeless living far away from me. I don’t know how to address her issues bc she believes everything she says even though it’s not true and can’t reason with her bc she gets mad and says no one believes her. ☹️ it’s so sad and wish I had my best friend back or at least wish she could get help.

[vkng_dragn]

Is frustratung to see your friend or family member being delusional and listening to their crazy believes are worth a creativity award. Lord keep me away from these people. They stress me out too much. I grew up with one and the trauma is still fresh. I don't want anyone like that near me. I'll not even try to engage. The moment BS is coking out of their mouth, I'll respectfully excuse myself, say good bye and go on my jolly life. They can talk all kind of lies about you and I don't need that headache.

[osiasrowland]

Hi my younger brother has been diagnosed with schizophrenia & he gets angry and I want to be able to talk to him, Its all new to me thanks for your videos!

[abbyrodriguez]

Trying to help my niece that suffers from religious delusions & hallucinations. Its hard because she refuses to believe that she has a mental disorder and makes me feel like I am the one with the problem. She talks about the same things over & over like the end of the world is imminent, her visions/messages from God, and her battles with demonic forces to save mankind. When I bring up other topics to discuss like, "how's work" or "have you seen any good movies lately" she will reply with one word answers & revert back to God or Satan. Immediate & extended family have distance themselves from her by no longer inviting her to family gatherings or events. She has no friends either. I am going to really try your advice of asking her to join me in helping me understand her reality by mtg w/ a professional. I dont want to give up on her, she is a good person & I love her!

[stephanietoiletpaperbride]

So perfect for our situation! Sister in law is accusing us of stealing, this has been horrrible for the last six weeks.she has suffered with depression and anxiety for decades. But this is a new level…all these delusions. Thank you for your tips, this is my first visit to your you tube page and I have subscribed. Request please…drop the background music. It is very distracting and adds nothing to the message. It’s ok for the first ten or fifteen seconds as an intro but made listening almost painful. Good thing your message was so awesome.
Thank you for your help. Great advice

[Munneeza]

My brother has schizophrenia and i don't know how to communicate with him while listening to his delusions. I'm trying my best to understand his situation so i can help him

[maddiiydaddiiy]

Thank you for the share. My father is hospitalized now for paranoid schizophrenia. He gets hospitalized about every year and a half, and his delusions center around my struggles and his feeling responsible for all my problems, so I'm the one who makes all the threats and attacks happen. This video helped some so thank you.

[weatherreport]

very informative! It got even when the music turned off. 😊

[prapti]

How should I convince the person for therapy ?
What if they do not see anything wrong with them and still stress about something that does not exist !!

What should be done in such a scenario..

[pinaraksu]

My fiancé's mother is experiencing schizoaffective disorder, bipolar type. They went to her psychiatrist today. After their session, my fiancé wanted to talk to her doctor privately. However, he couldn't ask the doctor any of the questions he had made a list of, because the doctor acted very aggressively. Doctor told my fiancé that he tells his mom: "Whatever you are having in your mind is not real." I have to keep telling her it is not real. "There is no operatives trying to make you commit a suicide. No one is trying to make you homeless, it is NOT real!". Unfortunately, we are not sure if it is the correct way to talk to someone who is experiencing psychosis. My fiancé always tells his mom "I am sorry mom. I am sorry that you feel like this". He can't say much. Doctor also told him that he should keep telling his mom that she should take her medications, but my fiancé thinks it is wrong to be so insisting and kind of forcing. Most of the time, he feels like it will push his mom away from him to insist too much about something that she doesn't want to do. I don't know which way is the right way, can someone please give us some advice? Also, when my fiancé asked the doctor if it is possible for his mom to take psychotherapy sessions, the doctor was like "Trust me, I have 45 years of experience, psychotherapy won't work for your mom." His mom already committed a suicide and she was almost dead. Doctors were surprised that she survived. I never want this to happen again. In these days, she keeps talking about how cruel the operatives are to her, they force her to commit a suicide every day. She also keeps telling my fiance that she wants to find an easy way to end her life. She even asked help to buy a gun. If you have anything to suggest to us, I would be very grateful.

[KHWhite]

It’s so stressful trying to get help but people are taking a long time to explain what to do

[elanatapp]

What if they start getting verbally abusive and swear that your the enemy and they start thinking your out to get them and it leads to them being physically violent ??

[luvburden]

My brother thinks my mom and a man are trying to get him, he asked to use my gun to protect him self, I told him he couldn't, he said ok well you just want me to die... what!!?!?

[Ftoosha]

It is very hard not to be frustrated because 5 days in the week i keep listening to her and care about her feelings, sometimes just listen yo her delusions and not commenting but that doesn’t help the delusional thought from going away and when you live with someone who constantly accusing you or your mother of things that are not real its so hard sometime i feel like i will go crazy myself :( our life has been a living hell since my little sister got diagnosed. We could be siting as family taking about dogs for example and she just gets mad and accuse us of talking about her. We could be living normally and she come and attack us verbally that we are watching her moves and thoughts and wont leave her alone. Its a a circle of daily struggle and i dont thing therapy or medications are helping :/

[Reader]

Is it possible to turn off the background music? It is interfering with concentration.

[audreyweigel]

Very helpful. I live with my son and he displays delusions and mania and refuses meds and therapy. You gave very practical skills. A heard a new one that I will employ, modeling. Thanks.

[Elisha_Dawn]

My company and I exited my apartment today to discover a strange man at the corner of my yard just standing there. He took off and at some point we walked past the man not paying attention. A few minutes later I look up and this man is clearly looking right at me with hands on hips and starts towards me waving his arms. I keep thinking he can't mean me. He approaches me and asks why I'm watching him and says I got no warrants and I've done nothing to you. He starts saying I'm trying to call the police but I have nothing with me. The person with me tried to reason and I tried to pull them along. I'm hoping for a video to share so maybe they'll handle these things better in the future.

[tbradtbrad]

the background music makes it hard for me to focus on what you're saying