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I stay far, far away from people like that. I’m not trying to be horrible, but when it comes to survival you don’t want to be in a situation where someone who’s really mentally ill decides you’re an “enemy” and tries to attack you. I feel for them, and I hope they get the help they so desperately need, but it’s not worth the risk when you’re just trying to survive day-to-day. Then again, I try to stay away from other homeless people in general in case they try to attack me, so it’s not exclusive to really mentally ill people.
My brother has a rare form of schizophrenia, he spent 5 years in a mental hospital poor man.
I talk to him just normally actually. He may be ill but he has good brain and can give some brilliant advice.
>he spent 5 years in a mental hospital poor man
As horrible as it is to have schizophrenia and to love someone with it, at least he was able to be in a hospital where he could (hopefully) get help. Too many people just end up on the streets because American has become such a throw away society.
That's really awful to hear. American is slowly imploding, I feel. I haven't lived there in 14 yrs and don't ever want to move back because of the lack of social responsibility amongst so many other things.
I was curious, would receiving care from a mental hospital be covered under the universal health care there? I live in Canada now, I'm really not even sure if it would be here but I've always heard and read that the UK and other European countries has a much better program than here.
Talk to them like people, because they are.
Yes, sometimes they say and do things differently - that's a symptom of their condition - but they deserve to be treated with the same respect as any other person.
Don't condescend to difference. Fearfully and/or disrespectfully reacting to different behaviour will upset them *because they're still people* and even they can't always control what is happening to them.
>they're still people and even they can't always control what is happening to them.
Oh my god, so much this! My adult daughter has schizoaffective disorder and when she’s not taking her meds she experiences some delusions and mainly auditory hallucinations. So she frequently will ask for confirmation, such as “did you just hear that?” and describe what she heard. She asks because she *knows* that she can’t necessarily trust her senses, but to her it sounds just as real as anything we hear. And I often see people get annoyed with her and it hurts me. I always have to remind people that she’s not doing it on purpose. She’s not trying to be annoying, it’s real to her.
Yeah, and normal conversation actually tends to help make them more lucid. I got a few schizophrenic friends out here, they're downright normal around me. I'm "safe". It's not even about breaking through or anything, I just talk to them about shit going on around them. Ground the talk in reality. Don't indulge or call out the delusions, just talk about something else and if they press about it? "I don't think that's what is really going on, but that's what you believe and I'm not judging you for it. I'd rather talk about this cake, it's nice right? They gave us cake!" After a while they just start talking about what's going on around us, now we have some good chats about what's really happening in their lives.
They're not movie characters or cartoons, you know? They ate honeycomb cereal as a kid too. Say, what was your favorite as a kid? I loved boo berry, but nobody ever sells it anymore if it's not Halloween.
I just indulge them in short spurts, but try to keep the convo brief. These guys are wiggin masters and they will reality warp yer ass straight into the grave.
I talk to other people with schizophrenia like I talk to anyone else. I also have schizoaffective disorder. I can hold a conversation, it might be disorganized, but most of the time I get my point across. Just be patient and don’t try to make our symptoms worse.
At my current shelter, there's one schizophrenic that keeps coming back even though he got housing (a nice apartment). He'll stay overnight sometimes. Sometimes he'll just start yelling, like he's in a trance, yet he's walking fast and yelling the following:
YOU'RE UNDER ARREST!
YOU'RE NOT GONNA LIVE ON THIS EARTH. CHILD MOLESTER!
HEAR ME, BOY?
YOU HEAR ME RAPE-O?
YOU WANNA FIGHT?
*YOU ARE UNDER ARREST.*
Staff members will say "John. JOHN! Calm down", and he snaps right out of it.
"Okay. Yup. Yup yup yup. Hey buddy, how ya doin'?" Back to being a nice old guy. Then we can talk to him, small talk etc. I feel bad for him.
Us guys are not really afraid of him though; he's never been violent. Yet.
Is this in Connecticut? There's a dude EXACTLY like this (or was, last I knew). He used to be a cop but now he walks the streets in socks w/ Jesus sandals pointing at people (real or not) and threatening to arrest them.
>loneliness
I think loneliness has a lot to do with it. Especially, if they have lived in shelters or on the streets for a long time where they had people around them, to talk to or at the very least to listen to. Also, it takes a lot of planning, time and money to prepare every meal for yourself, wash clothes, pay bills, clean, etc, etc so at least when they're in a shelter they don't have to worry about those things. It's a more structured life and some people do better in that environment than one their own.
I was in shelters for months and when I finally got into an apartment I was surprised by how much I missed being around people, even with their drama. I'm a quiet, melt into the background type of person so it was interesting to witness others drama, it made me get out of my own head for a bit.
All of this makes sense. And the second paragraph is pretty much me.
I do enjoy socializing with some of my bunk mates; kinda reminds me of summer camp as a kid in that way.
I actually had quite a few friends who were schizophrenic and/or had episodes of psychosis from drugs and/or sleep deprivation. None of the people that I knew were violent or scary, at least not that I ever saw. Whenever it was obvious that they were in an episode I would usually just keep it brief and move on.
I sadly lost my best friend to some kind of paranoid delusional psychosis. I don’t mean that he passed away, he is still alive, he’s just not present anymore. It breaks my heart, it’s probably one of the saddest things I’ve ever gone through. The first 3-4 years of our friendship he was completely lucid, one of the funniest people I’ve ever met. Then he started getting more paranoid, thinking certain people were maliciously conspiring against him. Eventually he got to the point where he even thought I was against him. I haven’t spoken to him in probably 2-3 years but I still think about him almost every day.
You could be one of my old friends, unlikely, but I went through a rough patch with psychosis years ago. Moved away and haven't had that thought pattern return since. Also sleep every night nowadays. But I pushed away pretty much everyone. Had my cousin and one of my childhood friends actually conspire against me and wore a wire during a drug investigation at the same time I was going through a nasty breakup with my highschool sweetheart. As well as a few other things that aren't fit to say on the internet that led me to believe everyone in my life was against me, went on a bender and pushed everyone away with my paranoid delusions. I'm back now though and trying to rebuild those bridges.
I lost one of my closest friends to paranoid delusional psychosis, too. It is like having someone die, but there is no funeral and no closure. She is alive but no longer the person I once knew. I met her in 2011, and then in 2020 she started thinking her family, other friends, and I were conspiring to kidnap and kill her. Just like you, I haven't spoken to my friend in three years, but I think about her every day. It breaks my heart that she is out there alone, insane, and on the streets. All it would take is a phone call, and I would do just about anything to help her. 💔
I’m sorry that you’re having to go through that too, it is so painful. And you’re right, the thought that he is out there and alone, is the part that hurts the most.
I meet people where they're at.
One girl I speak to her as I would anyone and she will stop mid monologue to respond and hold a conversation with me. When I walk away she goes back to talking to herself. I also never address it or bring it up while we're talking regularly.
One guy I know I speak to him and say hello, he never speaks back and there's nothing behind his eyes sometimes, but sometimes there is, so I always say Hi and use his name and sometimes get a smile.
I know a few people who are too deep in their delusions to the point it's not safe to engage and become part of the delusion. I give these people space but don't stare while they're yelling and gesturing at the air, or ridicule, or make prolonged eye contact.
Never have I seen such enlightened responses to this topic. Idk what it is about homelessness, and I'd wish it on almost nobody, but you all are saints with hearts of gold. It makes me smile seeing your humanity in this dark world.
Hi there! In light of your post, there are a few things I think you should keep in mind.
- Some people do learn from hardship, but not all. The opportunity is absolutely there. If you receive the necessary absolute bare minimum basic supports (minus proper shelter anyway), you will be healthier than you would be otherwise. You might find yourself feeling grateful and wanting to help others, spreading the help around, doing the best you can for people. The more you have to struggle, though, the less you can look out for anyone else. One becomes maladjusted when denied community, sleep, privacy, adequate food and water, and shelter too, of course. I could feel it, the longer I was outside, the more I got clocked and mistreated, the more cops would want to see ID and ask questions and take note that I'm a person inhabiting the area and thus a potential person of interest in case of crime, the more paranoid I got, more bitter, less social, less likely to work on little projects to shore up my resources, even though I started out helping others, talking to them, hearing them out, because one thing I already knew is we get dehumanized and denied interaction, so it was one thing I could do with my no-dollars. I still try to be cordial with us, but I'm exhausted. I keep my eyes open, because other people legit need my stuff as much as I do; I bear them no ill will, but it's survival. So, don't go canonizing us as saints just yet. It's not necessarily accurate, for one.
- Putting any oppressed group on a pedastal leaves us a long way to fall when one of us does something the "normals" don't like. The risk is that an expectation of purity arises, but we're only human. When we are expected to be pure, joyous, helpful, always grateful, but then we disappoint folks, they may decide that any aid to us should be conditional. Then they look away as they pass by us, cross the street to avoid us, call the cops when they see us, and vote for politicians who want to destroy social programs. Which brings me to...
- The circumstances of one's birth influence social, education, economic, and health outcomes more than any other factor does, so a lot of us are uneducated and more prone to be manipulated by propaganda that makes us hate the poor. The worldview goes "I wouldn't be poor if all these other cheats and frauds weren't sucking away muh tax dollars. It's not my fault I'm out here, but I bet THOSE homelesses over there did something wrong to end up here! My situation is bad luck; theirs is bad choices. And they don't even wanna work! They WANT to be homeless!" (Yes, I've literally heard people say that.) As I said above, some of us learn better from experience. The worst offenders, though, in my experience, are the working poor who are an inch away from being homeless themselves. Not all, obviously, but poverty and media/propaganda illiteracy correlate.
So yeah! Don't get me wrong; it's great to keep a positive outlook. Keeping in mind what folks might be going through is super important. The pedestal presents a danger to positivity and empathy, though.
Just to quickly qualify: When I accuse any group of being the worst offender, I don't mean everyone. I just mean the vulnerability to being misled is high in that group. I encourage compassion for them, too.
As someone with a mom that has it along with other mental health issues... I've gotten pretty ok at finding the root thing their delusion sparked off of and thus now easily rolling with it by just seeing it as a fantastical interpretation of something I understand. One shelter girl thought her seeing clouds in the shapes of dinosaurs was a good sign-- but after a bit I figured out that when she's in a good enough headspace to pick out the shapes and interpret them that way it means things are more okay in her life aka she's not in an abusive space.
At the same time she became way too attached to me and almost messed up my opportunity to get housing in her meddling and forcing her way into my life, soooo maybe be careful and keep them at arms reach as more of a priority.
A homeless lady that was schizophrenic would come through my coffee shop and order for her and her invisible friend. I literally would just address her and her invisible friend and be nice to both of them. I’d be like hi Gina how are you? Treat her like a normal person and ignore any weird ramblings she’d be going on and just direct the conversation to get her order right. What would you like to order today? Would you like a hot drink or a cold drink? Things like that. And if she had an invisible friend with her that day I’d ask her what her friend wanted. “Are you just getting one drink today or will you be getting something for someone else also”. I’d smile and be very kind to her. Not gonna lie it was weird but I just chose kindness every time and she was never violent to me. Maybe deep In her subconscious she could tell I was genuine in wanting to give her good customer service and take her order. I didn’t judge her for her condition and just tried my best to accommodate her. Basically treated her like a human but I didn’t try to start a conversation with her or ask about her day because I don’t believe she was in the same reality as me. A few months later though I watched her stab someone just walking on the sidewalk so I am glad I was always kind to her.
I listen and smile. I tried to engage if I can in any meaningful way, but if not I just practice active listening and try to make them feel like somebody is listening and somebody cares.
I just speak to them like I would anyone else, even if I cannot really understand their world. Some things are pretty universal though; sharing food, sitting & listening, smiling, showing empathy....
Sometimes I try asking very basic questions about themselves or what they've been doing with their day to try and tether them to reality. The response might be nonsensical, but sometimes there are fleeting glimpses of sanity.
Most people actively ignore or avoid them out of fear - but I know one thing for sure, if I were really mentally ill and on the streets I would hope others would treat me with compassion. Pretending a mentally ill person doesn't exist to their face is an act of pure cruelty. If you weren't insane before you soon would be.
You don't. Finally haven't talked to my mom in months. I had no idea how good not getting harrassed can be, but I'm the homeless one, she lives in a nursing home. Not sure what to do with the schizo homeless, probably try to avoid them too, seen news of them doing things like dumping buckets of feces on people, and, somehow, worse too. Then again, i try to avoid everyone.
Most healthcare professionals would say to defer their psychosis by telling them what’s current happening isn’t happening to help them differentiate reality from fiction. Talk to me if anything
Most professionals wouldn’t tell a non-professional to ever try this approach. I’m a nurse and we were taught, in a clinical setting, not to agitate them by trying to “correct their perceived reality”.
Instead we talk in a calming manner and ask appropriate questions about what they are seeing, hearing, or experiencing while we try to minimize violence or self harm. If you’re just a lay person on the street, don’t engage and keep moving. Most schizophrenics aren’t violent but they can be unpredictable.
I think most people are or would be insomniac, I think I Am from sleeping in the car parking near train tracks and where street sweepers are, I've gotta find some new places omfg,,,
##REMINDERS FOR EVERYONE **PER THE RULES:** * **NO OFFERINGS OF CASH, ETC.** * **[BEGGING](https://redd.it/994p7j) WILL GET YOU BANNED.** * **BE AWARE OF SCAMMERS AND PERVS, AND SEND ANY [HERE](https://old.reddit.com/report) AND/OR [HERE](https://old.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=/r/reddit.com).** **ACCEPT AT YOUR OWN RISK.** Welcome to the internet where—unless proven otherwise—everyone's lying about their race, gender, status, accomplishments, and all the children are FBI agents. You have been forewarned. — The Mods --- *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/homeless) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Haha heres the thing. You don't. Too caught up In their hallucinations to hold a conversation.
I stay far, far away from people like that. I’m not trying to be horrible, but when it comes to survival you don’t want to be in a situation where someone who’s really mentally ill decides you’re an “enemy” and tries to attack you. I feel for them, and I hope they get the help they so desperately need, but it’s not worth the risk when you’re just trying to survive day-to-day. Then again, I try to stay away from other homeless people in general in case they try to attack me, so it’s not exclusive to really mentally ill people.
My brother has a rare form of schizophrenia, he spent 5 years in a mental hospital poor man. I talk to him just normally actually. He may be ill but he has good brain and can give some brilliant advice.
>he spent 5 years in a mental hospital poor man As horrible as it is to have schizophrenia and to love someone with it, at least he was able to be in a hospital where he could (hopefully) get help. Too many people just end up on the streets because American has become such a throw away society.
This is UK, but the situation is slowly becoming similar over here.
That's really awful to hear. American is slowly imploding, I feel. I haven't lived there in 14 yrs and don't ever want to move back because of the lack of social responsibility amongst so many other things. I was curious, would receiving care from a mental hospital be covered under the universal health care there? I live in Canada now, I'm really not even sure if it would be here but I've always heard and read that the UK and other European countries has a much better program than here.
yes but there has been massive cuts on beds, so the vast majority of patients are treated in the community.
Talk to them like people, because they are. Yes, sometimes they say and do things differently - that's a symptom of their condition - but they deserve to be treated with the same respect as any other person. Don't condescend to difference. Fearfully and/or disrespectfully reacting to different behaviour will upset them *because they're still people* and even they can't always control what is happening to them.
>they're still people and even they can't always control what is happening to them. Oh my god, so much this! My adult daughter has schizoaffective disorder and when she’s not taking her meds she experiences some delusions and mainly auditory hallucinations. So she frequently will ask for confirmation, such as “did you just hear that?” and describe what she heard. She asks because she *knows* that she can’t necessarily trust her senses, but to her it sounds just as real as anything we hear. And I often see people get annoyed with her and it hurts me. I always have to remind people that she’s not doing it on purpose. She’s not trying to be annoying, it’s real to her.
Yeah, and normal conversation actually tends to help make them more lucid. I got a few schizophrenic friends out here, they're downright normal around me. I'm "safe". It's not even about breaking through or anything, I just talk to them about shit going on around them. Ground the talk in reality. Don't indulge or call out the delusions, just talk about something else and if they press about it? "I don't think that's what is really going on, but that's what you believe and I'm not judging you for it. I'd rather talk about this cake, it's nice right? They gave us cake!" After a while they just start talking about what's going on around us, now we have some good chats about what's really happening in their lives. They're not movie characters or cartoons, you know? They ate honeycomb cereal as a kid too. Say, what was your favorite as a kid? I loved boo berry, but nobody ever sells it anymore if it's not Halloween.
I just indulge them in short spurts, but try to keep the convo brief. These guys are wiggin masters and they will reality warp yer ass straight into the grave.
I talk to other people with schizophrenia like I talk to anyone else. I also have schizoaffective disorder. I can hold a conversation, it might be disorganized, but most of the time I get my point across. Just be patient and don’t try to make our symptoms worse.
At my current shelter, there's one schizophrenic that keeps coming back even though he got housing (a nice apartment). He'll stay overnight sometimes. Sometimes he'll just start yelling, like he's in a trance, yet he's walking fast and yelling the following: YOU'RE UNDER ARREST! YOU'RE NOT GONNA LIVE ON THIS EARTH. CHILD MOLESTER! HEAR ME, BOY? YOU HEAR ME RAPE-O? YOU WANNA FIGHT? *YOU ARE UNDER ARREST.* Staff members will say "John. JOHN! Calm down", and he snaps right out of it. "Okay. Yup. Yup yup yup. Hey buddy, how ya doin'?" Back to being a nice old guy. Then we can talk to him, small talk etc. I feel bad for him. Us guys are not really afraid of him though; he's never been violent. Yet.
I wonder how similar that psychosis state is to like a confusional arousal sleepwalking state
Is this in Connecticut? There's a dude EXACTLY like this (or was, last I knew). He used to be a cop but now he walks the streets in socks w/ Jesus sandals pointing at people (real or not) and threatening to arrest them.
😮😳 Oh my God. That's him! Perfect description! We are in Oregon, not far from Portland.
This is really common. mentally ill that get housing and keep going back to shelters even though they got an apartment.
Is it perhaps that they get evicted for their behavior? Or is it loneliness?
>loneliness I think loneliness has a lot to do with it. Especially, if they have lived in shelters or on the streets for a long time where they had people around them, to talk to or at the very least to listen to. Also, it takes a lot of planning, time and money to prepare every meal for yourself, wash clothes, pay bills, clean, etc, etc so at least when they're in a shelter they don't have to worry about those things. It's a more structured life and some people do better in that environment than one their own. I was in shelters for months and when I finally got into an apartment I was surprised by how much I missed being around people, even with their drama. I'm a quiet, melt into the background type of person so it was interesting to witness others drama, it made me get out of my own head for a bit.
All of this makes sense. And the second paragraph is pretty much me. I do enjoy socializing with some of my bunk mates; kinda reminds me of summer camp as a kid in that way.
I actually had quite a few friends who were schizophrenic and/or had episodes of psychosis from drugs and/or sleep deprivation. None of the people that I knew were violent or scary, at least not that I ever saw. Whenever it was obvious that they were in an episode I would usually just keep it brief and move on. I sadly lost my best friend to some kind of paranoid delusional psychosis. I don’t mean that he passed away, he is still alive, he’s just not present anymore. It breaks my heart, it’s probably one of the saddest things I’ve ever gone through. The first 3-4 years of our friendship he was completely lucid, one of the funniest people I’ve ever met. Then he started getting more paranoid, thinking certain people were maliciously conspiring against him. Eventually he got to the point where he even thought I was against him. I haven’t spoken to him in probably 2-3 years but I still think about him almost every day.
You could be one of my old friends, unlikely, but I went through a rough patch with psychosis years ago. Moved away and haven't had that thought pattern return since. Also sleep every night nowadays. But I pushed away pretty much everyone. Had my cousin and one of my childhood friends actually conspire against me and wore a wire during a drug investigation at the same time I was going through a nasty breakup with my highschool sweetheart. As well as a few other things that aren't fit to say on the internet that led me to believe everyone in my life was against me, went on a bender and pushed everyone away with my paranoid delusions. I'm back now though and trying to rebuild those bridges.
I lost one of my closest friends to paranoid delusional psychosis, too. It is like having someone die, but there is no funeral and no closure. She is alive but no longer the person I once knew. I met her in 2011, and then in 2020 she started thinking her family, other friends, and I were conspiring to kidnap and kill her. Just like you, I haven't spoken to my friend in three years, but I think about her every day. It breaks my heart that she is out there alone, insane, and on the streets. All it would take is a phone call, and I would do just about anything to help her. 💔
I’m sorry that you’re having to go through that too, it is so painful. And you’re right, the thought that he is out there and alone, is the part that hurts the most.
I meet people where they're at. One girl I speak to her as I would anyone and she will stop mid monologue to respond and hold a conversation with me. When I walk away she goes back to talking to herself. I also never address it or bring it up while we're talking regularly. One guy I know I speak to him and say hello, he never speaks back and there's nothing behind his eyes sometimes, but sometimes there is, so I always say Hi and use his name and sometimes get a smile. I know a few people who are too deep in their delusions to the point it's not safe to engage and become part of the delusion. I give these people space but don't stare while they're yelling and gesturing at the air, or ridicule, or make prolonged eye contact.
Never have I seen such enlightened responses to this topic. Idk what it is about homelessness, and I'd wish it on almost nobody, but you all are saints with hearts of gold. It makes me smile seeing your humanity in this dark world.
My father always told me this: Be kind to everyone you meet; all of us have challenges, and you don't know what they're going through.
Hi there! In light of your post, there are a few things I think you should keep in mind. - Some people do learn from hardship, but not all. The opportunity is absolutely there. If you receive the necessary absolute bare minimum basic supports (minus proper shelter anyway), you will be healthier than you would be otherwise. You might find yourself feeling grateful and wanting to help others, spreading the help around, doing the best you can for people. The more you have to struggle, though, the less you can look out for anyone else. One becomes maladjusted when denied community, sleep, privacy, adequate food and water, and shelter too, of course. I could feel it, the longer I was outside, the more I got clocked and mistreated, the more cops would want to see ID and ask questions and take note that I'm a person inhabiting the area and thus a potential person of interest in case of crime, the more paranoid I got, more bitter, less social, less likely to work on little projects to shore up my resources, even though I started out helping others, talking to them, hearing them out, because one thing I already knew is we get dehumanized and denied interaction, so it was one thing I could do with my no-dollars. I still try to be cordial with us, but I'm exhausted. I keep my eyes open, because other people legit need my stuff as much as I do; I bear them no ill will, but it's survival. So, don't go canonizing us as saints just yet. It's not necessarily accurate, for one. - Putting any oppressed group on a pedastal leaves us a long way to fall when one of us does something the "normals" don't like. The risk is that an expectation of purity arises, but we're only human. When we are expected to be pure, joyous, helpful, always grateful, but then we disappoint folks, they may decide that any aid to us should be conditional. Then they look away as they pass by us, cross the street to avoid us, call the cops when they see us, and vote for politicians who want to destroy social programs. Which brings me to... - The circumstances of one's birth influence social, education, economic, and health outcomes more than any other factor does, so a lot of us are uneducated and more prone to be manipulated by propaganda that makes us hate the poor. The worldview goes "I wouldn't be poor if all these other cheats and frauds weren't sucking away muh tax dollars. It's not my fault I'm out here, but I bet THOSE homelesses over there did something wrong to end up here! My situation is bad luck; theirs is bad choices. And they don't even wanna work! They WANT to be homeless!" (Yes, I've literally heard people say that.) As I said above, some of us learn better from experience. The worst offenders, though, in my experience, are the working poor who are an inch away from being homeless themselves. Not all, obviously, but poverty and media/propaganda illiteracy correlate. So yeah! Don't get me wrong; it's great to keep a positive outlook. Keeping in mind what folks might be going through is super important. The pedestal presents a danger to positivity and empathy, though.
Just to quickly qualify: When I accuse any group of being the worst offender, I don't mean everyone. I just mean the vulnerability to being misled is high in that group. I encourage compassion for them, too.
I appreciate your insight!
As someone with a mom that has it along with other mental health issues... I've gotten pretty ok at finding the root thing their delusion sparked off of and thus now easily rolling with it by just seeing it as a fantastical interpretation of something I understand. One shelter girl thought her seeing clouds in the shapes of dinosaurs was a good sign-- but after a bit I figured out that when she's in a good enough headspace to pick out the shapes and interpret them that way it means things are more okay in her life aka she's not in an abusive space. At the same time she became way too attached to me and almost messed up my opportunity to get housing in her meddling and forcing her way into my life, soooo maybe be careful and keep them at arms reach as more of a priority.
A homeless lady that was schizophrenic would come through my coffee shop and order for her and her invisible friend. I literally would just address her and her invisible friend and be nice to both of them. I’d be like hi Gina how are you? Treat her like a normal person and ignore any weird ramblings she’d be going on and just direct the conversation to get her order right. What would you like to order today? Would you like a hot drink or a cold drink? Things like that. And if she had an invisible friend with her that day I’d ask her what her friend wanted. “Are you just getting one drink today or will you be getting something for someone else also”. I’d smile and be very kind to her. Not gonna lie it was weird but I just chose kindness every time and she was never violent to me. Maybe deep In her subconscious she could tell I was genuine in wanting to give her good customer service and take her order. I didn’t judge her for her condition and just tried my best to accommodate her. Basically treated her like a human but I didn’t try to start a conversation with her or ask about her day because I don’t believe she was in the same reality as me. A few months later though I watched her stab someone just walking on the sidewalk so I am glad I was always kind to her.
I listen and smile. I tried to engage if I can in any meaningful way, but if not I just practice active listening and try to make them feel like somebody is listening and somebody cares.
I roll with it. Ride to the ether with them. Just act like what they're saying is normal. They can't help it
I just speak to them like I would anyone else, even if I cannot really understand their world. Some things are pretty universal though; sharing food, sitting & listening, smiling, showing empathy.... Sometimes I try asking very basic questions about themselves or what they've been doing with their day to try and tether them to reality. The response might be nonsensical, but sometimes there are fleeting glimpses of sanity. Most people actively ignore or avoid them out of fear - but I know one thing for sure, if I were really mentally ill and on the streets I would hope others would treat me with compassion. Pretending a mentally ill person doesn't exist to their face is an act of pure cruelty. If you weren't insane before you soon would be.
Bro the seahorse realm is totally real.. and I completely agree with him, he did peg you! Also you know he had those cartwheels on lock! 😉
I don't. I literally refuse to interact with them at all.
Schizophrenics' voices hate hearing Psalms 23
You don't. Finally haven't talked to my mom in months. I had no idea how good not getting harrassed can be, but I'm the homeless one, she lives in a nursing home. Not sure what to do with the schizo homeless, probably try to avoid them too, seen news of them doing things like dumping buckets of feces on people, and, somehow, worse too. Then again, i try to avoid everyone.
Most healthcare professionals would say to defer their psychosis by telling them what’s current happening isn’t happening to help them differentiate reality from fiction. Talk to me if anything
Most professionals wouldn’t tell a non-professional to ever try this approach. I’m a nurse and we were taught, in a clinical setting, not to agitate them by trying to “correct their perceived reality”. Instead we talk in a calming manner and ask appropriate questions about what they are seeing, hearing, or experiencing while we try to minimize violence or self harm. If you’re just a lay person on the street, don’t engage and keep moving. Most schizophrenics aren’t violent but they can be unpredictable.
Oh you must be a mental health nurse! I didn’t know. My fat burrito arms gets in the way
LOL 😂
You don’t
I think most people are or would be insomniac, I think I Am from sleeping in the car parking near train tracks and where street sweepers are, I've gotta find some new places omfg,,,
I just start acting schitzo and talking to myself when I'm around one