It was my dad. I rarely hear anyone with my situation but when I first got sick my dad WANTED to hear all my delusions and my weird perceptions. He was curious and wanted to help and he was patient and a good listener. My dad worked his whole adult life, he raised a family, he was in the navy before he got married, he experienced a little of the Great Depression, and he was a teenager during WWII.
When I got sick at age 19 for some reason I told him one of my weirdest delusions. And he was interested and curious and we talked about it and that set the pattern for the next 28 years until he died 7years ago when I was about 49 years old. I could tell him anything.
When I was in my first group home and suffering badly, he was working nearby and he would pick me up in the state truck during his lunch and we would sit in his truck and just talk for an hour about everything under the sun. We talked about violence, my symptoms, his childhood and the rest of his life. we talked about sex, his work, and my delusions. I’ve never told anyone else in depth about my delusions except for him. And even when I got better and he moved away I would call him a couple of times a week just to vent and he would vent his problems to me! But he told me some of his weird experiences too. He was never hospitalized for mental problems but he came close when I was a kid.
Anyways, I think all of our talks were a major factor in my good recovery. I don’t know if anyone has anything similar to my experiences, in which you could tell someone all your craziest stuff but I am curious if you do. I told my dad stuff about my illness that I have never told anyone else.
today i told my mother about a delusion i had that no one i know actually exists and people stare at me in public and say things about me because they think i am walking around talking to myself i dont think she liked me telling her that she might not exist i obviously know that she and everyone else i know is real because ive never had visual hallucinations only voices but the thought has been going through my mind today
I use to talk to my dad a lot when I was delusional and paranoid.
Because of all the things I told him and my religious upbringing he thought my experiences were religious and spiritual of nature.
He told me several times that I should become a prophet.
Although not either of us knew that there was anything wrong with me his religious viewpoint and advice pulled me through some of the worst times of my psychosis until the day I got help from the pdoc.
My dad lived more than a 1000 kilo’s away from me and we had all these conversations over the phone.
Today I am not religious anymore however I still have great respect for my dad and his belief system.
I told my husband about my two prevailing delusions but not in detail. I’m too afraid he will get upset or something. My one delusion is i have this spirit man called Alien who lives in my head. If i tell people about Alien I open up and make myself vulnerable. I’m afraid they will dismiss Alien as false. My other delusion is my mother in law is trying to poison me. I did tell hubby that but not in detail. How would he feel if he knows I think that about his mother? It makes me feel very awkward to open up. I think I would only tell my pdoc in detail. My mom and sister know about Alien too but not in detail either. When I first told my sister about Alien she said I need to go to hospital. I keep it vague to others nowadays. They won’t understand. Except my pdoc and you guys.
Whenever my husband walks away from me in the store, and I turn around and can’t find him, I always think I must have just hallucinated the past three years of our life together. It sometimes gives me a panic attack. I can relate to your delusion a lot.
@77nick77 I miss my dad a lot today, too. It was his birthday yesterday. It’s good you had someone who could support you so much when you needed it.
I learned that when I talked too freely about my “delusions” I got sent to the mental hospital. I was absolutely convinced that was what was really going on. I have this elaborate system of beliefs that contains all kinds of impossibilities and improbabilities. They sure do seem real to me sometimes.
I’ve shared some here. I usually tell my dad about my paranoid thoughts, because I’m on medication, it helps when he explains to me that they are not realistic. He’s a lawyer, so he is used to talking people through divorces which when traumatic enough, can cause some paranoia in normals even.
I recently read a thread in a forum that got me worked up about student loan debt, so I emailed my brother about it all in a huff. He called me after work and said that I don’t have enough debt for that to be a deal breaker in a relationship. Plus, I will always pay my debt, so that is a positive mark for me.
I’ve told my brother the most about my delusions though: the alien thing, Capgras delusion about Chewy my cat, and how my delusions are a Dr. Who soap opera most of the time.
Nick your story made me sad. I wish you still had your Dad to talk to. Do you visit him where he rests and talk to him now? Or do you talk to him in your alone time?
My Nana died in 2014, we were really close. The other morning I could smell her so I started chatting with her. We used to watch the bats fly overhead every evening when I was little and she still sends bats in the morning now so I talk to her then too.
As for someone I tell my delusions to, that would be Mr Turtle. He’s the only one who won’t either laugh or immediately discount them as untrue, he just listens to them and helps me strategise ways to overcome them.
Yes, I miss him very much, thanks @anon84763962 . Not only was he tough as nails but he also had a great sense of humor. He put himself in harms way a few times to save me from getting beaten up when I was very sick. He was cremated and my step-mom has the urn. I think of him often.Yeah, sometimes we take people for granted when they are alive and we don’t fully appreciate them until its too late and they are gone. You’re lucky you had your Nana and you’re lucky that you have good memories of her. Take care.
