AIBU to worry as my husband thinks zombies are coming?

[ByKookyPombear]

DH can at times go a bit funny , though he normally snaps out of it.
This current episode has stuck around for longer than usual and as a family we are getting concerned.

It started off with him locking the doors as soon as the sun had set just incase, that then escalated into the garden gate have padlocks fitted and the doors locked at all times, DH had also set dug the ring camera and doorbell out of the cupboard to monitor activity.

Yesterday I had a hospital appointment, whilst i was having my procedure done he waited outside in the car park, there were two incidents that took place.
The first it was a warm day, he kept the kids in the car with the windows up “just in case”.

Then the youngest really needed the toilet so he put the 14 year old in the drivers seat , with the engine running and told her to “be prepared”

Is this normal, he appears to be his normal self but is scared of zombies coming

Well Zombies don't exist so it's not normal.

If was worried about invasion, war or riots it would at least be based in possible event. As all of these things do happen. If it's true he is very unwell. My friend is obsessed with conspiracy theory. But they are based on possible things like greed, money, religion, power etc. Not mythical creatures.

I think the point people are trying to make is that after 6 years, you should be taking him to be evaluated by medics not Mumsnet. Surely you can see why people dont know if this is real or not.

It is more than "moments" though, isn't it?

Do you have any relatives who can support you? Any adult children who could look after the younger ones while you try to get him some help?

Yeah I suppose it depends what you’re up against.

OP, he might 'appear' perfectly sane, but you aren't sure what's going on underneath. He might have rationalised that he has to behave a certain way so that the 'zombies' won't know he's on to them, and this kind of thing can suddenly fracture in a really dramatic way. As others have said, what if he thinks one of the kids has been 'zombied'?

You don't know what's going on in his head so don't let 'appears normal most of the time' fool you. He's clearly very distressed and unwell.

Your husband is not well.

Actually there is a virus that effects snails and turns them into zombies. The snail is technically dead but the virus keeps it going turning its eyes into all weird colours to attract predators - once the predator eats the snail, the virus has a new host. It’s quite interesting and there were some conspiracies stating that this virus could evolve to do the same thing to humans (OP, prob best not to tell your hubby about this)

Oh gosh, I’m sorry you’re dealing with this. Yes, it sounds like this is his latest fixation and it’s definitely not ‘normal’. Would he be willing to send the GP?

We tried to get him to go to the GP a few years ago but he has concerns about “Big Pharma” and that they will put him on a register.

He claims people wink at him alot when he starts talking about it

Does he take drugs?

Unless your name is Mad Max and you live in Barter Town, getting your kid to sit in the driving seat with instructions to drive off because of crime is also nuts. But as OP said it seems to be Zombies.

OP I think its escalating psychosis. Sorry you are having to deal with this.

Ok well either you get him help or you don’t 🤷‍♀️

You can remove their jaw and keep them on chains dotted around your home, then they will deter other zombies from attacking 👍

He needs serious help. Now.
Stop tolerating his nonsense and get him to a doctor.

He is definitely unwell and has been for some time. Is there a history of mental illness in his family, OP?

OP get on the phone, explain that his behaviour is endangering your children. It sounds like his delusions are ramping up.

Don’t be fobbed off, the sooner he gets help the easier it is to treat him.

OP my aunt was like this. Perfectly normal conversation, then she’d just drop into the conversation that we needed to be quiet because the witches had arrived and were flying around the room on their broomsticks listening to us. Once she started antipsychotic medication she was much better, but it did need controlling.

Does he smoke weed? Either way, he needs help. The fact you think this may be normal shows how long you have lived with this. Your poor children. Please get him to a GP urgently (if it escalates A&E) He sounds psychotic.

You can have a mild form of schizophrenia where you can still work or whatever and have periods where you seem fine and then others where it gets much worse. I'd be incredibly concerned OP, this isn't going to go away by itself.

I hope you are on a wind up tbh because the alternative is that you are someone who is failing her children by not removing them from living with a mentally unwell father who is delusional.

Sorry OP, but this isn't a sign of being 'perfectly sane' - a friend had similar delusions and ended up being sectioned. Medication is now helping to control the pyschosis and they are back home but some of the things they still believe are a bit like your Dh and the zombies. crackers but not dangerous now medication is helping.

You need to start thinking about your children's mental, emotional and PHYSICAL safety. Men who suffer MH breakdowns often harm their families in the belief that it's better for them...

He’s suffering from paranoid delusions, no doubt exacerbated by reading conspiracy theories on the internet.

You should have pushed this much harder at the time but that’s done now.

But you now need to wake up and face up to how serious this is. He probably needs to be sectioned under the mental health act. If you can’t get him to a GP you need to do something more radical.

But please don’t let more years go by without dealing with this.

This sounds very much like schizophrenia or psychosis. Appreciate this is difficult but you're doing him a disservice by downplaying it. He needs medical intervention urgently and should not be looking after children right now.

This is very true and I was thinking the same but didn’t want to say. If he ends up thinking his family are zombies, he could turn on them. No fault of his as he’s unwell but he needs urgent intervention.