Just want to reach out for help, advice or support with dealing with a family member who hads psychosis with extreme paranoia. My stepson(21) has drug induced psychosis which really kicked in in November 2019. He's been on and off drugs since then but, since his last binge, he's been scared sober after the development of some tactile hallucinations based on a previous trauma. He's currently living in supported accommodation but his paranoia is so extreme that everyone is talking about him and knows all his deepest secrets and things he's done in the past. He's currently getting psychotherapy once a week and has a drugs Councillor as well as family councillors with his dad to help work through the timelines of his life and traumas.
Ive known him for 7 years now and we had a really good and strong friendship but he has some trust issues with women and mother figures (mother was a drug addict, died in 2018, dad had custody since he was 6) There's little I can do in a hands on way at the moment as, since he has developed the psychosis, his mistrust of women and frankly anyone except his dad has gone out the window.
His dad does all the heavy emotional work, talks to him every evening, helps with food shops, visits after work and is absolutely exhausted. Whenever I hear them on the phone it's so hard to listen to him trying to convince you his hallucinations and delusions are real. All the advice about reassurance and distraction and acknowledgement of their feeling etc just don't wash with him. All he wants is for people to believe him that the sound of the motorbike outside is a secret message about him, or that the care worker who bring him his meds is saying awful things under his breath.
Reading that back it feels like I've just rambled inconsistantly! Theres obviously so much more detail I could go into but that's the basics or the situation I think! I'm m basically just looking for anyone who has any similar experiences and how you've coped and any strategies that have worked.
I just want to be able to help in any way that I can, it sucks feeling so helpless when my partner is carrying the whole load, I just want to be able to help both of them. All I can do is support my partner at the moment as best I can so being able to hopefully reach out to people with similar experiences can hopefully make us feel less alone, less hopeless and less sad.