Psychosis, Mental Breakdown?? What is this?

[WorriedandStressed2026]

Hello everyone,

I need some advice please. I’ve name changed so it’s not outing.

My brother 40 years old, no previous mental health history - high flying career, very intelligent and always advising us on matters, has since last week suddenly changed!

He started by saying to me in confidence that he has suddenly figured out that his best friends (since his 20s and who he regularly socialises with) are out to get him. He has since blocked all of them. He says They have hacked his devices and they are listening into his conversations. He is very paranoid.

He says he can’t sleep. He can’t eat. He doesn’t go out anywhere incase “they” are tracking him.

He’s left his work.

We don’t know how to approach this. I called 111 and sought advice but they said he needs to be in the room. He doesn’t think he has a problem and that everything is real.

I’ve advised him to go GP. But he thinks he doesn’t need to. He just wants justice for being hacked. Today he was saying the Russians are involved as he checked the IP address and it was a Russian location.

I am so desperate to help him, I am worried what this means for him. Does anyone have any idea how I can access help please?

Thank you.

Thank you for this. I feel like we are failing him. But your post made me feel better. Thanks.

@WorriedandStressed2026 you are with him, listening, paying attention, caring and quietly monitoring, looking for your opportunity to move toward treatment. You couldn’t be doing anything better. He’s so blessed to have you by his side. Good luck. 💜

Is there an option 2 on 111 when you call? If there is thats the mental health option- they should be able to advise next steps without speaking to your Brother.
Other options does your local mental health trust have a single point of access or a hub? details should be on line - if so call them, they can get him seen, often by the crisis team.
Some crisis teams take self referrals, some don’t, again the local Trust website should tell you.
You can take your brother to a and e where he can be assessed by the mental health team.
You can call the GP and let them know whats happening with your brother, they won’t tell you anything about his care, but you can let them know (be mindful this may turn up on his records).
Is there a local crisis cafe or MIND drop in that he would attend with you for support?
Keep everything as calm as possible.

Another poster suggests he goes to the police station please don’t do that - it will add to the delusions and the stress.

Take care of yourself and I hope things work out for you both x

? He attended A&E recently after a fall?
What were the circumstances of that?
I think if I were you I'd call an ambulance.
Don't downplay it.
It sounds to be a really serious situation that needs medical intervention.
I wish you all the best.

Hope all ok OP. I have been there and it’s dreadful.

Having just gone through this 3 months ago with my other half this is definitely psychosis and the longer the episode is before you get support the longer the aftermath is which is so incredibly long and exhausting for all involved so it’s really important to keep using the LEAP method but then there will be short snippets of time that he starts to question his own thinking which is when you need to act quickly, and tell him how worried you are that he needs help, I would advise to take him to a&e at that point. They will see he has psychosis very quickly and will not allow him to leave. For what it’s worth if you do manage to get him to the GP (maybe tell him it’s for sleeping tablets) they will notice he is not himself, but they will likely just advise you to go to a&e / the crisis team anyway.

Please do not go to the police station, my other half took himself and it caused him so much distress as they refused to help him and he couldn’t understand why.

Hi - we have tried that. No help at all until he consents. I have called 111 and option 2. I have called the area intervention team. They are limited in what they can do.

They said he needs to consent before they can help him. But he won’t consent as he thinks he is perfectly fine.

I have told him I can take him to the A&E but he says he doesn’t need to go so isn’t willing to do that either. Nor go to the GP.

Yes he told me recently that around 4 weeks ago he fell during a run. But that he is fine.

I know it is all linked. He is sleep deprived- not eating properly- he said he feels dizzy and I have noticed he keeps saying “I forgot”.

I am not downplaying anything - There is no one who can help! I’ve explained all this to the crisis team and to his GP receptionist! And to 111 option2!

Push for medical tests first. Simple things like a UTI to more complex issues (may need a brain mri) as to suddenly develop these symptoms is concerning and requires a full physical examination before assuming MH issues.

Hmmm… the combo of recent fall + reports of dizziness + forgetfulness + sudden onset of delusional beliefs out of nowhere is making me think there could be a traumatic brain injury / transient ischaemic attack (mini-stroke caused by a bleed on the brain or an occlusion of part of the brain caused by a temporary blood clot).

Might be unrelated of course. This could be non-organic psychosis (ie ‘normal’ psychosis as a result of depression / bipolar / schizophrenia etc) but I think given the recent fall (which required A&E so must’ve been pretty serious) I’d be telling 111 that and saying you’re worried it’s a brain injury / transient ischaemic attack / severe delayed concussion - they tend not to mess around with brain injury things.

Whatever it’s caused by, telling 111 (or even 999) that he had a fall and is now acting strangely might get people listening.

With regards my post above - I’ve just had a further thought.
Could you maybe tell your brother that the hospital called you (as NOK) and have checked his results from when he went to A+E after his fall and are concerned that he needs some more physical health tests. They’ve asked you to bring him in, to re-do a couple of blood tests.
Then subtly ring ahead to tell them you’re bringing him in due to delusional beliefs.

Then when they’re triaging him with you alongside you can say: “DB, remember to tell the kind nurse that you don’t want much putting on your record because of all the people currently hacking you” (with you giving a knowing look at nurse).

They’ll arrange for a member of Liason Psych (usually a MH nurse) to visit him in A&E, who’ll quickly determine whether the has/doesn’t have the capacity to consent.

At the same time, A+E would hopefully arrange a CT scan of his head, to rule-out TIA etc.

I've not read the whole thread but I've seen the details of the first post with two people I know of (one closely).

There's no point hoping he'll go to a GP. You're way past that now. He needs an intervention. He likely needs to be sectioned and treated for a couple of weeks.

The problem at this stage is the lack of sleep is driving the paranoia, but the paranoia means he won't go to sleep.

You can’t actually do silly things like this. It’s not a tv show.

Could it be that the fall he had caused an undiagnosed head injury which led to the psychosis? it can manifest months after the initial trauma and with no other cause evident, it’s worth checking out even if he doesn’t think he hit his head.

I’m not sure which bit you describe as silly or like a TV show 😵‍💫. I’m trying to help OP navigate how to get him in front of medics to have his organic- or non-organic psychosis/delusional beliefs assessed.

The beliefs sound so entrenched that it’s best to work ‘with’ them (ie: play along, for now). Just until she can get him in front of medics, in order to get a CT scan and/or seen by Liaison Psych.

I’m not just inventing ‘silly things’ like those ‘on a TV show’. I’m trying to be helpful, as I’m a Senior MH Prac.

I didn’t really like the way you’ve randomly chosen to be rude and unpleasant to me tbh, but I won’t derail the poor OP’s thread further, so will bow-out.

Hope you get things sorted one way or another, OP. Might be worth downloading your local area’s Mental Health Guide, and having a scour. Also your local Hearing Voices Network. But do definitely mention the recent fall when speaking to 111(option2) and/or A&E. If it’s an organic brain injury it needs urgent treatment to prevent potential long-term ischaemic damage and if he lacks capacity to consent to said treatment they’ll arrange a MCA / MHA and either DoLS or enactment of the MHA in order to bring about further Ax +/- relevant treatment. Hugs 💐 x

I mean - he might be ill but he’s not stupid. I don’t think he has me as NOK. I don’t even know who he has as NOK.

I will be seeing him later so will see how he is. I’m glad I mentioned the fall now as I didn’t think they were linked but some posters have suggested it could be a brain injury or a mini stroke which didn’t even occur to me.

I’ll ask him more about it and see if he will go A&E. I know we’re siblings but we don’t usually go to appointments with each other. We’re in our 30s and lead separate lives like so many people. So for me to say to him I will come with you and he thinks he’s fine - he probably thinks I’m being weird for even suggesting going with him.

DH says I need to back off a bit. As I’ve been seeing him every day since he told me his story.

Thank you so much for your help and support. I will certainly try! I appreciate your help.

I’m sorry; I wasn’t suggesting I think your brother is ‘stupid’. I was trying to give you some helpful advice on how to ‘work WITH’ delusional beliefs. I’m a Senior MH Prac of 20yrs duration. I also suffer from episodes of delusional beliefs myself. I’m sorry if my advice came across as me suggesting your brother was ‘stupid’ or if that’s how you perceived it.

FWIW - It was also me who first mentioned could be a TBI. I used to work in acute neurology inpatients (ie: stroke / TIA / ABI) prior to moving into Psychiatry.

I also included some advice in my 3rd follow-up post which I hope might be of help but we cross-posted. Best of luck with it all OP, it is a very stressful and worrying time. 💐

No need to apologise - sorry if I came across as harsh. I appreciate your experience and feedback and will try the brain injury route if it helps.

Any chance this is drug related? Cocaine??

Have you tried asking social services for a mental health act assessment? They’d attend with police and a dr, could take a day or so.
I’ll also dm you the name of a Harley Street consultant if you’re really keen on that route. He’s the best I’ve worked with.

Why not go round there and call 111 with him in the room. That is the next best step. They can’t just go to his house uninvited. I mean he wouldn’t let them in anyway would he? Practically speaking what is it that you think MH services should do because they have no legal powers apart from the mental health act and that is a high bar. They can go down that road but they need to evidence that all other options are exhausted

It is the AMHP you ask for an MH act assessment and you can only do that if you are the official nearest relative (husband or wife and oldest surviving parent are before siblings on that) They will obviously not arrange a mental health act with a warrant on what we have here.
The next step is to call 111 again with him in the room whether he will speak to them or not at least it evidences refusal

How recently has he left his job? Would he have had private health insurance? If so is there any chance he's still technically on the books? E.g. I work in professional services and in my firm someone that had quit on the spot a few weeks ago would more than likely still be on our health insurance, and if we knew what was going on we would go out of our way to help and to keep him on the policy whilst he got treatment. Could you contact his boss to discuss?

im sorry you are experiencing this. if it is sudden i would suggest a brain scan as first thing!