I have had no formal training and hold no qualifications in the medical field at all. The following information has been distilled from personal experience of mental illness over thirty years, personal thoughts derived from interactions and observing sufferers of sever mental disorders – mainly schizophrenia – over a period of eleven years befriending with MIND in Barnsley.
Anything that may be said with encounters of sufferers with serious forms of mental illness, despite how convinced they may be about what is being shared, should not be taken as pure truth. There may be an element of truth in it but, principally, it is a statement that should not be believed. It is their perception seen through fragmented thinking and a distorted view of their environment and, to a small or large degree, they are detached from reality. For these reasons it is virtually impossible to reason or persuade them what they say is imaginary.
Medication can and does help to take away, or moderate the symptoms – you cannot however, force anyone to take medication (only if they are ‘sectioned’ under the mental health act). Medication also has side effects – these vary and will be obvious.
Stress on the person only compounds the symptoms, and may trigger other symptoms that may, or may not be verbalised. Stress may cause their mannerisms, actions and co-ordination to change and their volition to diminish.
Their behaviour can appear strange bordering on the bizarre and can be disconcerting to anyone who has not encountered mental disorder before. Furthermore, what they are thinking may come out almost contrary when spoken and put into action.
The following are some statements made by befriendees at various times and places:
“My spirit is taking over the way I think.”
“I hear voices like someone talking in the next room. I can’t make out what they are saying, they are there all the time.”
“When someone calls for help, I transfer my mind to where they are, so I am able to help them.”
“I have a wasting disease – I am going rotten from the inside. I have caught it from talking to others. So I will avoid them, so not to catch anything else.”
“I’m not taking my medication anymore, I feel fine now, so what’s the point.”
“The people who are aggressive towards me are full of disease – I must avoid them in case I catch that disease.”
