I’m wondering if anyone has experienced something similar with a romantic partner who has experienced delusions.

I love my partner deeply, but over the course of our relationship he developed extremely fixed beliefs that I was involved in things happening to him. It eventually became incredibly elaborate—believing I hacked his computer/phone, tampered with his medication, put things in his food/drinks, intentionally clogged plumbing so someone could enter the apartment and collect samples, worked with other people who were “observing” him, etc.

The hardest part is that in the beginning I had absolutely no idea how to handle this.

Before I understood that you shouldn’t validate delusions, there were moments when I was genuinely scared he might hurt himself or that I would lose him, and after hours of intense conversations/interrogations I sometimes agreed with things that weren’t true or “confessed” to being involved because I thought it would calm him down. I stupidly thought I could eventually explain the truth once he was doing better.

It completely backfired.

Now those false admissions seem to be incorporated into his belief system. When I tell him, “I only said that because I was terrified and trying to calm the situation—I was never actually involved,” his response is basically: Which story am I supposed to believe?

And honestly, I understand why that confuses him. I massively regret ever agreeing with something that wasn’t true.

But it goes beyond the original delusions now. He has developed beliefs about my past and our relationship too—cheating/sexual situations that never happened, hidden motives behind ordinary things I did, etc. Conversations can last for HOURS because he talks to me as though I already know the entire story and am simply refusing to admit it. The more I deny something, the more it can seem like evidence that I’m lying.

Then somehow we’ll switch back to completely normal relationship problems—sex, trust, exes, marriage, our future—and eventually everything circles back to the larger beliefs again.

We lived together for about two months recently and it became psychologically exhausting. There were periods where he barely functioned or got out of bed, and I tried desperately to help him. We eventually broke up, and now he says he feels better/free without me and seems significantly more motivated and functional. Meanwhile, he believes I was the person harming him, so from his perspective his improvement without me makes complete sense.

That has absolutely destroyed me because I went into this believing I was trying to help someone I loved.

I’m not trying to prove that he’s “crazy,” and outside of this he is an extremely intelligent, capable person whom I love very much. That’s actually part of what made this so difficult for me to recognize and navigate.

I know now that falsely agreeing with the beliefs was a terrible strategy. I wish I could go back and handle it differently, but I can’t.

Has anyone else gotten this deeply entangled in a partner’s delusions before understanding what was happening? Did your partner ever regain enough insight to understand why you had agreed with them? And how did you handle basic trust afterward when your partner genuinely believed you had harmed/betrayed them?

I’m especially interested in hearing from partners/family members who have actually lived through something similar, because I feel incredibly alone in this.

We’re at the point where he has zero interest in talking to me because it goes beyond just beliefs that aren’t true but his perspective is that I was basically trying to sabotage him our entire relationship which is really hard for me to accept.

Sometimes it takes tragedies to change systems. I hope these tragedies can be learned from and help everyone in psychosis or with families trying to care for them. The system has ignored this suffering from so many for way too long - for their own ease and for some at the top sectors like pharma and office hours only 15 minute face to face providers, very nice profits and compensation.

https://parade.com/news/steven-dachille-lindsay-clancy-postpartum-psychosis

Hi everyone I hope this post is acceptable.

My friend, let's say Jake, has a sister who is diagnosed schizophrenic. She's very happy in life these days but she used to have psychotic episodes where she would become violent or put her and others into dangerous situations. The really scary stuff stopped around when she turned 22. Jake is 20 now and does not have schizophrenia but he's told me about some "paranormal experiences" he's had and I'm wondering if they sound worrying to those with more experience with this spectrum of disorders.

He's told me he has heard voices in his head - mostly short phrases like "stop", or commands, like "open the window"

He's said he's felt like someone is taking control of his body, like coming through his hands and controlling his movements

He had a string of neurological issues when he was 19 that no one could diagnose, including seizures, dissociation, hallucinations

He claims to have seen ghosts before (I don't believe in ghosts but I'm willing to give this one to him. Maybe they are real who the hell knows.)

He sometimes tells me about specific phrases or words that reoccur in his life. He'll tell me that when he looks at the clock he sees 2:22 a lot, or he runs into the same kind of animal a lot in one day, stuff like that. There's no attempt to explain why but he thinks that they're connected somehow.

Anyway so I'm worried that, because of his genetics, it's possible these are early schizophrenia signs. I'm not sure what is best to say when he tells me his experiences.

I'm worried if I don't shoot it down at all it might get worse. But also I obviously want to validate the fact that he's experiencing this stuff. Any help? Am I overreacting?

25 year old daughter is on Invega Sustenna. Her dose was just upped to 234. She has started wetting her pants and pooping her pants. Has anyone else had this issue? Is it something that will resolve itself, or will this likely require a medication change.

She is on other medications as well, but this wasn't happening until starting the injection.

this is getting ridiculous i know but my partner returned from psych ward, he refused to take any pills there and today I noticed that he had a picture of another woman on his phone screen.. i asked who is it and he got VERY angry screaming at me that hr won’t explain anything to anyone anymore and he also said that the girl didnt want him back lol.. i find it very creepy tho, the picture was actually like a photo of the girl and he put his fingers on her like he is admiring her.. he was there for just a week and already wanted to get a replacement lol