I'm 18, and I consider myself a very logical and intelligent person, but I have really been struggling with some weird stuff lately.

I keep obsessing over the idea that I could be in a dream/simulation or something to that affect- basically that the entire world doesn't actually exist outside of my consciousness. I know this sounds very self absorbed, but believe me, I have read pretty much any argument against this that you can possibly imagine, and I don't get any pleasure out of the idea. Logic, common sense, and arguments aren't working.

What worries me is that everyone else seems to think such a situation is unlikely. I don't agree with this. I think it is entirely possible and I don't see much reason to assume the world is "normal" over one of these weird solipsistic theories.

I get confused about how, if the world is real, everyone else is able to know that it actually exists. Any mention of things like politics, countries, history, etc. confuses me and makes me anxious trying to figure it all out. The most random things will set this off. I even got distracted during a movie recently because I kept asking myself how the characters all know/believe that other people exist. In my geography class I couldn't focus because I was obsessing over whether the earth actually exists as a physical object.. (yes I'm aware this is pretty stupid).

It's a problem to the point where I think about it from the instant I wake up until I manage to fall asleep. This whole thing is really worrying and upsetting me because I feel like I'm not thinking straight.

I'm also experiencing crazy mood swings where I go from feeling absolutely amazing to completely depressed/anxious/hopeless within the same day.

What should I do?

I stopped taking olanzapine suddenly and suffered for four months from not sleeping at all. Now I have returned to sleeping 6 to 7 hours a day for two months with frequent waking up at night due to the gradual reduction in the dose. Will the past months of insomnia cause me heart problems, knowing that I suffer from palpitations from time to time? What action should I take now?

i am wondering if anyone has only had one major phycosis episode in their life, and then weaned off of the anti psychotics and never had another episode again? without any medication? or if anyone you know has gone back to normal after mj induced phycosis?

this one felt crazy other then anything . where i had a moment of shock , it felt like when u wake up froma dream . it was night and i suddently felt alive and my mind convinced me that *me , isnt an actual person and it was only made up in my head and i wasnt even a human i was in fact a voodo puppet . nothing she experienced was real . that felt like i was on a trip in salvia . have u evr had similar experiences ?

Just as the title says, I want to make some friends but I am pretty unstable which makes it hard to keep friends. I value my beliefs very highly so I need my friends to agree with me politically and such. How do you get friends like that who aren't weird about you being psychotic?

seriously. i have enough of this. its always those small annoying bugs that i keep feeling and NO ONE ever sees it! I've talked to my parents, my uncles and aunts, even my young cousins if they are seeing it and they always say "no, theres no bugs on you..." I can feel it dammit! i can see it!

i hate it. this plus the random headaches and pains makes me feel like im rotting away, like theres bugs in my brains or guts! its so weird! i always end up crying. urgh.

I feel like I’ve been stuck in a state for a while and I’m just realizing it and I think I’m noticing it cause it’s getting worse I can be a very self aware person but like I just don’t remember what’s been happening I keep hearing my name being called and there’s no one there and new figures I haven’t seen before (the only part that makes me worry is hearing things) I kinda always see things so I’m used to it but it’s like increased also my friends been annoyed with me cause apparently I just “ghosted them” I don’t feel like I ghosted them I just don’t think it’s necessary to hangout with people that don’t want you around I don’t know why they would want to be around someone like me anyway my speech impediment been becoming more prominent which I hate I’ve worked so hard to learn how to suppress it and I don’t know how I just don’t know what’s going on with me I feel confused and possibly scared cause I genuinely can’t piece things together and I usually can I’m scared someone I know will notice there’s something wrong with me I don’t know how to fix this nor do I know what I’m experiencing. Sorry about there being no punctuation

so i went to hang out with a friend today, we hang out from time to time cuz she lets me vent to her, and she also has mental health struggles.

well i went into detail abt the things i hear/see and my paranoia and stuff. she told me it’s a spiritual attack or the “enemy” getting to me. she told me she hallucinates too and she believes it’s all spiritual. she said it’s normal to hear/see things, especially if you’re a christian/believe in god+satan

Dealing with voices that I'm convinced are real dead people ( there's no convincing me that they aren't real so no point). I'm really trying to come to turns with what their saying that I'm causing suffering from my repeatitive thoughts. They are telling me they can't do this anymore, they say "you can't get away with it" "I hate you" to "die" that I'm torturing them with my cyclical and anticipatory thoughts

They're are suffering and I'm causing it.

They're telling me to die and I don't want to its not fair. How can I cognitively continue to live if they're suffering? Meds aren't workingive tried 6),this has been happening for 2 years and I want it to stop. I want to be myself again. Every moment of every day of my life they spew their hate. They were so kind and over time they've become so tired and broken. How can I continue to live when they are so tired?

I don't know what to do. I tell them I love them but it's coming from a place of fear and placating

Please help. Obviously I'm delusional so telling me they're not real won't suddenly convince me I'm not.

I dont know if this is allowed here sorry if it isn't but I have a question based off something I've observed and I was wondering if they are an actually medical studies or science to back this up. I did some light research but it seems like this topic hasn't been explored that much. In fact the oldest study I found about weed and its interactions with testosterone was from 2017. So for a little bit of background I am female and severe mental health issues run in my family. My dad is bipolar and had a manic psychotic break when I was 10 which landed him in the hospital for months. 4 years later right before I turned 14 I also ended up going through psychosis which kick started 3 years of being in and out of the hospital, not going school, trying a bunch of medication, becoming addicted to one of medications, then finally beating that addiction and deciding it was time for a change because every second of everyday felt like torture. A few months after I started smoking weed. Contrary to what you may you think it would do I started working out, eating better, I was less paranoid, less agoraphobic, I ended up being able to get back to school after years and overall it improved all of my mental health symptoms. Today I was on TikTok and I saw a video of a mother talking about how her son has weed induced psychosis. I then looked through the comments and a commenter posted that they had the opposite experience weed really help relieve a lot of their psychotic symptoms. I check the commenters profile and they are a woman. This is when a thought popped into my head so I commented that I've noticed most people who have gone through weed induced psychosis that I've heard of have been males and that maybe weed interacts with testosterone or androgen. A psych RN then responded the only people she has seen come in with weed induced psychosis. So that prompted me to do some research on the interactions between weed, testosterone and androgen. There is a lot of research I still I have to go through but I'm sure people on this subreddit are much more knowledgeable than me on current research on this topic. If there is a link between weed induced psychosis and male sex hormones could that also help us understand the pathophysiology of psychosis in general but also in the treatment of drug induced psychosis. Or at least we would know that males especially young males before their brain has finished developing are at a higher risk of developing drug induced psychosis than females.

I don’t really know how to explain this but right when I wake up I feel like I’m going back into some type of psychosis. I’m not currently experiencing any and it goes away after a little but when I wake up in the morning I have delusions which is weird because the only times I’ve experienced any psychosis I didn’t have delusions. I’m on medication but I’m lowk scared it’s gonna come back idk if it’s important enough to tell a doctor or something about tho.

I've had plenty of hallucinations when I was younger(3yrs ago) and they were pretty intense: Baboon man watching throung my windows, monkey taunting me through a shadow. Weird dread-head man peeking into my room. But nothing shook me like that eagle. It materialized out of nowhere, it flew in small circles defying any laws of physics and it flew down to hover it's massive talons over my little sister's head. The room was tinged for some reason, and I was releasing a hoarse whail, almost screaming. I was 13 at the time and the voice I was producing did not make sense for my vocal chords. I was on autopilot, shot out of my bed and reached out for the eagle, trying to catch it.

I have questions to what that could have meant and what psychological issues could lead to such a terrifying hallucination and physical reaction to it

When I had my episode in July my best friend was really there for me, but that meant she knows the worst of it. She knows every detail about my delusions and the events that led to me being forced into the psych ward, and I stayed with her for a little after I got out. She has a one year old and a four year old who I obviously spent a lot of time with when I was staying with them, but today for the first time she asked me if I could baby sit alone. She’s never made me feel judged or like she didn’t want the kids around me, but to know that even after knowing every detail of what I went through she would still trust me alone with them means so much to me. I cried when she asked. She has a lot of family and close neighbors so it’s not an act of desperation, she just knew both the kids and I would enjoy it. To know she still sees me as the same person I was before proves that the people who really know you and care about you won’t stop just because you go through something like this.

I wanted to share to encourage anyone who is afraid to open up to their friends about their psychosis (past or present) to trust the people who love you. I think this is a Winnie the Pooh quote, but “those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind”. Confiding in her helped me get back to normal and didn’t change the way she sees me and I’ll be eternally grateful.

He really needs meds but unfortunately missed the cutoff for open enrollment last night. Going another year without treatment would be a potentially life-altering disaster for him. He has had bad experiences getting treated in the past (put in a facility involuntarily, refused the meds he was given) and it took me a long time even persuading him to seek treatment, so he will need a sure hand. He is largely estranged from his family and I seem to be the only one helping him with this (from the opposite coast, doing what I can). Frankly I am also looking for a reliable doctor to help guide him back to reality, which I can’t do alone.

Any thoughts on what some options could be? What comes to mind are:

1. There is a free psychiatric clinic in LA (where he lives) but the reviews are atrocious. Given his bad experiences with medical treatment in the past I am reluctant to jeopardize progress with a crummy clinic.

2. Looks like Covered California has a “special enrollment” period with certain criteria. Is this pretty restrictive or is it easy to get into?

3. Medi-cal also seems to be an option—not sure if he meets income cutoff though and smaller selection of doctors.

4. Paying out of pocket is technically an option, though seems prohibitively expensive.

5. Is there any other way to acquire affordable insurance/care outside of the open enrollment period?

Very bummed he missed the open enrollment but don’t want to give up hope for helping him.

We are now in February 2025. Let's continue with healthy practices during our recovery of experiencing psychosis.

I think I was irrational and not functioning normally for two years beforehand

Is there anyone who’s having last effects from mushrooms years later? These issues just won’t leave. It genuinely feels like the toxins are stuck in my neck/head area. I feel like shit all day have no energy, and even anti psychotics didn’t help it feels like something is blocking them. Do root canals have any association with this issue I’ve tried everything else..

My brother (27) has been medically diagnosed with psychosis since 2020. It appeared a few months after my father's death. We had to force him to take his medication since all lenient methods failed. He was aggressive, physically assaulting me and my sister, and experienced severe hallucinations, believing that people were stalking him, that he was being targeted by a worldwide organization, or that our other brother was plotting against him.

Despite our efforts, he would stop taking his medication behind our backs and relapse. This cycle has repeated over the past four years, with him relapsing three times. In December 2024, he received a notice to serve in the military. Although we were completely against it, knowing that he only wanted to use it as an opportunity to stop his medication, the authorities declined his medical file, and he was forced to serve (mental illnesses are heavily stigmatized in Algeria).

Now that he's finally returned home, he is exhibiting the same symptoms—hallucinations and disruptive behavior. Although he's not aggressive yet, we are concerned that he might become violent again. He constantly provokes my mother, cursing and threatening her, even though he knows she suffers from hypertension.

My other brother, who has suffered the most in this situation, refuses to take responsibility anymore. We're all exhausted and unsure of what to do. We are hesitant to send him to a psychiatric ward, fearing it might worsen his condition, but we also feel that we can't handle this anymore.

What should we do? What would be the best solution in this situation based on your experience?

I don’t think I’d be considered a danger to myself or others. My psychiatrist knows I engage in SH but it’s limited, superficial and never requires medical attention. He states I’m experiencing psychosis and says I’m paranoid and delusional with limited insight. Says my judgement is poor. I’m just not sure if he’d use this against me to push inpatient.

I stopped meds last year because I believed they were getting in the way of me receiving information/answers from some entities. Everything was going to make sense. The voices were actively trying to work with me. The meds interfered with that line of communication and I don’t think it’s ever been the same. They don’t always talk to me the same way, I’m not sure I’ll ever get what they want to give me again or maybe if I allow enough time to pass they will want to reconnect. My issue with my psych wanting me to take meds right now is that I don’t want to disrupt the communication even further, I don’t know how close I am to losing that thread and I don’t want to do irreversible damage to it. I need to maintain some form of communication/access to the voices so I don’t lose them.

April 28, 1958, Alejandra Pizarnik writes in her diary: “I lose days, life, sleep. But it is not my fault if I desire death and life at the same time, at the same time. And I want it all at the same time. I am distressed because I would like to be everything and I am only nothing.”

First I'm not a doctor, just to be clear I'm not trying to give medical advice. But hopefully this can help someone. As far as I know, there is a study that shows improved cognitive function in patients with schizophrenia/ idk how large or reliable the study was, but it helped me, maybe it will help you.

!!Also, be aware that ashwaganda may drop blood sugar levels!!

Context: My psychosis was depression-linked and I was abused growing up in a way that made me "become the parent/overly emotionally responsible for others." So it may be different for you depending on your psychosis.

I'm a pretty small person so I only take 125 mg a day, and that's usually enough.

The ashwaganda has apathy as a potential side effect and I think that's what really helps most. I feel "subdued" but in the way that I did pre-psychosis, which is good.

I had a lot of intrusive thoughts, I still do from time to time, but it's much better now. Hallucinations have all but stopped, nightmares are also much better now. Delusions are slowly getting better as well.

I feel like my brain is actually healing, the way it wasn't on any other medications.

Do not go against your doctor please, if you're curious just ask them not me 😭

I’m just devastated at this point it’s been 4 years and I have gotten blamed for the craziest shit from my ex due to psychosis. We are very on and off. He went to the military and came back cuz he got kicked out and I’m scared he’s stuck in it this time. He’s changed his identity several times and this time he’s claiming the name Lucifer. I love him so much and I know this isn’t him and I’m wondering if psychosis can be permanent? His brain seems fried

Asking about my 2nd paragraph onwards.

I am diagnosed with psychosis with delusions; with the delusions being that I thought I was a spy and was being spied on, both at home and in the ward, that was a den of spies and mind readers.

But in the week prior to all this, I had an additional belief that my childhood crush was communicating to me through Spotify song titles and telling me to go places; which I did, climbing up the bell tower of a church thinking she was up there waiting for me and to ring it as well (I didn’t, thankfully).

On top of this, I also thought the song titles were a test from a higher power and I had to type out the answers in a word document or they’d blow up my house.

Were these still delusions or something worse? Should I remind my doctor in case he missed this out?

I hit a cart maybe 10 times for 5-12sec (my tolerance has been low recently, but i've been smoking for years and used to smoke 2g a day for years with no issue) and all was normal for hours up until i left my friends house and got in the car with my sister. I said out loud "Salvia. DMT. It's real. It's all coming together." and i had a vision that my sister turned to me and said "What's wrong? Are you realizing that Salvia is real?" My pupils were huge and i was transported to different universes of pain and suffering of different repetitive physical painful sensations like my feet pushing together my head scratching, my crotch being grabbed, my throat choking, and it felt like i was falling in on myself. i was trapped in this weird cube and i was hearing myself say “WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING TO ME AM I DEAD AM I DEAD” but it didn’t sound normal it sounded like i was in a padded room or something and i could hear choking sounds and i was in my sisters car and i could see my hand and my hoodie sleeve and her car and it was mirrored 4x and it just kept falling in on itself and i thought i discovered the afterlife.nd then i was transported to this universe where my gaze was fixed and it was at this weird flipped angle and my sister looked weird, almost too symmetrical and too perfect and her voice sounded weird and she said “my name you’re home and unbuckled my seat and i was panicking again and i saw my hand reach out but it was like a video game u wasn’t controlling it and i could feel my body banging against stuff but my vision stayed transfixed and i started yelling and choking again and she said to me “my name this is the universe where my sisters name was right” and i was freaking out and a bunch of other stuff happened, then i had a memory of me and this awful person in my life doinf salvia and cocaine together at a sleepover and i saw the world in a thousand different art styles and i spent multiple years as an inanimate object. My body felt insanely weird and i had sharp stabbing pains. So many things happened that were indescribable. I’ve greened out before and thought i was dying and this was NOT that. i was in a this weird square thing of images outside my house roatated together outside my house where i couldn’t move suffocating me and like spiraling together and all i could hear was my voice echoing together “WHAT IS GOING ON OH MY GOD IS THIS FOREVER WHAT IS GOING ON WHAT IS GOING ON OH MY HOD OH MU HOD OH MU GOD OH MY GOD AHHJHHH AHHHHHH AHHHH AHHHHHHHH” and then like forming was my house and then a car and then my body and then my family and i was freaking out being like “i can’t move i can’t breathe why can’t i move and i was like “I CANT BREATHE” and my parents were like “don’t freak out and i was getting really worried and i was crying and i was like “MOM MOMMY” and my mom was like “don’t freak out” and i was sobbing and i said “then why can’t i move then why is this my last memory” then she started getting teary and then i started saying i’m sorry i love you and the spiral started fading into black “I love you i love my sister i love my dad i love the my cat i love the chickens i love my friend i love bad person in my life i don’t know i love the cats i love the dog i love instagram i love nature i love the chickens i love twitter everyone i’m sorry i love everything i’m dying i’m so sorry i love you i’m so sorry call an ambulance i’m sorry” and the spiral faded away and i said “i’m dying i died im dead” i found out later that i didn't actually say any of that and i wasn't in that car. A lot of other stuff happened but it's too draining to write down but i think you get the jist of it. Sorry if this is written weird i pieced it together from texts to my friends. I also spent years as an inanimate object and saw the world in thousands of different art styles. I feel 12 years older after this. I don't even know how to describe the physical sensations. After i was out of the worst of it and was 60% functional my phone felt so weird in my hands and my body felt so weird and my vision was so weird. I can't describe it. There's so much i can't describe. I have anxiety, panic disorder, C-PTSD, OCD, ADHD, depression, autism, and a lot of stress in my life. I feel like i need to turn to religion after this and i feel wiser. I don't know. This was unlike anything that's ever happened to me in my life.

Wondering if my psych might be wrong? What if he has my diagnosis of schizophrenia wrong. What if he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. He has limited reviews. Some reviews claim he had no idea what he was talking about with regard to BPD and ADHD. Some unhappy people, some calling him inexperienced. Only a few reviews like that. What if he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. In his notes he says I’m paranoid, delusional, poor insight. Maybe he’s wrong. What if this is just one big mess

I feel so torn and not really having many people who understand. Partner is hospitalized forcibly. He has a really severe acute drug induced psychosis. Believes some intense religious delusions. He's become to all his friends and myself very emotionally manipulative, aggressive at times and completely different than who he really is. Our ability to support him through this with love is absolutely impossible. This all began because he huffed petrol. A massive trauma underlying the delusions. It's heartbreaking because he was doing very well in life, didn't use drugs at all and somehow believed he was doing something safe but alot of his actions are surrounded by an immense denial and we found a notebook that we read as a suicide note. He was slowly trying to kill himself which he did admit to me. Something happened to him to push him to this point. He was the most caring, loving dedicated partner I've ever had and he would of done anything for our family. My heart breaks that he is essentially gone trapped in his mind and none of us know if he will ever come back. The hospital let him go on a day outing against our wishes and all his progress we made with a friend who had also been in his shoes on the same hallucinating substance. She really connected with him. He hugged me how sorry he is for putting me through this, told us he wanted treatment if we felt it was best. He was so loving and sweet . The next day he was let out told he was fine, very aggressive we put him in the hospital all his awareness of the situation gone a massive switch up. He was taken back from the police after locking himself in his home paranoid. He sent me so many messages I practice black magic and have ruined everything, then Adamet I have to move in so he can protect me, a mixture between he wants to give m3 salvation save me, anger, leave him alone. I told him I love him but have to walk away for my mental health. He's contacted my friends trying to play off He's not delusional and telling them to move in with me. People wonder if he's playing on things but he is also apparently very erratic talking to himself no awareness in the ward.

I'm struggling to let him go as it's like he's died but still there. I'm struggling to accept this has happened. I feel like I could of done more earlier on and my heart is breaking so much. His delusions, voices and behaviors are very versatile severe. Hurts so much 💔 Thanks I've you read this far

Good friend of mine went into psychosis for the first time a few weeks back followed up by a week-long hospital stay. He sent a lot of bridge-burning messages throughout the event but we know it wasn't him. Since returning home early this week he has not reached out to any of us and has shut us all out when we try to ask him how he's doing. He wants us all to "go back to normal" but there is an elephant in the room. We were involved in getting him to the hospital so it's not as though we don't know the details of the event.

We want to be supportive but we also want him to take some accountability or at a minimum acknowledge that it happened. Any advice?