Sudden psychosis in bf-angry I hospitalised him

[OliviaTS]

My partner of 2 years had been speaking a little strangely for a few days but he’d just started two new jobs and a volunteering position so I thought it was because of that. Whenever I asked, he said he was just tired. Partway through a paintball session with friends, he was kicked out because of his self endangering behaviour. I went to speak with him and he was saying all kinds of weird things that made no sense at all. He thought nothing was wrong or different with him when I asked about the way he was speaking and his behaviourand I realised something was very wrong. I called his mum and took him straight to the nearest hospital. He didn’t seem aware of what was happening and kept saying strange and paranoid things like “people lied to me and I know their secret though but I’ll tell you if you know my name. You’ve got my number so if you ever need to be bailed out of jail, I know a guy”. So they saw him quickly at the hospital and he deteriorated quickly. He wouldn’t stop talking, said sexist and inappropriate things, said things like he was born in the 50’s and his job was to shoot people. I didn’t my best to comfort and support and chat to him like normal. The psych nurse said things like psychosis and paranoia and thst they would be keeping him overnight at least so he didn’t endanger himself. They said the police would be called if he tried to leave. Everyone suggested I go home and rest. The next day I found out that he was transferred closer to home but this hospital didn’t allow visitors because of covid 19. Since then we have spoken on the phone, he doesn’t know why he’s there but he remembers that I took him there. He says he’s over this cruel practical joke and he’ll never forgive me. I’m doing my best to support him but I’m grieving and I’m worried, I’m anxious, what if he’s never the same or never realised that I was terrified for him. I don’t know how to deal with these emotions!!

[romantic_thi3f]

Hi OliviaTS,

Thank you for your post and I'm sorry to hear about your boyfriend and what he's been going through- or what you've both been going through really. It sounds like it's been really hard.

I want to jump in and reassure you that you did the right thing in making this decision. With psychosis, his reality changed- and there's every possibility that if it wasn't for you and the decisions that you've made things could be a lot worse for him right now.

The other really good thing here is that you got him help early, which means that he has a better chance of recovery. People with psychosis can and do recover.

What sort of support do you have while going through this? How are you taking care of yourself?

I'm going to link to a couple of different resources here-

Sane help with more complex mental illnesses including psychosis so it might be really helpful to use their phone, email or webchat (all free)-

Information about ways to contact them > https://www.sane.org/services/help-centre 

They also have forums for friends/family that have more threads about psychosis here, as well as talking about relationships and taking care of yourself > https://saneforums.org/t5/Friends-Family-Carers-Forum/ct-p/carers-forum

Hope this helps, take care

rt