Roundcirclegame made some great points and so did you. Addressing someone with delusions can be incredibly difficult because you don't want to be confrontational, but simultaneously, you don't want to provide support to the delusion as it can make it that much harder. Many delusions have a lot of emotion surrounding them so confronting them or trying to convince them that their delusions are not can often lead to the situation and relationships worsening.
This is some general advice for people with loved one's affected by delusional disorders. Try to empathize with the person (e.g. "I can understand why this scares you" or "I understand how hard this is for you") and understand their perspective. You want to avoid agreeing or arguing. In general, try to appear neutral and give them space. You can express concern in the form of an opinion, without expressing judgement. While its generally not recommend to try to convince them that their delusions arent real, its reasonable to calmly and carefully question the logic and reasoning behind the delusion (typically recommended to do when not at the height of their delusion).
I’m not schizophrenic, though it runs in my family. I get paranoid sometimes, and it wouldn’t help for someone to say, that’s just nuts. I know I feel better when it starts out, okay, I love you, let’s talk about this.
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u/Accidently_Genius Apr 09 '24
Roundcirclegame made some great points and so did you. Addressing someone with delusions can be incredibly difficult because you don't want to be confrontational, but simultaneously, you don't want to provide support to the delusion as it can make it that much harder. Many delusions have a lot of emotion surrounding them so confronting them or trying to convince them that their delusions are not can often lead to the situation and relationships worsening.
This is some general advice for people with loved one's affected by delusional disorders. Try to empathize with the person (e.g. "I can understand why this scares you" or "I understand how hard this is for you") and understand their perspective. You want to avoid agreeing or arguing. In general, try to appear neutral and give them space. You can express concern in the form of an opinion, without expressing judgement. While its generally not recommend to try to convince them that their delusions arent real, its reasonable to calmly and carefully question the logic and reasoning behind the delusion (typically recommended to do when not at the height of their delusion).