LittleWaySoul Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 Does anyone have any advice about or experience with friendship logistics with someone suffering severe mental illness (like anxiety, depression, panic disorder, etc.)? If so, it'd be great if you could PM me. I need advice on something. In the meantime, please pray for me and my friend! Thanks, pham! :love: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatherineM Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 My general advice as someone married to a schizophrenic is to learn to separate the person from the illness. When he is overtired and has breakthrough symptoms and thinks the TV is talking to him, I don't get mad at him. I get mad at the disease. I tell him that if the TV is talking to him, he should turn it off and go to bed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ithinkjesusiscool Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 One advice is: never act as if you're a psychiatrist/psychologist. Acts as a friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoseOfGuadalupe Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 What I needed was for someone to shut up, listen, and tell me I wasn't crazy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleWaySoul Posted October 1, 2014 Author Share Posted October 1, 2014 Thank you! I appreciate the advice-- it's all very good. I suffer from mental illness myself, so I definitely know how it feels to be scared of what friends will think. HOWEVER: I have a specific question to ask about a particular friendship that I'd rather not speak about on the public phorum. If anyone is free to answer it, please PM me or let me know. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleWaySoul Posted October 1, 2014 Author Share Posted October 1, 2014 My general advice as someone married to a schizophrenic is to learn to separate the person from the illness. When he is overtired and has breakthrough symptoms and thinks the TV is talking to him, I don't get mad at him. I get mad at the disease. I tell him that if the TV is talking to him, he should turn it off and go to bed. One advice is: never act as if you're a psychiatrist/psychologist. Acts as a friend. What I needed was for someone to shut up, listen, and tell me I wasn't crazy Meant to reply to all of you with my previous post, so here. Notification. :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ice_nine Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 One advice is: never act as if you're a psychiatrist/psychologist. Acts as a friend. If I may add to this, understand you can't be that person's superhero. That was a hard lesson I learned from experience. When you care about someone and want to see them do well you might sacrifice your own health to the point where you're not even really helping the person anymore and the relationship can become a mutual crapstorm. I won't blather on aobut my own circumstances but believe you me, it wound up being a humbling/humiliating lesson that I would do over so much differently if I had the chance. People who care deeply about others and who strive for Christlike sacrifice are susceptible to this type of burnout. Especially if you wind up being the sole purveyor of support for that person, it's too much. Make sure you're taking care of yourself and that YOU have people to reach out to you if this situation/friendship becomes too overwhelming. Years ago, pholks on phatmass gave me similar advice when I was in a similar situation, I think CatherineM was one of them, advice which I basically ignored and paid for dearly later. Sorry for droning on/projecting. Feel free to PM me if you'd like! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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