Help for a friend who is seeing ghosts

[HLon99]

Dear all,

Hope you are well. I have bipolar disorder which I have been keeping under control for a number of months now. However, I have a friend who I am very concerned about. He has been depressed for a while following a relationship breakdown. He's a very emotional person with a fragile psyche. He has had he crisis team come over to his house a number of times due to self harm. He has in the past been offered medication and therapy but has refused treatment.

Recently, his depression has worsened and he has been taking a lot of drugs. He now babbles incoherently and doesn't make any sense when he talks. He also claims that he has been periodically haunted by ghost is heavily obsessed with the occult. I spoke to him when this happened and I tried to convince him to speak to a doctor about these issues. But knowing him he will just refuse treatment. He has a pretty strained relationship with his parents and he hasn;t told them about any of the things he is going through. All my friends are concerned about him but we don't know what to do.

Can anyone offer some advice on how to help a person in crisis

thanks in advance
-H

 

[goodgollymiss]

You could find a prayer book to get the ghosts out

 

[JessisMe]

I’m really sorry to hear that your friend is struggling. It can be so hard to watch people struggle when they clearly require intervention and support. I would contact their parents to let them know what is going on with the situation. They might not be able to help with anything but at least they would know. Next I would contact crisis and share your concerns with them. Your friend clearly needs treatment. If he or she refuses then all you can do is try and be there for them. But do reach out for as much help as possible in trying to get through this. It is hard to experience someone you care about going through crisis and you and your friends need support too. xo, j

 

[HLon99]

I’m really sorry to hear that your friend is struggling. It can be so hard to watch people struggle when they clearly require intervention and support. I would contact their parents to let them know what is going on with the situation. They might not be able to help with anything but at least they would know. Next I would contact crisis and share your concerns with them. Your friend clearly needs treatment. If he or she refuses then all you can do is try and be there for them. But do reach out for as much help as possible in trying to get through this. It is hard to experience someone you care about going through crisis and you and your friends need support too. xo, j

Thanks jess, I'll try to get in touch with them. Realistically, they are the only ones that can help him. We've all tried to get through to him in the past, but he is just stubborn as a mule. Its so frustrating to help people who don't want to be helped.