Boyfriend is going through psychosis

Dear All,
First, I must say apologize for the ramblings that is about to ensue. I’m emotionally drained for this all.

I believe my boyfriend may be going through psychosis. He believes he is under federal investigation. Unfortunately, he’s not fully able to know the reasoning for it. Can this be the case? Will the federal government truly “investigate” you and not tell you what for?

Second - he believes his lawyers and investigators have told him to disconnect with me because I give the appearance of him being dangerous because we went axe throwing and bottle breaking as a date activity. We have not been texting for an entire month and have kept all of our communication to social media messaging.

At first, I thought all of this were real and he’s going through a rough patch in life. But just last week, I texted him to see where he was at (instead of social media), and 12 hours later, lawyers and investigators are grilling him on why I texted him and why it appeared that he was in a conflict with me. This is when I realized that this may be all in his head. Not only that, but he also believes investigators are following him, with his phone and car tapped, and his house monitored. What’s worse is now he is isolating himself in his house and wants nothing to do with me (I’ve been since ostracized from his life - I think I asked too many questions that poked holes in his paranoia)

I’ve done quite a bit of research and this appears to be a common paranoia. But is there any chance this is actually happening? If not, why is his paranoia focused on me? I liked one of his Facebook status recently and again, immediately the next day, the investigators question him in why I liked it - even though 80 other people did as well.

I’ve reached out to his family for help but they’ve ignored my pleas. I’m not even sure they touched based with him on it as he hasn’t said anything or blocked me from social media. I did get him to agree to ONE counseling session with me next week in exchange for me to “disappear” from his life “forever”.

One more thing - he’s been seeing a counselor but most recently been referred to a psychiatrist (I have reasons to believe this is also in his head) and their #1 concern is suicide. He assured me that the “government would intervene” before he could commit. As I sat there crying for 20 minutes over this, he laid there, emotionless and no expression on his face.

Clearly, this has taken a huge toll on me. I constantly worry about him and potential suicide. Can someone please help? Is this a common thing for psychosis or is he *truly* going through a bad time with the government?

Thank you.

It is possible, but unlikely that what he is saying is true. I don't know federal investigation procedures to comment if it is at least plausible. I don't believe that they would ever advise that he break it off from you unless you were a target, especially not for such flimsy reasons. They certainly do not give a crap about facebook likes unless it is a post talking about terrorism or some such thing. It is very unlikely this is real.

I have gone through somewhat similar things, 100% certain that the police would be banging on my door at any time. I could not tell you why they would but I completely believed it. It could be something similar with your boyfriend, just more elaborate.

As to how to deal with it, I have little insight. But if he is saying that the #1 concern of his psychiatrist, real or imagined, is suicide and is thinking that some unlikely intervention will save him - not too likely as I think the government would move to have him committed on the basis of him being a danger while he is investigated, just my intuition if the investigation is actually real - I think it is at the point where you are more than justified in filing a police report and see if they will interview him to see if a civil commitment is necessary.

At this point, I think confronting him would be pointless in the best case and very scary in the worst. I don't say this lightly, and it is possible my own experiences are misjudging it but it seems the safest path for all.

Good luck and stay safe.

MDD with Psychotic Features, Dysthymia, GAD, Cluster C personality traits - Not taking any meds

Hello Whiskeycat: Thank you for bringing your concern here to PC. I see this is your first post. So... welcome to Psych Central. There's a forum, here on PC, dedicated to the subject of schizophrenia & psychosis. Here's a link just in case you want to take a look at it:

https://psychcentralforums.com/schiz...and-psychosis/

I'm not a mental health professional. However, based on what you wrote, it sounds as though your bf may be experiencing delusions. Here are links to 7 articles, from Psych Central's archives, that discuss what delusions are & how to deal with people who are experiencing them:

10 Things You Should Know About Delusions | Caregivers, Family & Friends

Coping With Your Loved One's Delusions | Caregivers, Family & Friends

8 Ways To Cope With Someone Who Has Delusions | Caregivers, Family & Friends

10 Things You Should Do With Someone Who Suffers Delusions | Caregivers, Family & Friends

Delusional Disorder: 8 Ways To Communicate Without Fighting | Caregivers, Family & Friends

https://blogs.psychcentral.com/careg...dium=popular17

https://blogs.psychcentral.com/careg...dium=popular17

I hope you find PC to be of benefit.

Thank you. This has been very helpful. In your experiences, what can someone do to help? I’ve been ostracized so right now, he just ignores me. What can I say to make things better?

If he will not talk to you and sees you as an antagonist I am not sure there are magic words outside of letting him know you are here for him and hope that he hears it.

Skeezyks suggestion to go to the psychosis boards is a good one. People tend to stay within one or two different categories and you will likely get some good insight there. Maybe you could ask a mod to move this thread over there?

MDD with Psychotic Features, Dysthymia, GAD, Cluster C personality traits - Not taking any meds