ever have someone "commited"

[Lurker]

couple weeks ago a buddy had a near miss incedent at work and worried and stressed himself so bad that he had a breakdown, not a sit and cry for a few minutes breakdown but a "i hear voices" etc breakdown, now i am the only one who he has spoke to about these voices and if someone shows up at his door with a syringe and a straightjacket there will be no doubt who made the call. i thought for the first few days i would watch and help deal with this as i have lots of connections in the mental health field (relatives employed by them) and when he got back home his family etc would do the right thing. problem is his he hasn't said a word to his family and as far as they know he is just in a bad mood this week, his girlfreind who i was depending on most to talk him into getting help freaked out and bailed... i have talked to his family and they are pestoring him nonstop and he isn't answering the phone/door etc when they call. truth is i know what i have to do but i was wondering if anyone had any experiance with this sort of thing?

[mikepmcs]

If he will talk to you then sit with him and see if he will open up and maybe you can get in there and help him out.(all a temporary fix though)    Truth is though in reality if he has some mental issues you or anyone else ain't gonna fix them.  There is a wire loose and no matter what anyone does that wire will always be loose...does that make sense?

v/r
Mike

[last426]

Not committed, no.  Kim 

[Lurker]

i have sat with him and have done everything but outright tell him he has a problem as per mental health proffesional instructions, he is aware of the fact that he isn't running on all 8 cylinders because he is absolutly refuses to go get help and no one has suggested it yet.

currently he is no danger to himself or anyone else but things may worsen, just bothering me because i am 500 miles away and can't watch for myself and make the call when it does get worse, hopefully his family does the right thing or i will have to be "the bad guy" for the greater good.

i am gonna have to make the call monday unless his family steps up even though i know he will never forgive me but its that or let things progress till the worst happens.

[Lurker]

its not "voices" he is hearing but rather god has spoken to him and given him a new path in life.. a rather strange path, he believes it is his job to re educate all christian beleivers to this new faith that god has entrusted him with etc etc before the end of the world.. which by the way is july 7th, so i have to make sure things are taken care of because.. well the 7th isn't that far away. there has been talk of the apocolypse and the antichrist etc and he has studied a bunch of articles published by some terminal cancer patient from scotland that had access to unlimited narcotics and a the internet really off the wall stuff.

he told me he wanted me to be his first convert because i am his freind and i would listen to him. its been an interesting week.

[Charger1973]

damn dude...  id keep him away from churches thats for sure...  guy might snap.   

july 7th is the end of the world?  thats my b-day.  go figure!   

[Lurker]

ya the 7th... i told him he should have told me that 6 months ago i woulda went and got a loan and partied instead of buying heads and working on my car. as far as him snapping i think that boat has sailed, thank god he still has a sense of humor or i would have ruined him, when he wanted to convert me i told him i would never convert but he could try my dog and he laughed.

[68chrgrwife]

damn dude...  id keep him away from churches thats for sure...  guy might snap.   

july 7th is the end of the world?  thats my b-day.  go figure!   

07-07-07  the bible revolves around 7 (and 666).  If you read revelations it is told in there about it......

[2Gunz]

The end of the world eh?


Sounds like an excellent day to have a party.


And about your friend Im very sorry to hear about that.

[hemihead]

Get him professional help right away. Don't try to counsel him, you are not a doctor and may do more harm than good.

[firefighter3931]

Your friend needs to be asessed by a psychiatrist ASAP. He has fixed delusions ( god's messenger/july 7th date etc...) and his judgement is impaired. He is isolative and cutting himself off from friends and family....these are signs of impending problems. 

I've worked in the mental health field for over 20 years and have seen it all....and then some.  Trust me when i say this guy needs to be assessed. 



Ron

[70charger_boy]

I watched an episode of Law&Order once where a guy heard voices in his head and killed 4 people.  It turned out that he had an advanced stage of sifulus that was eating his brain.  He later died.

[dkn1997]

hearing voices and end of the world are the obvious clues that this guy is about to go off....badly.  If you ever want to look yourself in the mirror again, go to the nearest phone and report this guy to the cops, nuthouse, whatever.  If he thinks the end of the world is coming, then what's he go to lose by getting some guns and taking a bunch of nuns or kids with him?

whenever you hear about these nut jobs going off on a killing spree, there is usually a common denominator:  Hopelessness.  Nobody likes me and I have no hope, the end of the world is coming and I have no hope.  My wife is divorcing me and I have no hope.

Usually the person cannot see any good reason to go on living.  If this guy thinks It's all ending anyway, then watch out for him.

[Lurker]

its being dealt with, just being stuck on oposite ends of the province is stressing me out, i finally got ahold of his girlfriend last night and his familiy was enroute and going to take care of the situation.

[Mike DC]

Sounds good that something is being done.

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I've got a friend-of-friend who actually occupies a "grey area" on the delusional issue. 
He thought people were out to get him.  He though maybe he occasionally heard things being whispered being his back, but he was still open to the idea that it might all be in his head.

His family, friends . . . we all kept encouraging him to get a professional evaluation.  (It's a hell of an uncomfortable conversation to have with someone, let me tell ya.)  He finally went to a real doc on his own after about a year of being told to do it.   He didn't even get committed.  The doc said he was a rare situation where he had the symptoms mildly but he didn't seem uncontrollable or dangerous to others.  He takes meds now and he's still living a fairly normal life so far.

This guy had also smoked A LOT of cheap-grade pot in his teens/early 20s, and I've sometimes wondered if that played a role in ramping-up his problems.  Of course most people don't get issues like this just from smoking a little pot.  But there's some evidence that heavy weed use can help bring on these exact kinds of symptoms in people who were naturally prone and on the edge of it to begin with.  It seems like pot can sometimes "flip the switch" in certain people.

[Big Lebowski]

Sounds good that something is being done.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I've got a friend-of-friend who actually occupies a "grey area" on the delusional issue. 
He thought people were out to get him.  He though maybe he occasionally heard things being whispered being his back, but he was still open to the idea that it might all be in his head.

His family, friends . . . we all kept encouraging him to get a professional evaluation.  (It's a hell of an uncomfortable conversation to have with someone, let me tell ya.)  He finally went to a real doc on his own after about a year of being told to do it.   He didn't even get committed.  The doc said he was a rare situation where he had the symptoms mildly but he didn't seem uncontrollable or dangerous to others.  He takes meds now and he's still living a fairly normal life so far.

This guy had also smoked A LOT of cheap-grade pot in his teens/early 20s, and I've sometimes wondered if that played a role in ramping-up his problems.  Of course most people don't get issues like this just from smoking a little pot.  But there's some evidence that heavy weed use can help bring on these exact kinds of symptoms in people who were naturally prone and on the edge of it to begin with.  It seems like pot can sometimes "flip the switch" in certain people.

  I always do what the voices tell me to do...Come on snap out of it, and step away from the bong. Don't worry about the low grade weedheads, it's the killer chronic weed mixed with cases of RedBull that "flicks the switches" here in sunny So. Calif.

[firefighter3931]

This guy had also smoked A LOT of cheap-grade pot in his teens/early 20s, and I've sometimes wondered if that played a role in ramping-up his problems. 

Absolutely.....it's often referred to as drug induced psychosis. Sometimes an individual's mental illness (psychotic episode, paranoid schizophrenia, delusional thoughts etc...) will be precipitated by drug use. This is very common in males aged 18-30. Just say no to non prescription drugs ! 



Ron

[JR]

Well someone has to ask this.


Does he work for the post office?

[PocketThunder]

Did he drive a race car in a parade on Saturday? 

[sixpack70]

My soon to be ex-wife should be committed.

[70charger_boy]

My soon to be ex-wife should be committed.

They all should be commited

[RD]

I have had experience with this thing, and no, it is not the end of the world (no pun intended to his 7/7/07 remark).

If your buddy had a near miss incident at work that has caused him to re-evaluate his current life, it has most likely brought on a post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) response.  His symptoms do sound somewhat similar, but the auditory hallucinations sound more akin to schizophrenia or schizoaffective type disorders.  How old is your friend?  Schizophrenia is a genetically transmitted disorder that hits young men from the ages of 18 - 28 (most common range).  Does he often talk to himself and act upon solitary conversations?  Do some of his speech patterns become jumbled messes of words that seem to have no inherent meaning?

This is not the end, there are varying levels of schizophrenia (not saying he has it, but the auditory hallucinations are usually a giveaway) and it can be successfully treated with a combination of medication and cognitive behavioral therapy.

Your best bet should be to have him set up a meeting with the local mental health center to have a evaluation completed.  They willl perform adequate testing and assessment to determine what your friend is actually suffering from.

If you have any questions, please email me (go to my profile).

Hope this helps.