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Sarah  Hawkins (she/her)'s avatar

Last comment from me (a person who has experienced major episodes of psychosis and is now recovered) on the question asked about how to deal with a relative coming out with delusions of persecution. I completely agree with the psychiatrists here that the best approach is to not agree with the delusions, but to show concern and empathy. Even when I had no insight that I was ill, I was still able to intuit the emotions coming off the person I was talking to, and people who were calm and kind really helped to soothe me and I was more likely to trust them. This approach is not infallible but is definitely the best approach to take in my opinion.

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Sarah  Hawkins (she/her)'s avatar

I remember despairing about the size of the problem facing people with mental health problems when they are negotiating the benefits system, and a friend of mine who is a RMN said to me “it’s true that you can’t fix all that for them, but you can help one person at a time”. So Thomas’ words reminded me of her good advice which really helped me at the time

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Sarah  Hawkins (she/her)'s avatar

Erick Wales has a Substack called The Manic Messiah where he relates his experiences with psychosis and how it felt to him. Any students following this podcast- feel free to check it out

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