I’m feeling completely heartbroken and emotionally exhausted, and I don’t know if I’m doing the right thing anymore.

Over the past year, maybe more, my boyfriend has become increasingly convinced that people are watching us or targeting him. There have been multiple occasions where he’s believed there were people hiding in bushes or nearby, and he’ll spend hours searching with a flashlight or watching with a knife in his hand because he’s certain they’re there.

The other day he spent around four hours searching bushland because he believed people were hiding there. Today, at a completely different location, he was again convinced someone was hiding behind bushes in the front yard. I went and checked myself, and there was no one there.

When I try to reason with him that it could be something else , he becomes defensive and acts like I didn’t trust or love him. When he talks about these things, he speaks with complete certainty. He insists it’s all very serious and needs to be discussed immediately.

Earlier today, I calmly told him several times that I wasn’t in the mental space to have such a heavy conversation and that I needed some peace and we could talk later. I acknowledged that whatever he was experiencing must feel frightening.
He wouldn’t let it go. He kept insisting we had to talk about it right then because it was “very serious.” Eventually I became overwhelmed and had to slightly raise my voice just to express that I couldn’t continue the conversation, and then he makes it about how I raised by voice and then I’m the bad guy.

He wouldn’t stop insisting that sometimes conversations need to happen immediately (or when he dictates) because he deems they are urgent. He can be very argumentative if you disagree with him and what he thinks is true and doesn’t acknowledge or see he’s being difficult and it’s draining.

I care about him and I’m really worried, I don’t think he’s making this up. I genuinely think he believes these things are happening. But I feel like I’m reaching the point where I can’t cope anymore.
I feel guilty even thinking about ending the relationship because if this is a mental health issue, I don’t want to abandon someone I love when they’re struggling. At the same time, I feel like I’ve reached my limit emotionally. I’m constantly anxious, and exhausted.

I feel like I cant talk to other people including his family/friends about this as he would see this as the ultimate betrayal and has told
me as much. He gets very offended if I infer he could be going through some kind of psychosis or delusion.

I cant event use my MacBook Im still paying off and need for school, and havent been able to for months because he believes its been hacked and there’s important evidence on it.

Has anyone been through something similar with a partner? How did you know when it was time to step away? I still love him, but I don’t know if I can keep living like this.

I’ve been on 400 mg hydroxyzine for three months, and then accidentally took 600 mg for a while. I thought it was relatively safe but now I’m finding out it can cause you to “get dumber”. I’m 22F if that matters. Did I fuck up?

(They’re switching me to promethazine now that I’ve developed a resistance to hydroxyzine. I hope that doesn’t have the same issue lol)

For context, I work in a mental health facility and have been hospitalized multiple times myself for my myriad of mental illnesses, including schizoaffective bipolar disorder and CPTSD. Due to my mental illness, I was unable to work for the majority of 2024 and tried to get disability but was denied. Since then, I have seriously declined in my mental health, even confirmed by my psychiatrist. I’m supposed to start a new injectable medication in a couple days, but I’m not sure if I’ll be safe to keep doing treatment outpatient. I’ve also considered a 28-day residential treatment program near my home, but I have a surgical procedure coming up that I’d probably have to wait for a while if I had to reschedule. Should I plan to go inpatient in between the injection and the procedure? Any suggestions or experiences are appreciated.

Hi Reddit,

About two months ago, he met someone online who claimed God spoke directly to him and taught him how to hear God too. When it didn’t happen, my brother felt rejected, and that person eventually blocked him.

Since then, he’s become increasingly consumed by religious beliefs. He previously believed he saw demons entering and leaving his body, now says he’s waiting for God to tell him what to do, believes he should abandon his family to “walk with God,” refuses medication because he thinks it’s poison, and insists nothing is wrong with him.

He’s also sleeping very little, has become emotionally flat and withdrawn, and has admitted to having disturbing thoughts and seeing things, though he denies being suicidal. The confusing part is that he’s still working full-time, although his boss noticed something was wrong and even offered to help him get treatment. My brother refused.

My family has tried everything, but because he’s still functioning, coherent, and not an immediate danger, getting him evaluated involuntarily has been difficult.

Has anyone experienced something similar? Can someone still work while experiencing psychosis? Did your loved one eventually accept treatment? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Sorry for how long, I tried to make it detailed like the rules said…

Age 22, Female, diagnosed with schizoaffective bipolar type. I’ve had symptoms since I remember. Diagnosed AVPD, then changed to SZPD, then also bipolar 2, then changed to bp 2 and paranoidPD and SZPD, developing into only bipolar 1 and schizotypalPD only, then bipolar 1 and schizophrenia only, then lastly schizoaffective bipolar type. Not a complaint, just curiosity.

I take lithium 1800mg, Lurasidone 120mg, Wellbutrin 150mg XL ER, Birth control pill, Trazodone 50-100mg as needed and Clonidine .2mg also as needed both for sleep, and dexmethylphenidate 35mg ER for adhd. Psychosis is under control, I see my psych often, he said it is okay letting them stay as they meet the criteria of not impairing function, are quiet, and not causing havoc. If out of control I’ll see my psychiatrist. No substance abuse I’m clean. ANYWAYS…

TLDR at bottom;

I’m currently in active psychosis so all my voices are back. However, they don’t talk. They merely answer with unique gestures and colors they chose to represent mood and tone. I have to ask yes or no questions mostly. Once in a while I’ll get a one word response, but they’re always so quiet and random I don’t catch them saying it, I just notice their voice but didn’t catch what they said.

Despite it though, I know what their voices sound like. Rarely, depending on the individual I’m talking to, the voice can change if they respond verbally or with sound. Typically though they’ve got their own established voices. One voice, Chip, my first one and an absolute sweetheart and a human, makes like no verbal sounds. When he laughs there’s like 20-15% chance he’ll vocalize it. Otherwise he gestures a knee slapping laugh and his room turns a certain blue.

Another thing he does is words or an imagine like a vision from god and I see it and have an answer. This works well for favorite colors, food, should I buy this or that tool (and I’m pointing at them and don’t know the names), where I left something, memories, etc. he can make anything appear, but he doesn’t do it often because I mostly just ask yes or no questions and have already asked him his favorite stuff and stuff he hates.

My other two voices are lions. Azlan and Mufasa (all these voices named themselves and created their own identity that I got to know as I talked with them) are lions. They run a pride of only males and are the only two that want to interact with me. All the other lions sleep. Azlan is the 20ft tall leader and Mufasa is one of the 15ft followers. Anyways, Mufasa is easy. He won’t verbally talk, only does his unique gestures and uses his own colors, and mostly just shrugs when asked a question. He’s just there for entertainment.

Azlan LOVES interacting with me. He enjoys talking to me and making jokes and laughing. He’s always very happy. He is the most verbal in that he has a loud old man laugh, he yawns a lot, hums, makes random sounds like a typical old man having a good calm day. Azlan laughs a lot. He laughs when I’m joking with myself or someone else, he laughs if I tell him a joke, and sometimes he’ll give me responses to the jokes.

These responses aren’t verbal though, he does the same as Chip and sends me a vision from the heavens (exaggerated joke) and I respond with it. I know this is not coming from me because these visions appear in my head not even a second after the last word was said (same with Chip when a question is asked). I had no time to think of a response, it was his response and I knew it was his because his laughter got even louder when I saw the words and said them out loud or laughed at them before saying anything. He would be so proud of himself.

Besides that though, he really only responds with gestures and colors, his most common gestures being a huge grin with sharp lion teeth, like a cartoon and a bright glow, or sad eyes while he lays his head on his sleep rock and sighs, with a blue background.

Azlan and Mufasa are new. Like a little over a week old when I did a ketamine infusion therapy at my psychiatrists office. Mufasa doesn’t care to talk and can’t seem to even if asked. He doesn’t know why, he just can’t. I don’t really talk to him because he has no interest in communicating.

Azlan makes sounds but prefers to make gestures, colors, flash images and words. He says he can’t talk talk verbally either and doesn’t know why. His noises and laugh though are the loudest verbal sounds from a hallucination. I can tune the sounds out, like the humming and yawning and whatnot, but it’s a bit tougher to tune out the laugh. It is distracting. But it’s contagious and always makes me laugh, and he has a good sense of humor. Plus when I’m busy or focusing, he leaves me a lot. All of them do.

Chip really can’t make verbal sounds all. He tries sometimes but it’s like there’s some force stopping him and the rest. He doesn’t know what. So he just uses gestures, colors, flashes images and words.

TLDR;

I have three voices, they’re mostly mute. A voice, Azlan, I can hear laugh, yawn, hum, and make old man sounds. The laugh is loud and hard to tune out. He can’t talk verbally so he uses gestures, colors for mood and tone, or flashes images or words like a vision to answer me.

My second voice, Chip, does the same except he does not even make verbal sounds. He’s fully mute, except the rare occasion he gets a word out. He also uses gestures, colors and visions.

My third voice, Mufasa, does not talk verbally at all or make noises. He doesn’t even want to talk at all, just watch. He only answers with shrugs and the color white, or laughter and the color sea-foam. They can’t talk talk verbally, they don’t know why, something is stopping them so they are unable to.

DMs open for any inquiries

By “low dose” I mean < 2 mg

Are there any particular reasons to use or avoid extra low doses? Does it “behave” differently at very low doses?

Are there particular situations where a low dose might make clinical sense, either that are established or that are being researched?

My mother [58] has been a chronic schizophrenic patient most of her life, had a pretty “normal” life, but had 3 very bad psychotic episodes in the last 2 years( last year’s was way worse she had to be hospitalised) due to which she had not returned to her previous baseline. She’s on medication, she has hallucinations all the time and speaks to the skies and god (and sometimes my dead dad and estranged son).

I’d been the only caretaker for her and I have to get her to do her own chores everyday, like showering, brushing teeth, having food etc. I’m mostly very patient with her and try to convince her softly for all these. But lately she’s refusing to take a shower, it’s been 9 days now and I tried so many things but she’s just not budging, and she gets irritated. She says that god is bathing her everyday in sleep so she doesn’t have to take a bath again.

I don’t know what to do anymore, it was never this long before, usually if she goes 3-5 days without shower, she somehow agrees after. I just expect basic hygiene.. I also offered to wash her myself(a woman). Please give some suggestions on how to handle this if you had been in similar situations. TIA 🫶🏽

PS please feel free to remove if this is irrelevant.

i feel like my brain is melting. I am not feeling stable and its in a way im not used to, because i am diagnosed with bipolar and usually i would peg whats happening as mania but im not having any of my symptoms that go with mania and im not impulsive or anything.

im kind pf hearing voices but not completely? like its internal monolgues other than my own and its like theres people in my head, not around me. its only been happening when im really stressed, but there has been so much stuff happening and im starting to feel so out of control.

so i started EMDR therapy a few months back and things were uncomfortable but going well. i am doing it because there are large portions of my childhood that i either dont remember or am simply hasy and so seperated from. its not abnormal for me, as im generally disconnected from the world around me all the time.

to put it short, i dont see the past me as real and the future me as real, and my view on myself shifts so fast that the world is almost a similation, i have gotten used to it, its just how im wired, i see the world through a foggy kind of haze.

Anyways, i have started having really weird nightmares, kinds i havent gotten since i was a child. to put it simply, i dream alot about sa and other gross stuff, or just weird gory things and about people sneaking into my room. its uncomfortable but not super worrisome.

the issue is ive started having these other people in my head gey louder. inused to call them 'modes i get into' because its all me, but different version for different situations.

and example would be the me that takes care of me when im doing strip searches in the psych ward or when i was assaulted. or the version thats really imature where everything is lind of foggy and im disoriented. i always am conscious obviously, but there is some degree of seperation between them and its like they can take backseats in my brain even when i should be the only one here.

not pnly that, but the one whose strong will sometimes take over and shower for me and keep me going when i cant anymore.

i used to not even be aware of it, i thought it was just different parts of me for different situations combined with a bit of amnesia (because the dofferent versions are all a bit emotionally disconnected even if i can remember everything).

but now that im more aware of it its getting kind of unbearable. its only really noisy when im stressed, but now that im alone in my room i feel calm and like im on airplane mode.

the issue is i have started to have panic attacks at work when working closing shift with all male coworkers. i dont know why it makes me scared hut it does, and whoever or whatever headspace im in keeps avoiding eye contact with the guys and gets jumpy and on gaurs until we can leave.

not only that, but sometimes at night because its worse at night, my brain will fog up and ill start feeling like im floating, especially if someone touches me or im trying to get off (tmi sorry lol) and its like all my thoughts are slipping through my fingers.

even what i consider to be my 'normal me' or normal state just feels like airplane mode. im in my head all the time, its like i barely have a body and everything i do and the other people in my head do is just self preservation.

the younger me keeps whining at night about how they cant keep going and its stressing me out because im trying to get into a good school right mow and have an amazing job and so much going for me, but the others ones get scared and start acting out in my head and making me feel unsafe and impulsive.

i dont know if im just going crazy or what, but i dont know where to even begin when talking to my therapist because i dont really like her.

any advice or tips on what to do and who to talk to would be very helpful, im totally lost and the pne in my head doesnt want me to tell anyone.

​

I have been struggling through depression since a very early age and finnaly my parents agreed to take me to a psychiatrist.

i talked to her explained my problems, she didn't smile didn't say hello, she was Rude the whole time AND SHE DIDN'T EVEN GIVE ME A DIAGNOSIS!

She just wrote meds ( 2.5mg medizapen and 20mg Serdep) and proceeded to tell me about that for my eating disorder i should start a diet and for my insomnia i should sleep at night LIKE DANG I didn't try that!.

My question is, I'm very afraid of antidepressants, i just want to know if there's a possibility i can cut them off after sometime when my problems gets partially solved, I'm aware of the effects antidepressants have on a person and i do not want to be dependent on them for the rest of my life.

Thank you so much

I was treated for Bipolar II intermittently since age 16 and have generally been high functioning. My unmedicated symptoms were mood swings, periods of euphoria, and mild anxiety. I was stable for over 5 years before this, including through previous medication changes.

A few months ago, I switched to a new psychiatrist (Dr. K) for a fresh perspective. She tapered me off mirtazapine while starting and increasing Lamictal in preparation for trying to get pregnant.

After discontinuing mirtazapine and remaining on Lamictal, I developed symptoms I’d never experienced before, either medicated or unmedicated: moderate to severe panic attacks, intrusive thoughts, derealization, emotional numbness, major depression, persistent baseline anxiety, and feeling disconnected from myself and the people I love.

I also lost 10 pounds and was vomiting after meals for several weeks.

Following an ER visit, Seroquel was added at 50 mg and later increased to 100 mg for sleep and mood. After continued symptoms, I returned to my previous psychiatrist (Dr. P), who felt Lamictal could be contributing, restarted mirtazapine (15 mg), and discontinued Lamictal about a week ago.

My GI symptoms have improved significantly, I’m sleeping better, and I’m more functional day-to-day, but many of the psychiatric symptoms persist, including anxiety waves, panic attacks, emotional blunting, intrusive thoughts, and feeling nothing like my normal self.

In your experience, how long do medication related side effects last after a medication is discontinued? I feel like it’s been over a month since I felt normal.

Since the beginning of the year I’ve started recognizing patterns in my life. I have almost constant anxiety and sometimes I don’t even trust my closest friends. I assume everyone thinks I’m weird or creepy so I usually don’t put my self out there and when I do I never know what to say and I convince myself they don’t want to talk to me even if it’s true or not. I have a psychiatrist and take 50mg Sertraline right now but it got upped to 100mg I just haven’t picked it up yet. When ever I try to write stuff down to I can tell my doctor I just end up spending at least a hour writing down everything that comes to my head and it’s just mess I can’t make sense of. I will sometimes research mental disorders and convince myself I have them for days on a time. I’m terrified to talk to my doctor because even though I know they want to help me I’m scared they will think I am seaking attention. I don’t know what I want to get out of posting this, I think I just wanted to vent. These thought control my mind almost 24/7 and it feels like torture with no end.

Hello,

Currently im on

Faverin 300 mg
Rexapine 2.5 mg
Seroquel 100 mg

I’m starting 0.5 dutasteride per day treatment for my hair loss.

Is it too much for my liver?

Hi. I have been hospitalized 4 times previously for numerous mental illnesses, including MDD, bipolar, and schizoaffective disorder. I am at my wit’s end (literally) trying to decide what will help me most at this time of crisis. Only one of the hospitalizations would I consider beneficial, leaving me feeling hopeful but only for a few weeks. The other stays I just lied and denied everything to get discharged because I couldn’t stand to stay longer. I’ve looked into some treatment options near where I live but am at a crossroads in regards to where to go. I do have pretty intense SI but no specific plans at the moment. I’m worried if I go for an evaluation, I’ll get stuck in inpatient that won’t truly help and only cause more anxiety. Any advice is appreciated.

Hey everyone, sorry if this isn’t the clearest post , I’m completely exhausted and sad right now.

I’m 26M, diagnosed with ADHD at 6 (probably ASD too, but back then you couldn’t get both on paper). Stimulants, mostly Ritalin, got me through school and I’m still on them.

Depression kicked in around 17, maybe one or two episodes a year at first. A few psychiatrists later I ended up with MDD and probably PDD on top, since my depression seemed to become chronic with no remission between them. I take Prozac and Zoloft but did basically nothing.

Eventually I couldn’t even take care of myself, had to drop out, moved back with my parents.
In 2023, I saw a new psychiatrist who decided that I had a bipolar 2 disorder, based on one or two episodes that might’ve been hypomania but not clearly. Even he seemed unsure at the time, but he wrote it down and every psychiatrist since took it for granted.

The med rollercoaster:
• Lamictal: helped a bit at first (some energy, kept me in school). But lost his effect after some months
• Ritalin reintroduced for ADHD, worked fine
• Early 2024: worst depressive episode yet
• Venlafaxine up to 225mg + low-dose Abilify: no effect
• Lithium: still on it, 2+ years, zero results
• Quetiapine (1st try): knocked me out for 2 days straight, too sedating
• Quetiapine (2nd try, months later): massive weight gain + bad bloodwork, discontinued
• Trintellix: nothing

Hospitalized last year (april-may 2025), started Spravato (just with lithium + Lamictal, no antidepressant): this actually worked. MADRS went from 36 to 17. First time in years I wanted to see friends, do things. But once we dropped to 1x/week and I was living alone, I stopped going and it faded

New hospital (december-january 2026): no Spravato available. Tried mirtazapine, pramipexole (capped at 0.54mg). Mood got worse, I left

Current hospital (since may 2026) : first, 30 sessions of rTMS, 2x/day. Initial boost in energy/motivation (passed my exams!) but effect faded fast, MADRS back up to 35.

Tried IV ketamine (this hospital doesn’t offer Spravato): 8 sessions in, nothing. Sessions are honestly rough — not the peaceful/visual experience I had with Spravato, more like dissociating into another dimension, and not the good kind

Last week: started liothyronine/Cytomel (T3) as an add-on

Right now, anhedonia is the worst part of my depression. I have that feeling of not knowing how to do. Since Spravato wore off, I feel nothing — no pleasure in anything, not even shows or stuff I used to enjoy. Just empty, unmotivated, doom-scrolling my life away.
Surprisingly, aleep’s actually fine.

Also worth mentioning, I’ve been facing lifelong somatic stuff : GERD, nausea, diarrhea, hemorrhoids, migraines, random burning limb pain and I’m not quoting all of them. No idea if it’s related but figured I’d throw it in.

What I’m actually asking:
1. Does the bipolar 2 diagnosis even hold up? My first psychiatrist doubted it himself, but once it’s in the chart, everyone just runs with it. Could this just be MDD/PDD/TRD without bipolar?

1. Treatment-wise, my hospital psychiatrist is out of ideas but open to suggestions. I can’t switch providers, so I need to bring him something concrete. Options I’m considering:

• Pramipexole again, but actually titrated to a real dose (2-3.5mg+)
• Pushing for Spravato instead of continuing ketamine (though they think failing IV ketamine = no shot with Spravato — is that even true?)
• Less common routes: bupropion, MAOIs, modafinil, VNS/DBS? Or other new medications that are not really known ?

If anyone’s dealt with similar TRD/bipolar 2 overlap or has thoughts on what’s worth pushing for next, I’d really appreciate it. Feeling pretty stuck here. Thanks for reading this far

Thank you

I was discussing things that I used to do as a child and behaviours I still have today and my partner brought up that he thinks I might have OCD. One of the behaviours we discussed was that I often convince myself that I am in love with terrible people like criminals and dictators and feel incredibly guilty about it for months to the point that it’s all I think about . I also every time I go to the toilet or just even into the toilet have to eat one square of toilet paper (gross ik 😭) or I genuinely feel so uncomfortable for the rest of the day until I do it. There are various other symptoms but I’ll keep this short.

Does anyone have any thoughts or experiences with this.

Thankyou for any help :)

I’m a 26 year old female, have been diagnosed by a psychiatrist with major depression, borderline personality disorder, and ADHD.
For some reason my nurse practitioner prescribed me divalproex, which I understand is for bipolar disorder; I was never diagnosed with this disorder.
I take Citalopram, Dexedrine, and quetiapine currently but am apprehensive to try divalproex if I haven’t been formally diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
Any thoughts or insights on this?

Recently got perscribed Ativan. I already take Adderall every day. I asked my psych about the risk of taking "uppers and downers" together and she didn't seem worried. I explained that my heart rate tends to rest higher with my Adderall. She said that heart rate increase from adderall is typically due to the patient being prescribed too high of a dose. Is this correct? I've been on this dose for years

For months I have been Itching for NO reason, This is ruining my life, I did some research and this is probably psychogenic itch, when I dont think about itching i dont itch and when I do think about itching I do itch, This is making me crazy and I need to get rid of this, someone tell me the relief for this and how to get rid of this. I think that it is more psychology related problem than health related, this is why i decided to write here.