Hi, this message concerns my boyfriend, whom I am very very worried about.
Yesterday afternoon he told me that he could hear voices in his flat. He said he could hear a man and a woman discussing and insulting him. He thought that the noise was travelling up and down the chimney breast, which passes through his flat and a number of others in the building. We discussed it for a while. I believed him but said that unfortunatley there was little we could do about it, other than perhaps find out which flat the noise (voices) was coming from and ask them to try and be quieter, or ask the landlord to take a look at the chimney breast. We went out for a while and i thought the whole issue had been forgotten.
Later, in the evening, back in his flat, he became increasingly stressed and paranoid. He begged me to listen to the voices but i honestly couldn't hear anything apart from occassional furniture noises from the flat upstairs.
He concluded that he is the subject of a reality tv show. He got into bed, underneath the bed clothes, and wrote down all the things that the voices were saying about him. He was whispering, sometimes he made no sense whatsoever. He didn't want to make love because he thought we were being watched and listened to. He stayed up most of the night, frantically writing down all the things he could hear.
I am at a complete loss with this one. What the hell should i do? He has a history with drugs and i asked him whether he had taken anything or whether he could possibly be having a flash-back. But this morning he was still adamant that his flat is 'bugged' and he says that the last thing he needs is for me to "freak out about it". Well, I can't help it. Yesterday his behaviour was unlike anything i have ever seen before - I would describe it as a 'serious episode of paranoia'. He has no history with mental illness.
Please, if anyone has any suggestions or comments, or can direct me to someone with some answers, I would really appreciate it.
Many thanks. x

Hearing voices, delusions (ie, being the subject of reality tv), and paranoia are hallmark symptoms of major mental illness including schitzophrenia, bi-polar, or depression with pshychotic features. The typical age of onset for these disorders are late teens, early twenties. Sometimes, an individual can have one or two psychotic episodes and never have one again. Other times, they start out very infrequently (like one or two episodes a year and seem to disappear)but then begin to grow in intensity and regularity as time goes on. I'm no doctor and only a doctor can diagnose mental illness. I think what is important for you to know is that someone with an illness of this nature often is not aware that they are ill and will go to extreme measures to avoid seeking help. Remain supportive to him. It must be very frightening for him to experience these symptoms. If possible, seek the help of other people in his life (family, friends) to help encourage him to see a doctor. If it does turn out that he has mental illness, don't be discouraged. There are medication therapies available to help him over come this. Again, I don't want to be an alarmist and have you convinced that he does indeed have a mental illness, but his behavior as you described it indeed warrants further investigation. There are dozens of sites on the internet that can provide you and boyfriend with clinical information on the illnesses I mentioned. Good luck.

His symptoms sound like the same symptoms my cousin has and he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia (prob spelled it wrong). My cousin was diagnosed when he was in his early to mid-20's, which is around the time doctors say it comes out. He would often say that the CIA was plotting against him, the secret service was out to find him, etc. He was discharged from the Air Force because of it but he thought is was because the secret service wanted him dead. He would often ask if I had hidden compartments in my platform shoes or secret cameras.
It was very hard seeing him like that and very sad. He refused to take meds because he thought the doctors were conspiring also but when he did take them, he seemed to be a little better.
Hope this helps some but definitely see a doc. Good luck to you.
Dawn

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~Dawn~

Whatever is going on with your fellow really needs to be addressed by a doctor. This may be difficult because of the fear, but assure him that he needs to trust you and take your advice to see someone. For you, if you ever feel like you are in danger or he is in danger of hurting himself, know that calling the EMTs for help is not a betrayal. Even if he starts saying it is (paranoia), you can't handle this alone. You don't need to handle this alone, either. The good news is that whatever is happening is treatable. A number of tests are neccessary to see what the cause is, as voices can come from a myriad of sources (not all mental illness related), but hang in there. Do what you can for now to make him feel safe(r), and do what you must to feel safe yourself. All my best.
Roo

This sounds just like my aunt. It started after she got addicted to heroin. She was diagnosed as paranoid schitzophrenic. She is on meds and is improving daily. You can definitely see signs of her old self coming back. Unfortunately, in order for her to get the help that she needed, the family had to commit her to the hospital against her will. That was definitely one of the hardest things to go through but she benefited so much from it. I'm not suggesting by any means this is what you will have to do, just wanted to share the story because she is getting better. I would not try to handle this on your own, call a doctor or a hospital and ask for advise on what to do. Hope this helps, I wish you and your boyfriend the very best. Just remember there is hope and help out there for you two. ~Bunny