gone crazy?

[funnymouth]

one of my friends seems to have gone insane. seriously. erratic behavior irrational and wild claims and chaotic intellectualism. he went from being quiet to constantly rambling. skipped his finals. ended up missing and was recently picked up by the cops for vandalizing things. his madness seems to be heavily inspired by the late Hunter Thompson, he says hes gone gonzo and claims to have generated his \"thesis\" which is based heavily on Thompsons work, as well as Richard Dawkins\' and the flaming lips.
friday i saw him and he was the guy i knew, sunday i saw him and he was someone else. at first i thought narcotics, it would explain his symptoms, and fits with the thompson emulation thing. i have some familiarity with drug abuse, and he didnt appear to be on any drug i am familiar with....also, no one saw him do anything unusual.

im at a loss, and concerned. is it possible to go crazy over night? i donno.

i called his older brother (who is one of my closest friends from college), and he came to town immediately after \"speaking\" with him. his mom is coming too, she is, ironically, a psychologest...

anyhow, im feeling distubed after seeing my friend self distruct, and i needed to get it off my chest. thanks for listening

 

[airhead]

I\'m not a Doctor, and don\'t even play one on tv. But I\'d have him checked out physically before letting the shrinks lose with their cocktails on him.

Once drugs are ruled out, I\'d check for brain problems (tumor, stroke, etc.) then go for the phychs (breakdown, etc.)

 

[Drake Farstrider]

I would also have him checked out. You did good by getting a hold of his family.

 

[hakoMike]

You did right. I hope your friend is well. I just did a little search, since what you are describing sounds schizophrenic, and apparently schizophrenia can have rapid onset. My aunt is schizophrenic (albeit not as delusional as your friend sounds) and her meds keep her quite functional.

Let us know if you find anything out.

 

[LavronYor]

I\'m a schizophrenic and so am I.

Sorry, I couldn\'t resist that oldy. At least he wasn\'t struck by lightning and left for dead.

Seriously, it sounds like he is very lucky to have a friend like you. Intervening shows that you care, most people would watch and shake their heads. Hope he gets better.

 

[Dark Seraphim]

Sorry to hear about your friend Funnymouth... It does sound a bit like he is having a breakdown of some sort, but it seems odd that it\'s that iradic..

Have you called a doctor and explained these symptoms ? You did good getting a hold of his family, that was the best thing you could possibly do... I\'m sure they will find a way to help him, specially with his mother being a psycologist.

Let us know if you find out more, your a good friend!

 

[Shawn R. L.]

Been slogging thru depression for 35 years. Sounds like your friend MIGHT have bi polar disorder. Too much to go into here but take it, whatever it is, VERY seriously. Dont mean to be dramatic but their life may be at stake. If it is bi polar, it can be very powerful. You may be their lifeline. This page may have some help in identifying what is going on. There is a checklist of the symptoms of bi polar and the site is about support.



http://www.dbsalliance.org/info/bipolar.html

Good luck.

 

[paintingploddy]

Get him to see a doctor. Most have some awareness of what to look for in terms of things like schizophrenia and bipolar. If the signs are there they should be able to get appropriate intervetion.

If it is acute it might be necessary to intervene sooner than later. Generally the person most likely to get hurt is him. Mental health is fragile and most psych nurses I know are quick to tell me it can happen to anybody (and I can\'t say they are wrong)

 

[Infidel Castro]

Maybe, and I\'m not joking, he felt like breaking out from whatever routines he was in. Reading a certain book or listening to a certain band can give you a real buzz at times, especially if it is really different. Books in particular are incredibly powerful when it comes to challenging perceptions. Maybe he just wanted to be a bit anarchic. I know I really fancy breaking out at times and going totally against the grain just to show to myself I\'m not an automaton.

Otherwise, look after the fella.

 

[Modderrhu]

I\'ll go with airhead on this one, and suggest a CAT scan. A tumour is something that can cause all sorts of psychological issues that will get misdiagnosed as \'psychological\' of origin, where the actual issue is a tumour. It\'s pointless sedating him, giving him meds, counselling and other psychological therapies when there\'s nothing wrong with his mind, when the real problem is possibly physiological, and possibly far more life-threatening.

Please rule out a tumour, and other physiological conditions, before assuming otherwise.

 

[Dragonsreach]

You did right to contact his family.

The whole thing sounds bizarre, but as has been suggested your friend could have been displaying symptoms of several things.
One quite innocent sounding one is Pernicious Aneamia, which can cause severe dis-orientation and dramatic personality behaviour changes. (My mother went through it a few years ago)

There was a incidence last year(+/-) of someone being \"Spiked\" by a narcotic in Blackpool, which took quite a bit of dealing with. Guy was completely Out of Touch with reality and the Local Police had to section him for a few days until he \"came down\". Not pleasant.

Hopefully for your friend, this is something which is easily remedied.

 

[funnymouth]

well...he went with his brother to the county mental hospital (straight from jail, so i dont know if it was voluntary or not), and im on my way to find out how it went.

i am kind of bothered by the fact that he went to the mental hospital first - im with you in thinking that a regular hospital might be the best place to start.

everyone made good points - he *could* be getting out of a rut with a little anarchy, id like to think that.... but i will take it seriously, either way. god forbid it\'s a tumor or schizophrenia...

whatever it turns out to be ill be there to do what i can. thanks....