Posts by Jeremy Lee88

I posted a thread a little while back about "split personalities," and honestly, I’m leaning toward him having cognitive schizophrenia or at least schizotypal personality disorder. Here’s what’s tripping me up, though: my colleague is completely obsessed with this imaginary woman—a lover, a future wife, a best friend. I haven't read anything about this kind of fixation on someone who doesn't exist, especially when he describes her personality in such vivid detail. It actually gives me the creeps. Everything I've studied focuses on the usual stuff, like paranoia or hearing voices, but not this.

Does this type of illness involve these kinds of fantasies or abstractions? Or am I totally off base here? I want to help, but I don't want to misdiagnose him or push him toward the wrong kind of professional help.

Thanks for any insight you can give me.

At first, we thought maybe he was just being a bit slow on the uptake. But then it became clear: he’s incredibly pushy about demanding our undivided attention while he gushes about this "new love." No one is even asking questions or showing interest; he just forces these moments where we’re expected to sit there, listen, and cheer him on. And get this—he actually seeks my validation for the relationship. He wants to know if she’s pretty, smart, or successful. It gets almost absurdly pathetic. He sent me an email with a random stock photo from the internet—looks like some advertisement featuring a Latina woman sitting in a car—and claimed, "This is my new love..."
I tried telling him once that his story just didn't feel real, and he snapped back at me, saying, "I'm not crazy. God forbid anyone would be so delusional as to make up a person like that."

I don't know... I'm getting a little worried. I just hope it isn't anything too serious. Someone mentioned that this kind of behavior can sometimes be a sign of schizophrenia.

Thanks for the comments and for sharing your thoughts.

I’ve always felt he was a little off... just different... but I could never pin it down to anything specific. Lately, though, things have been ramping up over the last few days, and it gets more intense every single morning. To make matters worse, I’m actually one of the women he’s included in his "type," which just adds another layer of stress to all this. 😢

Is there any reason to panic or start looking for a clinical diagnosis if a coworker starts building this whole imaginary world and trying to drag everyone else into it? It’s getting weird. He’s basically "invented" a woman—someone who is just a mashup of several different people in our office regarding her looks, personality, and job—and now he’s acting like he’s living this perfect life with this imaginary person. What makes it even creepier is how he targets the specific people he used to "build" this dream woman, sharing such intense, intimate details about her that it honestly gives you the chills.

How should I handle this?
Who needs to be brought into the loop?
Is this guy actually dealing with some underlying mental health issue?
But most importantly—how can we actually help him?

Thanks for any advice you can give.

Jeremy Lee88