Hi everyone!
First off, I want to apologize if I’ve posted this in the wrong section—if I have, I’d really appreciate it if the moderators could move it to the right place. 🙂
As the title suggests, I’ve started having doubts that a friend of mine might be showing signs of schizophrenia. Since I don't really have anyone else to talk to about this—I don't want to bring it up with our other friends because, since I'm not an expert, there's a high chance I'm totally off base—and a part of me feels guilty just for questioning it, I decided to start a thread here. I figured there might be some professionals here, or maybe people who have gone through something similar, who could point me in the right direction.
Anyway, this friend is 26 years old, and his father actually suffers from schizophrenia. For various reasons, we haven't seen each other much outside of the occasional phone call for about two years now, but when we finally managed to hang out again, I couldn't help but notice how much he's changed. It isn't anything overtly alarming, but still...
For starters, he constantly avoids eye contact. His gaze is always darting around—he'll stare at an ashtray on the table instead of looking at the person he's talking to (and I noticed he does this with others too, not just me).
There are also these massive mood swings. For example, at the start of a hangout, he'll be completely flat, depressed, and barely able to squeeze out five simple sentences—he never has a reason for it, either; it’s always just a "bad day" or he's feeling "down." But then, an hour later, he’s jumping around the street, laughing and picking me up in a hug. Unfortunately, those good moods don't usually last very long.
Then there's the insomnia. At first, I didn't pay it much attention—I mean, I have nights where I can't sleep too—but when I realized that every single time we meet, he mentions he hasn't slept until 4 or 5 in the morning, it started to weigh on me. When I asked him about it directly, he said it's been going on for months, but he doesn't want to see a doctor because he's convinced they'll just prescribe him pills.
Regarding that, I don't know—maybe I am overanalyzing things more than I should. In the beginning, I thought it was almost funny, but if I had to find another word for it, it's like he's become somewhat paranoid. I feel silly even writing this because these things seem so trivial, but still... he looks too deeply into everything. He attaches intense importance to things that probably don't deserve it—for instance, he thinks almost every TV show has some hidden meaning or message, mostly intended to "corrupt" people's minds. He thinks all new songs are filled with demons and devils. When he's on the phone, he'll walk out of the building because he thinks it's better if someone isn't eavesdropping, and when we're at a cafe, he's constantly turning around to see if someone is watching him. He constantly feels like someone is staring at him. He doesn't think his dad is sick anymore; instead, he talks about evil forces that have possessed him—and he thinks his mom is just trying to poison him with the medication she gives him, so he's careful about taking it regularly.
Reading this back now, it almost sounds less extreme than how I'm perceiving it, and maybe I am exaggerating, but I'd still love to hear your thoughts. I did a little digging online, and some of his "symptoms" match what people go through in the early stages of schizophrenia, so I felt I had to share my concerns with someone (even if it's just some random person on a forum 😉).
It's possible I just can't wrap my head around how much he's changed during the time we were apart, and that I'm actually the one being paranoid. I would honestly love it if someone could tell me I'm overthinking this.
Sorry for the long post, and thanks in advance for any thoughts or replies you can offer. 🙂
