Husband has strange delusions, possibly schizophrenia? F25 & M34 been together for 3 years

A 25-year-old woman is deeply concerned about her husband, a 34-year-old veteran and martial artist, who has been experiencing escalating delusions. He believes he’s being targeted by hackers, satanists, and people conducting rituals to access his mind.

Despite her efforts to suggest medical help, he insists the experiences are real and just wants someone to believe him. Recently, his brother from Japan, a Christian, called unexpectedly to share that he and his wife have been hearing similar “whispers.” This revelation has left her feeling confused about whether the issue is medical, psychological, or spiritual. Read the full story below.

‘ Husband has strange delusions, possibly schizophrenia? F25 & M34 been together for 3 years’

I F25 married my husband M34 and we have a baby. A couple months ago he confided in me he was hearing things. At first it was like murmers and he kept asking me if I heard that. And I was like nope don’t hear a thing.

It got progressively worse over time I got his parents involved and we moved into their house. They seem to think he’s on drugs but I’m sure this is some sort of psych issue. His delusion has changed multiple times.

At first he thought someone we knew was planting cameras and mics in our house, his car, his work to talk to him and talk s**t about him. Next it was a group of hackers. Most recently it’s involved into a 10-20 person gang that is comprised of hackers and satanist doing satanic rituals on him to be able to access his mind. I just want him to get help.

This has been so draining on me. I’m emotionally exhausted. When I try to tell him it could be a medical issue maybe a tumor or brain damage from the military or martial arts that he does. He gets extremely upset. He just keeps saying “why won’t you believe me” “I just want someone to believe me”. This hurts my heart so bad to watch him suffer but I don’t want to feed into his delusion. I don’t know how to convince him to get medical help

Update: things have gotten a little stranger yall. So when this started I converted to Christianity because I found peace and comfort in god and it has truly helped me a long the way. At one point my husband also decided to convert to Catholicism praying to saints like saint Micheal and Jesus.

Yesterday he gets a call from his brother(also a Christian) who lives in Japan . His brother told him he basically was praying and got told him he had to reach out to him. He tells my husband that he too had been hearing the “whispers” as well as his wife, and that he just needs to not listen to them.

My husband then breaks down in tears saying it’s happening to others as well and he’s so happy it’s not just him. I’m so confused now. I feel all chance of taking him to a doctor is done. But I’m also spiritual so now I’m extra confused on what’s really going on. God help us.

Check out how the community responded:

pl487 −  Take a neutral stance on the delusions. Focus on his suffering. Suggest that medical care could make it easier for him to deal with what he’s going through, whether it is real or not. 

Traeyze −  It is indeed consistent with schizophrenia but could also be a psychosis induced by drugs. The thing is… both would definitely benefit from professional help being involved. He needs to see a doctor and a psychiatrist.

The sad part is that sometimes when they are unaware that the auditory hallucinations and paranoia are impacting them it can be hard to convince them to address it. I’d speak to your doctor or whatever your local equivalent of getting someone committed is [in Australia it is CATT] to get advice on what steps you could be taking, good strategies for convincing people suffering or even potentially organising an emergency assessment.

But I will be clear: it is very obvious that his symptoms are getting worse and it’s only been a couple of months. At this rate he will represent a very serious risk to you and your child and himself if he isn’t able to get the support he needs.

neomonachle −  That’s really scary, I’m sorry it’s happening to you. Especially with a baby this must be horrible to deal with. My ex suddenly developed something similar in his late 20s. He thought I was working for the devil, poisoning him to make him crazy, a member of a gang that was spying on him, sleeping with his brother, sending him encoded messages through spam texts, etc.

Our relationship didn’t work out, mainly because he lashed out a lot due to his fear of his perception of me. The one thing that really helped, though, was the book I Am Not Sick, I Don’t Need Help! By Dr Xavier Amador. A lot of the info is available for free online if you don’t want to read a whole book.

His approach focuses on maintaining a positive relationship with a person who doesn’t realize they’re in psychosis and helping them agree to get help without making them feel like you’re undercutting their reality.

I’m crossing my fingers for you, this is a terrifying situation. But it doesn’t sound like he’s suspicious of you or his parents, so if you three get on the same page with how to handle it I think you have good odds.

GIFelf420 −  Ma’am you are in danger and so is your baby. He needs a professional evaluation

EldritchKoala −  Call your local mental hospital. Most have a mental wellness / health call center. Ask to talk to someone because you’re afraid for your husband’s wellbeing. Explain whats going on. Follow their advice. Good luck.

Crazy-Place1680 −  Why do his parents think he is on drugs? Is there a history there? Can you tell him you will believe him if he can go to the Dr with you?

roughlyround −  This is very serious, and above Reddits grade. PLEASE contact professional mental health services before really bad things happen.

withnailandpie −  In addition the helpful comments here, you can research to see if there is a Hearing Voices group in your area. The hearing voices approach is peer based (meaning it is led by voice hearers in “recovery”) and can be very helpful to reframe and learn to work with voices in a way that helps the voice hearers to live positively.

It may be helpful for you to look up their resources as well- people experiencing internal stimuli experience it as absolutely real. It’s difficult to engage with them in a space between conflict and collusion ; meaning not challenging their reality, but not feeding into it either. You can validate his emotions around his beliefs without confirming the reality of them. All the best

echosiah −  If he refuses help, you need to have a safe exit plan. You cannot have your child, or yourself, living with someone with delusions. Someone will get hurt. He might hurt either or both of you thinking he’s helping, even.

And honestly, if it’s schizophrenia…it’s really difficult to get people suffering from it to both get on and stay on medication. It’s the kind of disease where they’ll think they’re “cured” and stop medicating. Plus the medication itself is often pretty brutal.

melancholypowerhour −  Yeah as someone who has experienced psychosis this is a classic pattern, and a good time for psychiatric care. Medication and therapy can do wonders to help manage anything he has going on. Could also be something physical causing this, so he should see his doctor ASAP either way.

This situation raises tough questions about mental health, faith, and how to support loved ones through delusions. How would you approach getting someone to seek medical help when they believe their experiences are real? Could there be a spiritual aspect, or is it a sign of a deeper psychological issue? Share your thoughts below!