Hey everyone! As I was looking through the script book more, I decided to post all the art found in the script section because it’s too freaking gorgeous not to share!

Disclaimer: I am not every schizophrenic person ever. I am just one person. I’m writing this using my own personal experiences with my hallucinations and what others can do to help. Feel free to add your own suggestions. 

-Move the person to a different location. It should be relatively quiet without sensory overload or crowds of people. Sometimes the person will refuse to leave their hallucinations, in which case you have to find a way to make them. If they are refusing to leave but clearly very agitated, they are entering psychosis and need to get out. 

-Stay with the person. Sometimes my hallucinations give me intense fear and anxiety in which case I’d rather not be on my own to hallucinate terrifying things. Also, spoiler alert, but sometimes psychotic people hurt themselves. Sometimes they don’t even know they’re doing it. If you leave them completely alone, there’s a chance self harm will occur.

-Reassure the person. Tell them that what they’re experiencing is not real. Tell them you’re staying with them. Tell them it will be over soon. Be calm and kind. 

-If the person is having auditory hallucinations, the best thing you can do is to actually get them away from noise. Don’t try to make them listen to music or bring them into loud areas. That will likely cause them to hallucinate more. Take them somewhere quiet and wait for it to pass on its own.

-If the person is having visual hallucinations, likely they will be looking up, at least in my experience anyway. When I hallucinate, it’s usually something I need to raise my head to see. I have a friend who will notice when I’m staring up at something she can’t see and will raise her hands to block it. That way, I see her hands which distract me, and then I look down at her instead of at whatever I’m hallucinating. Distractions are great for visual hallucinations.

-Touch the person (if they’re okay with it). Touching me when I’m hallucinating helps in two different ways. It helps to ground me. If I can feel you touching me, I know that I’m still in reality. It is also calming. If I’m very agitated or fearful, it’s nice to have a reassuring hand touch my shoulder to calm me down.

-Often when people are hallucinating, they get very antsy. Try giving them something they can fidget with, or ask if they want to squeeze your hand. 

-Don’t let the person focus on their hallucinations. Even if it’s terrifying, my natural urge is to look at or listen to the hallucination. I once was having quite a disturbing hallucination and every time I turned my head to look at it, a friend of mine would gently guide my head away from it and make me focus back on her. 

-Ask them if there’s anything they specifically need. Everyone is different. Don’t bombard the person with questions, just ask them what they need. A question I’m often asked is if food or water will help, to which I reply, no, it doesn’t. (Except if the hallucination is causing me to panic, in which a case drinking water will help calm me down. Some people like to chew gum or suck on a candy to help ground them but I haven’t really personally found that helpful for me.)

Ghosts Are Real

You’ll Float Too!