My friend, rehab, and insanity

Yes, another one of those stupid anonymous posts. I apologize in advance. I'm not sure how respected I am, but I have quite a few posts, even some good strategy ones. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

My friend has recently become extremely irrational and his friends and family are seeking help. He will not accept any help and afaik I am the only person that he has contact with.

Backstory: He is a high limit player (non 2+2) that has been quite successful. He has always been semi-quirky but a fun, cool guy.

A few months ago two things happened. My friend, we will call him Joe, started getting very heavy into alternative forms of thinking/spirituality and began using coke.

His cocaine use was infrequent, sometimes every few days, sometimes once a week, sometimes even less. However, when he did coke he would always do (or want to do) alot. If he bought an eightball he would do it until it was finished; he could not relax and just use recreationally.

We would do blow occasionally together (as well as one really weak mushroom trip). It was never a big deal, we would do 3-5 lines in a night, go to a bar, drink, smoke a bunch of cigarettes, stay up and I would go to sleep. If he had any left he would always finish it.

As time passed his spiritual beliefs became more and more extreme. He came to believe, because of a series of events, that he was in complete control of his life. He basically believed he was infallible. (The events were things such as: He would drive stoned or coked up and believe he could not be pulled over, his friend was pulled over while they were smoking and was let off by the cop because he told the truth that they were smoking/high to the cop, he was found with cocaine and released by the police with the bag still on him, nothing bad EVER would happen to him, regardless of how crazy the situation, etc) He would try to explain to his group of friends his beliefs and they would remark that he had gone crazy. He would get super pissed that his friends would turn on him, etc.

Meanwhile, as his beliefs became more extreme, I would talk with him about them and attempt to give some philosophical insight as to the basis of his beliefs. I did not think that he had gone crazy, merely that the beliefs were a phase and I would constantly caution him about his risky behavior. I felt like I was a voice of reason and that he trusted me. I also felt that he was in a phase that would pass or disappear once he found himself in some sort of trouble.

Just recently he went on a family vacation and apparently started talking more and more about his ideas. His family thought something was weird and I am unsure of the details. When he got back he immediately went to Vegas with two friends. The details of the trip are hazy but the friends who were there (who are semi-reliable, they had been overly dramatic about his previous actions however) think that he had basically snapped. He would follow one person around and not leave their side. He took his expensive cell phone and broke it in two. On the drive out he was throwing 20's out of the window of the car because someone asked for gas money; he was angry that they had asked for it because he had been so generous with them previously. He was stopped by one of them from throwing out his $3k laptop.

When he came home, his roomate who he had gone to vegas with moved out because Joe threatened his life. He looked him in his eyes and calmly said "You are going to be killed. You are going to be beaten to death by a baseball bat." While his roomate moved out with his parents he sat on the couch laughing continuously while taking bong rips.

Joe's parents attempted to have an intervention with him and he laughed. He claimed that they didnt understand and that he was a God of his own world. He told them matter-of-factly that he and I did coke all the time and that I understood him. He said that we were "cocaine buddies" and this obviously incensed his parents. They called the police to see if they could do anything and the police said no. They took his car.

At the moment he has no phone, no car, only the internet and his apartment. No one knows how much money he has. I know he had over 50k before his vacation. His parents claim that he has nothing at that his checks written for rent etc will bounce.

This morning the [censored] hit the fan for me because his parents contacted everyone that he knows. They informed my parents of his claims, etc etc. I am in my 20s and was upfront with my parents about the whole situation. I don't do blow very often and his claims were mostly exaggerated. They were pretty rattled but I think they believe me.

Joe's parents have instructed everyone they know to cut off all contact with him. They have spoken with counselors who think that he may have developed schizophrenia or perhaps took acid and has been tripping badly ever since. They said do not offer him food or shelter or even speak to him. Today on IM he offered me his desktop computer and 21" dell monitor. I asked him why and he said he was going to throw it away if I didn't want it because he was getting rid of his old stuff.

I have no idea what to do at the moment. I feel like ignoring him is probably best at the moment however, I understand how deeply he believes his ideas right now and I am frightened for his life. I would compare him right now to the mentality of a religious extremist- like a suicide bomber he believes to the depths of his core that his beliefs are correct.

As I type this I have corresponded with him on IM briefly. He has urged me to have lunch and get the computer because he wants to trash it.

I really don't know wtf to do at all.

Any suggestions or help is encouraged. I feel like my friend is going insane before my eyes and I am lost. Any questions/filling in gaps of the story I can do. Sorry if this is scattered, I am emotionally drained right now.

Thanks

[touchfaith]

See, now this is a good post. Maybe I'll read it.


edit: Errr, coke again. Doesn't anyone do smack anymore??? We need real drama.

[sam h]

The best thing to do immediately might be to contact his parents and talk to them further about how they are handling the situation. You probably have a lot of insights into what is going on that they are clueless about. They'll probably be in control ultimately, but maybe you can improve things by getting involved through them.

Looks like your friend needs psychiatric help more than rehab. It's not just crazy people that get sent to institutions for a while to get rebalanced. If he has schizophrenia that is bad news since there is no cure and it is a pretty aweful condition in extreme cases, but there are medications available that will help.

[mason55]

[ QUOTE ]
Doesn't anyone do smack anymore???

[/ QUOTE ]

Hook me up dawg, and I'll give you some good stories.

[LethalRose]

I would take whatever it is he wants to give you and just keep it, more than likely he will never want it again, or a month later he will come to his senses and want his stuff back.

and stop doing cocaine yo.

[whiskeytown]

reminds me of that old line about cocaine psychosis -

personally, I would do as his parents say - cut off contact - you may go pick it up and he'll try taking your head off cuase gremlins are crawling on it -

no enabling, no contact till he gets help - that's what I would do - don't get into the middle of it - esp. if that stuff is frying his brain -

RB

I may have not expressed this clearly: He has not done cocaine in over two weeks. I am 98% sure.

He has been smoking a lot of pot, however.

[KDawgCometh]

he needs help, prompt. Everything to me sounds like schizophrenia, cause a bad acid trip would not last this long. THe cocaine isn't helping the situation at all, and is making it worse. All of his friends and parents need to get involved and get him to see a psychiatrist ASAP. this situation is very pressing and any delay can make things worse.I really hope that you find help for your friend as soon as possible, cause this situation is no joke and if let go unchecked then it could be a dangerous situation for anyone around him

[Sightless]

Usually people who give away a lot of stuff away for free are planning to commit suicide or something. meh he needs some help big time

[zoomOut]

This story is heartbreaking. It sure sounds like schizophrenia by the way you describe it. Some people who suffer schizophrenia actually think that inanimate objects are talking to them and are commanding them to do things. They break these things because they can't bear to hear the voices. You said he broke his phone and wants to trash his computer. I wonder what's going on there.

His family must be distraught. How old is he?