Hello! So this post is about a situation a friend of mine is in. I'm really concerned about her because I've seen how frustrated and overwhelmed this whole ordeal has her. To put it simply, my bestfriend's boyfriend has somehow successfully convinced himself that somebody's following/watching him and trying to kill him. As crazy as it seems, he genuinely believes that someone is out to get him. I was able to have a conversation with him about it and he told me all the details that have led him to believe all of this. Apparently he took a pair of misplaced expensive sunglasses at the restaurant he works at that ended up belonging to a "sketchy" cook that works in the kitchen. He was telling me that he was supposedly getting weird looks from him after he took the sunglasses and that he's been seeing people "watching him" and all these little things that I'm positive have nothing to do with him at all. Just normal everyday occurrences like a car driving past his house then doing a u-turn. He somehow convinces himself that all these absolutely normal things are somehow connected to some evil plot to end his life. Now, to sum HIM up as a person. He does not trust easily at all. When we first met he kept misinterpreting my intentions and we really clashed with each other for about 1 1/2 years before finally getting along. His mother is pretty absent and used to blame all her problems on him in the past. He could hold the door open for you then be offended when you say thank you. It's really something else. When I talked to him about this whole thing, I tried to find some kind of evidence within his arguments that would make me believe someone was trying to kill me but everything he said just seemed like conclusions he came to by overthinking about everyday occurrences. Every time I would counter-argue one of his statements he would find a way around it. It was like he WANTED to believe he was being hunted. I was thinking maybe this could be some kind of anxiety or paranoid personality disorder or something of the sort? I'm not sure but I sure am concerned for my friend's well-being above all. I've given her my load of advice but I honestly don't know what to say anymore. This has been going on for almost 6 days and my best friend has actually been brought to tears because of it all. I've already suggested he seek some professional help because this doesn't seem normal at all... What do you guys think?
As someone with some experience working in mental health, this definitely sounds like some sort of mental health issue that would benefit from talking with a professional. Believing you are being followed/hunted is a very common delusion in paranoid schizophrenia. Of course, there is always the chance that he really is being followed, but from the other personality quirks you mention, I would suspect not.
