# I Need Advice Regarding A Schizophrenic Person **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 27, 2011, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-advice-regarding-a-schizophrenic-person/601019 "2011-10-27T23:08:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-advice-regarding-a-schizophrenic-person/601019/21 "2011-10-28T03:40:01Z")
Just so it’s clear, when I said to call the police, I wasn’t suggesting trying to have him arrested. This is an ill person, not a criminal. In most locales, it is standard procedure for the police to escort mentally ill people to the hospital if there is a concern that the person’s mental illness could cause them to harm someone. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-advice-regarding-a-schizophrenic-person/601019/22 "2011-10-28T03:43:09Z")
The way he worded it, he could easily claim that he was just talking about karma in general, the way people say, “what comes around goes around” and wasn’t making any threats. If someone could tell me that 95% of all schizophrenics will never be a physical danger to others and limit their damage to ranting and accusations, I’d feel better. I can deal with his verbal craziness, it’s the uncertainty over what he’ll _do_ that makes me uneasy. ---
**Author:** ![Ibanez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a4c791/32.png) [@Ibanez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibanez)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-advice-regarding-a-schizophrenic-person/601019/23 "2011-10-28T22:01:10Z")
I wouldn’t feel comfortable about that interaction if I was in your shoes either. Even though it’s an indirect threat, it’s a threat none the less. If your department issued the certificate couldn’t you revoke it based on your interactions with him ? Check your policies. Either way I’d call contact social services and see what they say. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Violaceous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2bfe46/32.png) [@Miss\_Violaceous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Violaceous)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2011, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-advice-regarding-a-schizophrenic-person/601019/24 "2011-10-29T14:43:47Z")
If it helps, you could keep in mind that to someone like that, pretty much everyone is part of it. You aren’t uniquely targeted in that sense. ---
**Author:** ![fruitbat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58f4c7/32.png) [@fruitbat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fruitbat)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2011, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-advice-regarding-a-schizophrenic-person/601019/25 "2011-10-29T15:04:16Z")
Alice, I do have experience with this. I would do anything you can to distance yourself from contact with this person. You are doing fine so far, but the less you interact, the less chance you have to become an important part of his delusion. Though medicated schizophrenics pose little threat, those who are not on medication do pose an elevated threat of violence or other disturbing behavior. I would call the police, making it clear that you are concerned, but not seeking an arrest. I doubt they can do anything and the police are often ill equipped to deal with the mentally ill, but they may have experience with this person. It will also give you some history to refer to if you need to escalate in asking for help. Once you have filled your duty in providing services to this person I hope you are able to step back and avoid further contact. ---
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2011, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-advice-regarding-a-schizophrenic-person/601019/26 "2011-10-29T15:21:30Z")
> [@Alice\_The\_Goon](#): > > The way he worded it, he could easily claim that he was just talking about karma in general, the way people say, “what comes around goes around” and wasn’t making any threats. > > If someone could tell me that 95% of all schizophrenics will never be a physical danger to others and limit their damage to ranting and accusations, I’d feel better. I can deal with his verbal craziness, it’s the uncertainty over what he’ll _do_ that makes me uneasy. Unfortunately nobody can tell you that, because there is some degree of danger in situations where a mentally ill person is paranoid. There have been cases where a paranoid psychotic person has harmed others because they thought that someone was a threat to them. According to this article, Arizona is one of the states where it is easier to have mentally ill people brought in for evaluation and treatment: [http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/01/13/us-usa-shooting-law-idUSTRE70C6JQ20110113](http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/01/13/us-usa-shooting-law-idUSTRE70C6JQ20110113) ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-advice-regarding-a-schizophrenic-person/601019/27 "2011-10-30T04:52:11Z")
Thanks for the advice, everyone. He did come into the office for his follow-up today. He didn’t say anything to the doctor about his delusions, just said that he hadn’t been able to find any medical marijuana, which he has but he thought it was poisoned. He denied having schizophrenia, although he did claim that doctors have let him smoke pot in the hospital before. Anyway, the doctor didn’t revoke his recommendation, but he did tell him that he would revoke it if he called me again. The patient apologized to me on his way out and said he wouldn’t contact me, but I can’t really trust that, knowing that he wasn’t completely honest with the doctor, either. He is definitely not medicated. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-advice-regarding-a-schizophrenic-person/601019/28 "2011-10-30T05:21:24Z")
Could he have been high when he called? He could be less under control of his delusions while high. ---
**Author:** ![BeaMyra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2bfe46/32.png) [@BeaMyra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeaMyra)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-advice-regarding-a-schizophrenic-person/601019/29 "2011-10-30T10:52:02Z")
You should’ve called the police. I work in H/R and I have had similar threats against myself and my staff. We report them. Of course, they are never direct threats, but the cops cannot simply arrest someone because you report them. They will take down your information and act on it. Or not act on it. All you did was shift the burden onto the next place he tries to get marijuana from. As someone else pointed out, if he has a record or a RO against him, that may be enough to have him hauled in. It may have helped someone else out. Remember it’s not just you. If he’s acting this way, he could be hurting himself as well. Or someone else. ---
**Author:** ![FeAudrey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7feea3/32.png) [@FeAudrey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FeAudrey)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2011, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-advice-regarding-a-schizophrenic-person/601019/30 "2011-10-30T18:29:56Z")
> [@BeaMyra](#): > > You should’ve … Dopers say that to Alice all the time. If you look at her posting history, you’ll encounter a person who is always giving the benefit of the doubt, making the best of things, thinking well of people, trusting, etc. Then she asks for advice on her latest situation, generally something that sets off ear-splittingly-loud alarm bells with the less sweet-natured among us. Alice now has two problems: threats from a mentally-ill person of unknown history and known untruthfulness, and an employer who is allowing Mr. Threats to continue visiting the office. ---
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-advice-regarding-a-schizophrenic-person/601019/31 "2011-10-31T05:59:16Z")
> [@Alice\_The\_Goon](#): > > So, I work at a medical marijuana certification office. A few weeks ago, we saw a patient and certified him for medical marijuana, helped him through the whole process, and he received a card from the health department making him a legal user of the product. He seemed perfectly normal at the time, and did not indicate to the physician that he saw or to me that he had any psychiatric problems whatsoever. > > Then, he got in touch with one of these “compassion clubs” in town, whose purpose is to provide patients with cards with the product, in exchange for a donation- this is how they skirt the law with regards to dispensing, as dispensaries are not legal in this state yet. The club provided him with marijuana. Then he called me and told me this long, convoluted story about there being a conspiracy among the Jewish doctors of New York to harm him, and that they apparently have gotten to this club and have put poison in his marijuana- specifically, saltpeter, because when he smokes it, his penis becomes like that of a two-year-old. Then he asked me to personally hook him up with some marijuana, which I declined to do. He says that my failure to do this proves that the Jewish doctors have gotten to me as well. > > He refuses to listen to or believe anything that I say about him being mentally ill or delusional- he says that he is not like that Jared Loughner that shot Gabby Giffords. Yet he also told me that karma will be coming to me, and that I could get hurt. I straight out asked him if he was threatening me, and he said that no, he wasn’t going to do anything to me- but I don’t know how much to trust that. Obviously, he knows where my office is, and he knows that I am sometimes here alone answering phones and whatnot, outside of business hours. My boss is in North Carolina, and is not able to offer me much protection or advice other than keep the door locked when I’m alone and to have a plan with the doctor for if/when he comes in when we’re open. I don’t feel that I can really call the police because he hasn’t done anything wrong. Is there any advice on what I can do, beside lock doors and have a plan? Normally I wouldn’t be so on edge about this, but I do live in the city where Gabby Giffords was shot in the head, which does help me to see that these things can happen. > > So… anybody have any advice for this situation? From the oddities I picked up on various threads recently regarding “legal marijuana” in the US, could you do a Ask the … thread about your job? Don’t know how it works with Dope rules, but I remember them being against current illegal drug use, I would tend to think it would be ok for the Dope to have a thread like that (seeing as that would be legal drug use). ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-advice-regarding-a-schizophrenic-person/601019/32 "2011-10-31T06:05:32Z")
> [@Capitaine\_Zombie](#): > > From the oddities I picked up on various threads recently regarding “legal marijuana” in the US, could you do a Ask the … thread about your job? > Don’t know how it works with Dope rules, but I remember them being against current illegal drug use, I would tend to think it would be ok for the Dope to have a thread like that (seeing as that would be legal drug use). [Here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=604585&highlight=marijuana) you go, ask away. They cut my hours and I had to leave for another job, but then I came back after a couple of months and got more hours. ---
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-advice-regarding-a-schizophrenic-person/601019/33 "2011-10-31T06:07:24Z")
> [@Alice\_The\_Goon](#): > > [Here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=604585&highlight=marijuana) you go, ask away. They cut my hours and I had to leave for another job, but then I came back after a couple of months and got more hours. Ha thanks, had missed it. Will read the thread and posts some questions later. ---
**Author:** ![StrangeBird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e480ec/32.png) [@StrangeBird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StrangeBird)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-advice-regarding-a-schizophrenic-person/601019/34 "2011-10-31T10:29:36Z")
I’m not particularly familiar with the US medical system. So my responses are going to be based on my experiences of mental health in Australia, and even here things vary depending on where you live. My thought would be to look into whether there is a mental health team in your local area (they may be based at the local hospital, or the hospital may be able to direct you how to contact them). These types of team will often have an intake line, where you can report your concerns. The team then will make a decision whether to act on these concerns (by attempting contact/an assessment with the person). In particular, it is possible this person may already be known to the team in some way, especially if he has been hospitalised in the past. They may also know if he has a history of violence (they won’t be able to tell you this information, but it may inform their decisions about how to respond to the information you provide). If he is unmedicated, and has become unwell to the point where he is danger to himself or others, the team is often best placed to arrange hospitalisation (except in immediate danger situations, where emergency services should be called). It can be difficult in cases where the client is delusional, but has enough insight to disguise this when mental health attempt to speak to him, but I would still suggest contacting the mental health team - if nothing else it begins to create a history of third parties concerns which can be helpful if other people also call MH with concerns. If you’re uncertain about reporting the concerns to the mental health line, you could start by calling with a general query about the referral/triage process. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2011, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-advice-regarding-a-schizophrenic-person/601019/35 "2011-10-31T21:50:19Z")
Didn’t I used to have a post in this thread? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-advice-regarding-a-schizophrenic-person/601019.md?page=1)