Help! My friend wants to be crazy!

[rianvice]

Hi! I have a serious question to ask you all. But let me start from the beginning.

My friend visited my house, and ended up leaving a journal behind. Me, being the curious person I was, of course picked up the journal, and instead of returning it to him right away, began to read through it. He had been acting odd recently and so I was hoping that I would be able to figure out what was wrong if I read it.

I read through some of his entries and they all basically stated that he wanted to be 'crazy'. He stated that he never felt special in anyway and that he felt that he never stood out, and he would never be somebody if he was not special. So he decided to make himself special by becoming, 'crazy'. He wrote that he would force himself to follow all of the symptoms of someone who was a sociopath and of someone who was schizophrenic, so he could end up being recognized as someone who has these disorders. Can you help me? What should I do? And one more question, is it even possible to force yourself to have these disorders if you try hard enough? I don't want my friend to continue like this, since these disorders are serious, and he shouldn't be trying to force himself into having them. Please help!

[byee]

First, the easy answers: No, you cannot force yourself to have schizophrenia and you cannot force yourself to be a sociopath (someone who utterly lacks a conscience). The former is a medical condition caused by an imbalance in neurotransmitters in the brain, and the latter is caused by a lack of development of knowing right from wrong, and an ensuing abuse of others rights.

The second question about what to do is more difficult to answer. If you know this guy really well and are very close with him, then you might consider talking with him about his entries. Yeah, you shouldn't have...although it could be successfully argued that perhaps he left it there intentionally so you would read it...the point is you DID read it and the cat is out of the bag. If you're not so close, or you're the type of person that can dismiss all this, then you can choose to do nothing.

But if you're not, the issue becomes not so much IF you talk with him about this, but HOW. He sounds very troubled, and wants to express himself (hence the journal), so if you can broach the subject in a caring (and not nosey) way, it might actually work out very well.

[ksdnfkfr]

He sounds like an attention seeker. Like he thinks if he acts like there's something seriously wrong with him, he'll stand out and get the attention he wants. It's one thing to just want to be liked. It's another thing altogether when someone wants to stand out like that. I think if he starts play acting like he's crazy, you won't need to do anything because his parents and teachers etc are going to react to his behavior and do something about it. Anyone like a counselor who recognizes things like schizophrenia isn't going to be fooled by him I don't think.

[Its Pretty]

He sounds like a hipster. Understand the phrase "being a hipster is mainstream" then tell that to him.

[rianvice]

Hi! So thanks for all the advice. I returned the journal to him, and I kind of broke the news to him that I new about his ‘attention seeking ways’. I told him that there was no way that he could force the disorders onto himself. And I also told him that he shouldn’t be doing this stuff because it is insensitive to people who actually have these disorders. He honestly didn’t care. He simply glared at me and stated that he would just find a different disorder. Out of complete curiosity, is there a disorder that makes you want to be crazy, or has the symptoms of being someone who needs attention? I think it was dependent disorder or something like that, but I am not sure…I think he needs to see a therapist about his problems…

[ksdnfkfr]

He needs counseling that's for sure. He obviously has some emotional issues.
But I would worry about him acting out. It's just an act.