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When you can’t tell what’s real
For people in the United States who are hearing or seeing things other people don’t, feel watched or in danger, or feel their thinking coming apart, and for the people who love them. Doctors call it psychosis. Who answers, and when. What might be happening, and why. Getting through a frightening hour. Telling someone. Seeing a doctor. The treatment that works best early, and how to find a program. What families can do. What to do in a crisis. And the words to say when you call. One thing at a time.
Right now
- Not safe, or a voice is telling you to hurt yourself or someone else? Call or text 988, at any hour. In danger, or a medical emergency: 911. You do not have to do what a voice says.
- It just started? MedlinePlus says a person who begins to hallucinate and is detached from reality should get checked by a health care provider right away, and should not be left alone.
- Someone to help you find care (weekdays): the NAMI HelpLine, 1-800-950-6264, or text NAMI to 62640, Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Eastern. It is free. NAMI says it is not a crisis line.
- There is real hope in the facts. The National Institute of Mental Health says that with early diagnosis and appropriate treatment, it is possible to recover from psychosis.
More help
- Frightened right now? Breathe and ground and When panic hits.
- Feeling unsafe with yourself? A safety plan and a hope box.
- Want your wishes on paper while you’re well? The psychiatric advance directive builder.
- Seeing a doctor soon? Appointment prep and Low-cost care.
- Not sleeping? Can’t sleep?
- Drinking or drugs as well? When drinking or drugs are the problem.
- Worried about someone? When you’re worried about someone and When you’re caring for someone.
- All our free tools and Get help now.
This page and its wording were written with AI (Claude) for Scarlet Beast (our AI policy). The facts come from pages read on October 1, 2026: the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health (Understanding Psychosis, Schizophrenia, its RAISE research page, and its tips for talking with a health care provider); MedlinePlus, from the U.S. National Library of Medicine (Psychosis, Hallucinations, Psychotic Disorders); SAMHSA’s Early Serious Mental Illness Treatment Locator and FindTreatment.gov; NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness (its HelpLine, Family Caregiver HelpLine, psychosis, support group, Family-to-Family and crisis pages); Hearing Voices Network USA; and the 988 Lifeline. NAMI and the Hearing Voices Network are private organisations describing their own services, and the page says whose words it is passing on. We did not call any line, attend any group, or contact any program. We did not read any state’s law on treatment against someone’s will or on advance directives, what insurance, Medicaid or Medicare covers, the Institute’s or the FDA’s pages on antipsychotic medicines, the EPINET and PEPPNET program lists, or NAMI’s early psychosis tip sheets and crisis guide. Many lines are our own suggestions, above all the whole of “Getting through a frightening hour”, and the page marks them as ours. This page saves nothing: no account, no cookies, nothing you tick is stored or sent, and no analytics (privacy). Scarlet Beast is not a treatment provider or a government agency, and takes no money from anyone named here. Found a mistake? Email [email protected].