{"id":1232,"date":"2019-05-12T14:30:58","date_gmt":"2019-05-12T14:30:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lancaster.ac.uk\/reacttoolkit\/?page_id=1232"},"modified":"2025-10-28T10:52:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T10:52:14","slug":"top-tips","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.lancaster.ac.uk\/reacttoolkit\/toolkit\/managing-unusual-behaviour-positive-symptoms\/top-tips\/","title":{"rendered":"Top Tips"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Every person with psychosis and every problem is different. It\u2019s not possible to give advice on how to deal with every problem and every eventuality.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">There are some basic principles, however, that usually apply. They often underpin the techniques that professionals use when they talk to people about their problems.<\/p>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: justify;\">1. Avoid argument (or extended discussions) about voices or delusions where possible.<\/h5>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Why?<\/strong> This can back the person into a corner and make them work even harder to prove it\u2019s true.<br \/>\n<strong>Say<\/strong> \u201cI can\u2019t understand why you feel that people are against you. Maybe you should discuss it with your doctor.\u201d<\/p>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: justify;\">2. Avoid getting angry if you can.<\/h5>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Why?<\/strong> You\u2019ll feel worse. Your relationship may suffer and it usually does not work.<br \/>\n<strong>Do\/Say<\/strong> Take a break\/time for yourself. Think \u201cIt\u2019s the illness, not the person talking.\u201d<\/p>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: justify;\">3. Don\u2019t agree with delusions or beliefs about the voices.<\/h5>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Why?<\/strong> Your relative could interpret this as evidence that their thinking is correct.<br \/>\n<strong>Say<\/strong> \u201cFrom what I\u2019ve learned over the years I\u2019m sure that radio waves could not be controlling your thoughts.\u201d<\/p>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: justify;\">4. State what you believe about the delusion or voices very clearly.<\/h5>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Why?<\/strong> Reduces the chance that they will misinterpret what you say.<br \/>\n<strong>Say<\/strong> \u201cI am 100% sure that I am not putting voices in your head deliberately.\u201d<\/p>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: justify;\">5. Recognise and sympathise with distress and boost self esteem.<\/h5>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Why?<\/strong> Everyone feels a tiny bit better when they know someone cares and getting a positive response encourages people to come back for more.<br \/>\n<strong>Say<\/strong> \u201cThat must be horrible for you. I don\u2019t know how you\u2019re coping with this? You\u2019re very strong\/brave\/determined.\u201d<\/p>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: justify;\">6. Acknowledge that it\u2019s his choice\/right to believe what he believes (even though you know it\u2019s wrong).<\/h5>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Why?<\/strong> Reduces conflict. Prevents them having to justify their belief.<br \/>\n<strong>Say<\/strong> \u201cI understand that\u2019s what you believe and you have a right to that. I just can\u2019t work out how it might be happening, it doesn\u2019t seem real to me.\u201d<\/p>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: justify;\">7. Give people time and space to express themselves.<\/h5>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Why?<\/strong> When under pressure, it is harder to communicate effectively.<br \/>\n<strong>Say<\/strong> \u201cCan I just check I have got this right\u2026(offer a simple summary of what they have said).\u201d<\/p>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: justify;\">8. Encourage talk\/discussion of alternative theories\/ideas.<\/h5>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Why?<\/strong> The illness makes odd beliefs \u201cfeel right\u201d. Recovery often involves the gradual exploration of new explanations.<br \/>\n<strong>Say<\/strong> \u201cWhen the voices first started, what else did you think they might be?\u201d \u201cHave you spoken to anyone else who hears voices? What explanation did they have?\u201d<\/p>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>Sandra<\/em><\/h4>\n<p><em>When John started telling me that his voices wouldn\u2019t let him go out of the house, I found myself arguing with him. I think this made John believe I was in some way blaming him for his illness. I knew that I wasn\u2019t helping John or myself but I just didn\u2019t know what else to say to him.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>After a while, I found that by accepting that John had these voices no matter what I thought about them, helped me and I started to be less irritated at John. John started to talk with me a bit more about what they were saying, and some of the things they said to him were really awful. He does so well to deal with that every day.<\/em><\/p>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: justify;\">Support<\/h4>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Which of the Top Tips do you already use?<br \/>\nAre there any you would like to try?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">You might want to discuss these different approaches with other people in the <a href=\"\/react-forum\/\">REACT GROUP<\/a> or share your experiences with the <a href=\"\/react-supporter\/\">REACT SUPPORTER<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>[arrows][\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Every person with psychosis and every problem is different. It\u2019s not possible to give advice on how to deal with every problem and every eventuality. There are some basic principles, however, that usually apply. They often underpin the techniques that professionals use when they talk to people about their problems. 1. Avoid argument (or <\/p>\n<div class=\"btn-more-wrapper\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lancaster.ac.uk\/reacttoolkit\/toolkit\/managing-unusual-behaviour-positive-symptoms\/top-tips\/\" class=\"btn btn-sm btn-hover-fill\"><i class=\"icon-right-arrow\"> <\/i>Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Top Tips&#8221;<\/span><i class=\"icon-right-arrow\"> <\/i><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1595,"parent":1848,"menu_order":8,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-toolkit.php","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-1232","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Top Tips - REACT<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lancaster.ac.uk\/reacttoolkit\/toolkit\/managing-unusual-behaviour-positive-symptoms\/top-tips\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Top Tips - REACT\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Every person with psychosis and every problem is different. 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