Law Enforcement and Psychosis: Our Stories Can Save Lives

I am a public speaker for the National Alliance on Mental Illness' In Our Own Voice program. In that role, I have spoken to nurses, patients, therapists, FBI agents, and police academy recruits in my city. I have shared rooms with people who live with schizophrenia and with people whose job it is to respond when someone like me is in crisis. I love this work because I get to meet people on both sides of the system and help them understand and better support one another.

How can police officers better support people with schizophrenia?

Depending on who is listening, my story does different things. For some, it offers hope. For others, it provides coping strategies or a clearer picture of daily life with schizophrenia. For many, it helps unravel long-held stereotypes and fears. But the outcome that matters most to me is the possibility of saving a life.

That life might be someone newly diagnosed who realizes, perhaps for the first time, that they are not alone. Or it might be a life saved through better understanding, when a law enforcement officer recognizes that what looks like defiance, confusion, or threat may be untreated psychosis. My discussions with law enforcement are some of the most meaningful conversations I am lucky enough to have.

What I teach law enforcement about communication

When I speak to police officers, I am careful to say, "You are seeing me on my best day." I am calm. I am articulate. I am on my medication. I have insight into my illness. But I also explain that they could very well encounter me on my worst day.

On my worst days, I lack insight. I may not understand that I am experiencing psychosis. I may struggle to process language, especially under stress. When I am psychotic, I hear multiple voices at the same time, sometimes loud, sometimes overlapping, sometimes urgent. That constant noise can make it impossible for me to understand what someone is saying or respond quickly.

In those moments, communication breaks down, not because I am unwilling, but because I am unable.

These communication breakdowns are where danger can arise.

When a crisis is misinterpreted as non-compliance

If an officer asks me to sit down, back up, or comply with a command and I do not respond, my silence or hesitation could easily and understandably come across as threatening. What is happening inside my mind, a flood of voices, fear, and confusion, can look from the outside like resistance, defiance, or even aggression. Without context, that misreading can unnecessarily escalate a situation or lead to an outcome dangerous to all involved.

I share this not to criticize police officers (they have one of the hardest jobs), but to collaborate with them. Officers are often the first responders to a mental health crisis, and many do not have expertise in psychosis or other symptoms of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, etc. They must make split-second decisions in complex, emotionally charged situations. Lived experience education (meeting and talking to people with a severe mental illness (SMI)) gives them another tool, one that can slow things down, widen interpretation, and reduce harm.

How does sharing stories humanize psychosis?

I tell police officers that giving someone extra time, using fewer words, lowering sensory input when possible, and recognizing that non-response is not always non-compliance can make a real difference.

This work matters because stigma is not just an attitude that exists in every facet of society; it is a risk factor for those experiencing symptoms of SMI. When psychosis is not understood, people don't receive the understanding and care that they require for the best possible outcome. When it is understood, even imperfectly, outcomes improve.

I continue to speak because I believe that stories, especially lived ones, can change how systems respond. I believe that education can save lives. And I believe that the more we humanize psychosis, the safer our communities become for everyone involved: patients, families, clinicians, and first responders alike.