Hi there. I've been looking for answers for years regarding my significant others mental health. He was told by a psychologist he is has bipolar disorder but that was over a brief phone call. I truely think he is schizophrenic. He hears voices constantly and it has caused many issues over the years. He is paranoid the neighbors in our apartment are out to get him. And constantly "talking smack" about him but only he can hear it. He really believes it's real.

Anyways, I was wondering about something I read called catatonia, it said its a disorder that disrupts a person's awareness of the world around them. People with it may reacts very little or not at all to their surroundings, or might behave in ways that are unusual, unexpected or unsafe to themselves or others.

I've witnessed him going through an episode than shifting into this state of just nothing. Sitting and staring, can't hear me or notice anything around him. Picks up on one word or so if I say something. Slow reaction times. Gets up randomly and engages in very strange behavior. Moving around random things. Searching through drawers for nothing. Opening the front door and just staring down the hallway for minutes. It lasts awhile and he has a very hard time sleeping afterwards and gets intense auditory delusions.

I guess I was wondering if this is something that happens to people affected by schizophrenia only ? or what it is? He won't talk to a professional so Ive coped by educating myself on mental health a lot over the course of this wild ride.

It's very hard to watch him suffer and I just was looking for relevant information from a real person. Not many people know what all this is and it's been a struggle trying to learn using my own experiences on the other side of things.

Any advice, facts or anything is more than appreciated. Thank you , if you've read this far.