>>2396716I have done this before though, at least in high school. You get used to how ugly they are, but I had to shadow a guy with serious delusions and that still scares me. He was trapped in a tiny, deformed body and constantly tried to explain to me how some girl was coming to rescue him from his handlers because they didn't realize he was normal. I don't know if they were abusing him or if his family abandoned him or what, but sometimes he was very confident he was going to be liberated while other times he was absolutely terrified and demanded to know where she was.
I was too scared to ask him for details because I didn't want him to break down and cause a scene, but I probed his handlers a little and got nothing. He frequently claimed this person was just outside the room, or in the school looking for him and he just needed to go meet her and she would explain everything. I still don't see how it's possible the handlers never heard of this girl or the general narrative that he was going to be rescued from their care, so they either ignored everything the kids said or they were hiding something.
I like to think I treated him better than most people would and I'd want someone to hear me out too, but even my own teacher wasn't interested when I told him about this. I don't think I'll ever know if he was just insane and saw terrifying delusions or he was really being mistreated and created a little narrative to stay hopeful. I don't like either choice, really.
