Autistic teen’s fantasy world mistaken for reality

All super hero stories are about marginalised kids who deal with immense heart break and trauma and come out the other side. These are the stories this culture tells us. So, if he finds solidarity in this over arching plot, or the Myths of Our Time, so be it. Stories, Songs and myths have always kept humans motivated and given them a will toward agency. 

Calling out something you hear him say like a “mentor” is a type of reflection we need. When he starts talking about aliens, take interest and help him go further. Take it to the library. Jump into the research with him and explore it together. A thought doesn’t arrive from a void but can be traced to a multitude of passages from many points. Like a network of fungi. A thought or idea can be an analogy to the fruiting mushroom. We can see the mushroom but not the network which created it. So, a thought or phantasy is spoken. Engage with it and see if you can’t help him explore all kinds of ideas behind it. You will have more wisdom and know where to look to help him with knowledge. Be fearless!

The best thing I’ve learned about most autistics is our/their openness to exploration with the mind. Many of us were stuck at one point or another until someone illuminated a little knowledge which helped us get unstuck. Anything is possible but most things have a limit if you search long enough. Jung actually wrote a wee book on UFOs being one of the great modern myths of the 20th century. The new Religion. Man looking up to the heavens to be saved. It’s a constant in history. Some of them comforting and some a bit too cult-y for my taste, but always worth the exploration. 

Sometimes enough of a distraction or interest to pull one out of a dark place. 

Absolutely. Thank you. I’m so glad I posted here. Parenting a child through this is horrific so any support is hugely appreciated. 

The very best of luck to you. 

I think that it's not the content or legitimacy or sincerity of his conspiratorial beliefs which are important - it's the fact that he feels the need to have them at all which is key. His reason(s) for that desperate need is the thing to decipher and to help him work past. 

Thank you that makes a lot of sense. I’ve been by his side through two and a half years of this journey so far. My soul has been irreparably bruised but he is still here. I will do anything to help him but I don’t know exactly what to do at this point. 

He appears torn between crying out for help and crying out to be left alone (because he believes a solution is impossible). His conspiratorial thinking - genuine or feigned - places himself either as special/chosen (this isn't vanity; instead, it's alerting to other people that he is in very real need of help) or else he finds it so daunting to speak of his self-harming tendencies that he's invented powerful outside forces to blame. In reality, he blames himself and feels guilty about this. Gentle navigation, by you, of this uncertain state of his is vital.

If he has a home computer it's worth checking browser history for conspiracy theory rubbish, Flat-Earth, Lizard people, etc, sensationalist programs like Ancient Aliens have a lot to answer for.

I’m pretty sure he’s not experienced abuse. However, school was miserable for him. He’s at college now and enjoys it. 

His entire world is in his Laptop/Phone.

Could it be that he was sexually abused? Most talk like that initially stems either from Sexual Abuse, or Mental Torture; caused by an indifferent system.

Plus, School is not the right environment for children. It puts undue pressure on them to be perfect. When they don't match those standards, they have an axe to grind. 

He thinks he’s been chosen in a way. And that other people are chosen too. He has no explanation for why or what they want. I like your line of thinking. What do you mean call it out? Or pull things out?

Philosophers and Psychologists have historically used rather deep analogies to try and explain phenomena. This is still happening in academia. 

Depression is a natural response today. The world IS unusually cruel, overwhelming. Everywhere there ARE messages sent to young males and females: kill yourself. You'll never amount to anything. If you cannot OVERNIGHT become skinny, rich, magical, a sensation, if you cannot summon a thousands of "likes" or hit this ridiculously high standard you are worth-less, worth-nothing. You should just pack it in. You are nobody. 

It's everywhere. He's not imagining anything. He's not delusional - he's using this rich imagination in a context we see see every day in the media to try to make analogies to what is happening around him. Yes, that imagination can get out of control. The question is how to arrest it?

Call it out. Pull everything out of him and like a professor with a wand. Encourage him to channel it into words, into art, into some kind of Form. He can see a system, but he doesn't have the language or the sociology degree or the philosophy of ethics to apply to it. Help him get there and if the drugs are in the way, help him off of them. I'd recommend small rare doses of anti-anxiety medication as the problem can most of the time be our Gaba resistors aren't enough to match what we need. 

He is ok most of the time. When he gets bored or tired he falls back into the abyss. He used to admit that the “delusions” didn’t last long. Now (since being told that means they’re pseudo) he says they’re constant. 

Have the delusions/pseudo-delusions got worse since he saw the psychiatrist? I'm not a doctor, but it sounds like he needs to see some kind of mental health professional as a matter of urgency if only because of the distress it's causing him.

Is it possible to see a different psychiatrist through CAMHS? I know it used to be difficult, unfortunately.

He is under a psychiatrist but when the dr said he has pseudo delusions rather than genuine, my son refused to see him again. 

I don't think that that necessarily means that they are not delusions. Given how distressed he is and that he is already diagnosed with depression, I would suggest that he sees his GP to discuss it further. It is possible for depression to lead to psychosis (psychotic depression).

Because they have become more elaborate as time has gone on. And I know him so well of course. 

I was wondering why you're so sure these aren't delusions. Please could you elaborate?