[Steve L.]

I have a friend named Mike who is thinking kind of strange. He has told me recently that he has quit both of his jobs (one of them was working at a community college as a professor) and that everything including himself is "no thing". He also says that everything is just a concept and that nothing is real. I asked him how he is going to pay for food, rent, or other bills and he became very defensive. I am wondering if he is going into escapism or worse mental illness. Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you

[Hellion]

Well not so sure the belief everything is just a concept and nothing is real is necessarily a delusion. But if there is a functional decline along with it and he didn't think at all like that before perhaps it points to something.

I don't know without more detail its hard to say, did he say how he was planning to pay bills and all that?

[lostinbooks]

Sounds a little mystical. But unless he plans on becoming an ascetic monk/guru he needs a bit more of a plan. But I agree with Hellion. Without more info it is hard to tell. Maybe he is just becoming a Buddhist.

[Sometimes psychotic]

Well if he is delusional you probably aren't going to be able to talk him out of it you need to get him to a shrink. How you do this I don't know, but my friends asked me if I wanted to go and I said yes because it was part of my delusion that I be tested to join a psychic organization.