A good friend at my workplace (58yo woman) is experiencing what I can only describe as paranoia - she’s convinced herself that there is a group of women (that she says are all be lesbian, for some reason) that are taking turns following her around everywhere she goes.

The other month, she was 100 percent convinced that someone had broken into her work drawer and taken money, receipts and her phone number.

She believes that this group of women are stalking her at every single point in her life - following her on the train, in her suburb, at her workplace. She believes they have her address, her phone number, all her personal details. She said she can feel eyes on her at all times and she’s not able to walk into a shop without feeling someone watching her.

she keeps accusing me of not understanding what it’s like to be stalked and that she knows that I “think she’s being crazy and paranoid”.

She’s naturally a very anxious person, but this is extreme. I have told her to go to the police, but she is reluctant to do so. 

how do I tell her to get mental health help without aggravating her paranoia even more? I don’t want her to think I am one of those people “out to get her”.

thank you.