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Geena
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Stuggling to find support and help my brother with mental illness- Please help me help my brother

Im in dire need of help for my younger brother who is suffering from mental illness, he is a 33 yr old white male.

This year he was apparently diagnosed by a psychiatrist who works in the public system with Bipolar, PTSD and a schizoid effective delusion. I say apprently as Im not sure what to believe from my brother at times.

He used to abuse meth and fell into a wrong crowd for a number of years, but since my mother passed away four years ago (he was her primary carer and lived with her till she passed) his mental health has slowly and steadily deteriorated. He has told me he hasnt used in a long while (past year) and doesnt plan to ever again.

He is displaying signs of severe depression, anxiety and lack of hygiene and self care, withdrawl from normal day to day activites, believes he ex friend who used to live with him is tracking him, he can hear "their voices" he thinks he has had implants for tracking and monitoring him which are inbedded in his body. He thinks his cat can hear the voices too. He's told me that they can see what he sees and make pains in his body to disrupt his daily waking moments.

He now spends his days/nights either drinking or smoking weed to escape the pain. He is convinced that these people (ex friends) are going to put him in jail and plot against him to frame him for drugs or trafficking. He says the only time he feels some joy is when he eats or drinks- but that is not often. He has gained a lot of weight since eating for comfort this past year.

He is now staying at my fathers house as he cant go back to his home where "these people" are living, breaking in without him knowing, messing with his head. Its too much for him to be at the house he has told me and my father, and has told me he wants to move somehwere else, to escape, but then at times says he knows they will find him. and torment him.
According to my brother these people only live to do the basics of life, and play with his mind and body for laughs. And the end gold is they want him in jail.

He told me has has heard them living in his roof, he is supposed to be taking medication, an antispychotic and anti depressants but my father has told me he hasnt seen him take them and has seen full packets of medication.
He is very intelligent and gifted so he can manipulate what people thinks or feel towards him, and knows a lot about mental health and psychology himself. He is a sensitive, sweet, loving young man with his whole life ahead of him, and my father and I dont know what else to do to get him the help he needs so he can thrive and become the young man he knows deep down he can be. But this illness is stopping him.

Apparently he sees a psychiartist about once a month, the one who diagnosed him, but he says he gets no actual counselling from them or support, just a check in to see if he self harms (he doesnt to my knowledge) and that he is taking his meds. He is convinced however a psychologist wouldnt understand him anyway as this is all real, and he isnt crazy (his words) and keeps telling me he doesnt fit the bil lfor a "normal schizophrenic".
My brothers GP sees him often here and there, but my brother could be telling him anything and well, he isnt qualified to make a disagnoses on my brother.

He is showing serious signs of paranoid delusions and is convinced that these ex friends want to harm him and make his life hell.
I dont want to lose my brother to these issues he is having and when we talk, sometimes I can bring him down to earth and he says: "Well, they have driven me batty, and I know these technologies dont exist, etc."  but its just seemingly endless to him for this past year, he is suffering and I want to help him but he cant help himself.

He has no tendancies to suicide or self harm, and has told me many times he is strong of mind and body, but this can only go on for so long before something snaps. He doesnt believe he is sick, hence why I dont think he is taking his medications. I belive he may be filling in the scripts so it looks like he is taking the medication.

I nor my father or our family and freinds dont want to see my brother lose his life any longer, or permanently to mental health issues/illnesses.

Im reaching out for any help anyone can offer me, preferably from professionals at this point. I ve looked into voluntary and involuntary admission.
He doesnt pose a risk to anyone or himself I believe.

Please, Please help.

Geena.

4 REPLIES 4

Re: Stuggling to find support and help my brother with mental illness- Please help me help my brother

Hi @Geena and welcome to the Sane forums.

It is great that you are trying to help your brother who seems to be going through a lot with his mental health.

I don't have any answers for you so am going to tag a @Former-Member who may be able to lead you in the right direction to help your brother.

Again, welcome

Re: Stuggling to find support and help my brother with mental illness- Please help me help my brother

Thank you @Snowie

much appreciate your post and assistance here 🙂

Peace,

Geena

Re: Stuggling to find support and help my brother with mental illness- Please help me help my brother

Hi @Geena,

Welcome to the Forums! I'm one of the moderators here.

It sounds like you are facing a challenging time finding support for your brother. Caring for someone with a mental illness can be a really difficult, and often frustrating, position to be in. 

As you mentioned, unless there is an acute risk of harm to self or others, it is, ultimately, the choice of the individual to seek help. However, you are able to work together with your brother in order to express your concern for him and, gently, provide suggestions and encourage help-seeking. It is good to see he is linked in with a GP and psychiatrist. Perhaps, if he is open to it, you could attend one of these appointments with him.

 

It is important to take care of your wellbeing, too. Caring for another can be an exhausting role and it is important to take extra good care of yourself.

 

I encourage you to contact us for a more in-depth discussion should you wish, on 1800 187 263, 10am-10pm Monday - Friday, or to reach out to our webchat via www.sane.org.

 

I wish you all the best in your journey.

 

Kind regards,

Peregrinefalcon

 

Re: Stuggling to find support and help my brother with mental illness- Please help me help my brother

Hi @Geena, my name's Rainforest and I'm one of the moderators here on the forum and a mental health professional.  I'm so sorry to hear that your brother is experiencing a period of unwellness and it's great that you've reached out for help.  In your post you said you wanted help, preferably from a professional and the SANE Help Centre are staffed by qualified mental health professionals Mon-Fri 10am-10pm and you can call them on 1800 18 7263.  

 

Also here's a bit more information on the support they offer to family, friends and carers of loved ones with a lived experience of mental illness.  https://www.sane.org/information-stories/facts-and-guides/families-friends-carers

 

Take care and I hope this info helps in some way🌻

 

Edit:  @Geena I can see another moderator has already responded to your post. That's great!  I hope you're able to talk to someone soon Smiley Happy

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