My brother is not diagnosed, but i know in my heart pretty postitvely that he’s schizophrenic. He’s only 31. He’s lost everything already. And i mean everything. Job, car, friends, family and even home. No one understands so they all have pretty much given up on him. I justv found out recently how bad the situation truly is when my sister told me she seen him panhandling at a Rite-Aid not long ago. :’(
That got me to step in and give it my all to get him into treatment. I found a temporary safe place he can sleep while i try to help guide him to get help by getting an evaluation and treatment. He doesn’t realize its my doing that he’s allowed to be there. He just knows I’m showing up and hanging out with him all of a sidden. I did get him to open up a little which only confirmed my suspicions of him being schizo. He told me people from his past are preventing him from being successful. He tried to describe to me how they make any path that leads to things he wants to accomplish impossible for him to take. He said these ppl included past friends and family… no one specific although he did say one girls name from his past he once dated so i think she might be signifigant in his thoughts somehow. He’s so isolated he has forgotten how to socialize completely and unable to express how he feels. He’s pretty much emotionless. I think he knows there’s a problem but doesnt want to admit it to me and i have no idea how ill ever get him to consider getting professional help. Time is critical here. If i don’t make progress with him he loses his safe place and that will be it. I’ll lose my brother forever. He be on the streets getting worse and worse and more and more lost. Hes a young guy who could gm have so much going for him but hes been robbed of it all.
Advise and suggestions on how to approach the situation and get results are much appreciated. Thank you!
Christine
Hang in there Christine,are you in USA? I’m in uk so things are different here,someone is sure to put you in the right direction.also your brother is lucky to have a loving sister,god bless❤️
Thank you for the reply. There’s so much more to tell with him, but i think you get the gist. I’m the oldest of us kids ( there are 7 of us). I remember him being a goofy little happy kid. Now I can’t remember the last time I seen him smile. It’s terrible. I just hope he’ll accept my help. I’m going to keep trying. Yesterday i got some resistance from him so I’ll give him a little space then try again… I’ve already told hin that those people from his past he says are in his life aren’t real and that i think he’s schizophrenic. He told me im entitled to my opinion. I explained its ok, we can get help to control those thoughts so he can live aan at least somewhat normal life. He was listening but then the next day he wasnt as willing to listen. Actually i think he just wanted me to leave. So i did. Ill stop in again tomorrow after he’s gotten a little space. The last think i want to do is scare him off.
There are some good resources for you in the thread named “Is my mom suffering from schizophrenia?”
You might be interested in Dr Amador’s book “I’m Not Sick, I Don’t Need Help”. In the book Dr Amador has some suggestions of ways to talk to your brother that may be helpful. The thread mentioned above has links to some of Dr Amador’s videos.
I just got home from bringing him a sandwich. He seemed a little more welcoming than he was yesterday, but I didn’t stay to chat. I just dropped off the food and left. I feel like a liitle space is best right now and we can chat again tomorrow. I’m going to look up the thread and thread that book as well today.
My son doesn’t believe he has schizophrenia, and probably never will. I try not to talk about things in those terms, or to question his delusions. They are quite real to him.
My son has stayed on a medication that helps him for almost 3 years now. I can only talk about it in terms of how it is necessary for him to take it so that he can stay in the housing that I provide for him, not in terms of illness. When he begins talking about what things have kept him from doing what he wants - usually aliens or the government! - I talk about what is happening today and steer him away from those topics without discussing the validity of what he says.
Some of this is lined out in the book that was recommended above.
There is hope my grandson was homeless digging used cigarette butts out of other peoples ashteay at a local bar, dishelved, in jail on drugs. He is now working 2 jobs, making friends and clean. Clozapine was his miracle drug good luck
That is so funny you posted that. He was just telling me about how he would collect cigarette butts on the street and get some change together to get rolling papers and roll him self up a cigarette. He has a bike some stranger at a donut shop gave him that he has a wagon attached to the back that carry all his belongings in where ever he goes. He was also robbed recently.
I am hitting a brick wall so far with him. He told me yesterday that he doesn’t need my help. That if he needs something, like he’s hungry, then he knows where I live. I told him well his time will run out where he is at, then what is he going to do? He will die on the streets. I only am telling him the truth.
So here I am. I don’t know if my choice of words are not the appropriate way to go with someone in his current mental state but I tend to be a pretty straight forward person.
It’s amazing that there is a disease like this that turns a normal adult into almost a child that you have to be very careful how you speak as to not upset them. Unreal. I am not giving up yet. I just need time to learn and think stuff through.
Thank you everyone for all your feedback so far. I always enjoy when I am notified that I have a new reply.
*One hope for you…if he can carry on a conversation, he might not be schizophrenic…
Do you know if he has a drug problem?
One thing I learned, you cannot “reason” with a schizophrenic…
It’s very hard to get them diagnose when they are consider an adult until they become a danger to themselves or someone else…
Even then, it’s hard to get them diagnose…
Your brother might have to reach rock bottom before he can come back,and most probably, will determine if he has any kind of mental illness…
If he lands in jail, you can contact them by asking to speak to a nurse,and explain to them, that he needs the mental health from your state to check him out for a mental disease.
I want to commend you for caring for your brother, and trying to help him…
Just don’t let his illness consume you or make you depress bc it’s not an easy life with someone in drugs or mental illness…
