Or atleast thats what he thinks. He keeps saying, " I am King". My brother is 21 and he has been acting strange for around two years now. So many episodes have happened. He thinks people are trying to kill him. He is freaking people out. He barely eats bc he things someone is trying to kill him. He talks to himself and hears voices! He has admitted he needs help in the past. Now, he says he isnt sick. He clearly is. I cant understand whats happening to him! Its breaking my heart. He has been living with my gmother and mom for a few months now. He is depressed. Only comes out of his room to smoke cigs, weed or drink a beer. He want get help. Refuses to help himself. My gmother and mom told him he has to either get help or he has to go. So, he will be homeless by the first of Febuary. I hate this desease! I cant sleep bc im so worried about him being homeless. How will he survive out there? He cant think straight. Im scared .
These are always tough scenarios.
Firstly he probably shouldn’t be smoking weed. That is what led to my first auditory hallucinations. Two years clean now and I still hear them.
It’s the behavior that drives the degenerative onset of this illness.
Reminds me of what I was like before my world came crumbling down. The hospital was the last place I wanted to go. Psychosis had given me a reason to fear it. My mother tried and I refused.
Those were dark times. Fortunately It doesn’t sound like he’s to bad off yet, but he should most certainly start seeing a psychiatrist. It will prevent him from getting worse and prevent the need to go to the hospital.
Sounds like he’s in denial about his illness at this’s point, but he has delusions of grandeur and persecution. I had the same things.
Need @BarbieBF to chime in she has some good resources for communicating with people in his situation.
I don’t know what I’d do in your case, you sound like you care very deeply. Maybe gather up some of the stories from this forum and make him have a read. Give him some info for how serious mental illness can be.
Some people are young and reckless until the fall on their face. It’s what happened to me.
Being homeless isn’t good for anyone. You should try and reason with your mother.
Drugs are a real no no. This case sounds volatile. You didn’t mention it so I’m assuming he doesn’t have any violent tendencies, this is a good as sz likely will not change this.
Really though I’d search for our testimonials here for life with sz. How it started and the struggle to live even the simplest life once it gets bad. It takes years to adjust to it.
Really he needs help, you can’t have him committed unless he’s violent or commits a crime.
I’m sorry your going through this. It is up to him to determine how far down the sz road he has to travel before he turns to the light. He really needs to be reminded of the risks he’s taking, the instability of his lifestyle, and the fragile nature of the human mind. A lesson in delusion and hallucination.
I hope you can convince or help him realize he needs help before things get worse. It’s really sad every time I hear about these situations because they are really difficult and good advice is hard to come by.
It doesn’t sound like he’s healthy, gotta show him that somehow.
Have you sat him down and had a heart to heart talk with him? Just lay the cards on the table and address everything you wrote above with him?
@BryanAshley raises quite a few good points. And, yes, @BarbieBF could make some good contributions here. I’ve lived with paranoid schizophrenia for 35 years; since 1980. I’m doing OK now but in the beginning I was in-denial that I had this disease. I got lucky though and it only took a few months of living in a group home before I could see I was sick. Maybe you could get your brother into a group home. 't’s a good idea to have him read some of our stories. He might see some similarities to himself.
Welcome to the forum @Allme2015
My son will be 21 tomorrow. He was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in 2011. He also has addiction issues and ADHD. I believe he has Oppositional Defiance Disorder (ODD).
He seems to accept his schizophrenia diagnoses however he does not recognize a lot of what he experiences as being schizophrenia so his insight is limited. This is called anosognosia, when the person is unable due to the disease/disorder itself unable to see that they are sick. It can make getting them help really hard.
My son has believed that he is God or god-like. Believed he could move clouds, reincarnate, reset the world? among other things. His paranoia symptoms are usually centered around his marijuana use.
Setting boundaries and discipline are harder when dealing with mental illness. I try to follow some of the basic guidelines for disciplining ADHD and ODD children.
http://forum.schizophrenia.com/t/oppositional-defiant-disorder-odd-and-ad-hd/8922
I will link what I think will help:
http://www.leapinstitute.org/ - under resources are free videos on using LEAP
LEAP is a way of communicating to build trust. Listen-Empathize-Agree-Partner.
http://dramador.com/ - Dr. Xavier Amador is a clinical psychologist whose brother had schizophrenia. He is the founder of the LEAP Institute. Wrote the book: I’m Not Sick I Don’t Need Help! Can buy from his website.
Search Xavier Amador and LEAP on youtube.com and you should find some long videos
Treatment Advocacy Center - under problems you will see anosognosia
Anosognosia looks like denial but is different.
Bayes for Schizophrenics: Reasoning in Delusional Disorders - LessWrong - helped my understand delusions
http://www.nami.org/ - National Alliance on Mental Illness.
http://www.schizophrenia.ca/ - Schizophrenia Society of Canada
Can also find some very useful information here:
Early Psychosis Treatment center information in these two links
http://www.raiseetp.org/sites/
http://psychosisprevention.org/get-involved/education-center/finding-treatment/
Psychiatric Treatment Centers affiliated with Medical Schools in the USA
This link may help you find a psychiatrist in your area
The sooner he starts to receive treatment the better as studies shows that early treatment helps long-term recovery. I know that getting him treatment when he doesn’t think that he is sick is hard. Using LEAP may be able to help with that as even though he doesn’t think he is sick, chances are there is something that he feels that he could get help with even if it is anxiety and stress related due to what he is experiencing. Gaining his trust is the first step so that he knows that he can trust someone with what he is experiencing. With my son this can be up and down depending on his symptoms but I see it even when he is at his worst when he says: Mom tell me what to do or Can you be my agent or limbo (right arm). If it wasn’t for his ODD as he gets defiant with me being in a position of authority…
I understand addiction as I’m a recovered addict. My home is currently alcohol and street drug free, zero tolerance. My husband and I also went alcohol free over a year ago. Due to this my son has limited access or resources to abuse. He still does… I just get rid of it if he brings it in. I have a pretty good idea of when and I know most of the signs by now when to be more attentive. I will search his room and belongings as I believe his mental health and stability is more important than his privacy. He knows this about me so we have an understanding… He will lie about it 
and I will search for it 
Alcohol is a depressant so it too will contribute to long-term depression symptoms.
Depending on where my son is with symptoms, I’m learning to stop doing things for him. He is old enough and physically capable of doing things like making snacks, food, coffee and doing things like his own laundry etc.
Do you mind if I ask where he is getting the money for weed and alcohol? It’s hard but when my son spends his little money on alcohol… He will just have to learn to go without certain things as I know longer have the funds to support these habits. I’m too the point of he can have all of my love and that doesn’t include my credit…
Some other links that may help:
http://forum.schizophrenia.com/t/anosognosia-article/12157
http://forum.schizophrenia.com/t/how-to-tell-someone-they-have-a-mental-illness/2582
http://forum.schizophrenia.com/t/8-ways-to-help-someone-live-well-with-schizophrenia/10496
There it is. Good work Barbie
A “King” has enemies and is always worried someone is trying to kill them… so the grandiosity of the one may lead to the other…
Of course weed doesn’t help at all because weed can make one more paranoid…in many cases.
Don’t think that is a good idea to just toss him out…if he isn’t being a danger to anyone, and you didn’t mention that he was…just he is isolating and saying some things. Unless the talking to himself and other comments of strangeness are so much it upsets the balance of the home…
And if he is a danger to self or others people can always call and have him hospitalized for a few days…that can only happen if he is an immediate danger though…if they tried to do that just for acting strange it probably won’t get much result.
Most people here have been in your situation. It can get better. If there is any way to get him to one of these early psychosis treatment centers - I would try to do so.
Here are the lists of centers around the world:
http://forum.schizophrenia.com/t/early-psychosis-treatment-centers-how-to-get-great-help/12743
I recommend you read our FAQ about getting help: