My brother has been ill for as long as I can remember. My family never really talked about his diagnosis, but it is safe to say he is either schizophrenic or has schizoaffective disorder. He lived with my mother up until she passed away 2 years ago. Financially he cannot make it on his own so he is moving in with me. My brother has been threatening in the past, and he has an explosive temper. He is very paranoid in his thinking, and has become very isolated socially. I am scared and really dreading having to live with him, but at this point I see no other alternative. There are some apartment living facilities in my area, but they have very long waiting lists. He also has never held a job, and he doesn’t want one either. On the plus side he is very intelligent and charming at times. He is also very faithful about taking his meds. Are there any good books out there on how to cope wit this type of situation? Also, are there any new meds that might be more effective for his anger and paranoia. Thanks,
I wish you luck,my wife is like your brother in many aspects, Valium could help him but it could also make him not feel anything, get him to a good Dr and for lack of a better word walk on eggshells around him, keep him from his triggers the best you can unless your brother is like my wife and everything is a Trigger, good luck keep in touch
If his temper is explosive, it sounds like he needs an anti-psychotic that has a mood stabilizing component, or he needs a separate mood stabilizer. That change/addition could make him so much more calm and able to express his frustrations in a more controlled way.
For us, Zyprexa, an anti-psychotic, did a great job at mood stabilizing.
Get him on every housing list you can find; a space will come up.
It’s really good he takes his meds.