Any advice??

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My brother was in a psych. ward for about a week(a little over a month ago) He was diagnosed as bi-polar, schizophrenic, homicidal, and suicidal. He was put on Depakote, Paxil, and another med that starts with a z(can't think of the name right now) He won't go to his therapy, say's he doesn't want to talk to a stranger about his problems so he'll just talk to me. I'm in nursing school I don't know enough about anything to help him. I don't know how to talk to him to make him understand he needs to go the therapy. I am trying to be supportive, but I really don't know what to do. Any help you can give would be wonderful. Thanks in advance!!

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sounds like a tricky situation...it is imperative that your brother keep all of his follow up appointments and take his meds as prescribed...offer your support but encourage compliance with aftercare...how old is your brother?

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He's 22 and sort of bullheaded if you couldn't tell from my earlier post. Thank you for your reply. I am really at wits end dealing with this. I want to help, but I can't take all his problems on on top of going to school.

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suppose you offer to go with him, sit outside and be there when he gets out of the session? Maybe be included in care in the future....................

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Specializes in Trauma/ED.

Probably Zyprexa...

Be careful you don't want to get too involved--your bound to get hurt. Just be there for him, but don't try to fix him or heel him. I see it all the time and it just doesn't work!

Anyway just my opinion...

Larry

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Originally posted by Larry77

Be careful you don't want to get too involved--your bound to get hurt. Just be there for him, but don't try to fix him or heel him. Larry

From my experience, that is excellent advice. I had a decent amount of support but at the sametime my parents and family knew I was the one who had to make the changes and realizations, when I had some similar experiences as your brother.

If you'd like to chat more, you send me a private message.

Best of luck!

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Thank you all for your replies. I went to see my brother over Christmas, found out a few really scary things. One, he is not taking his meds (can't pay for them), two, (perhaps the one that scares me the most) he says he thinks about stabbing himself in the chest over and over again, the only thing that stops him is his kids. When he told me this I didn't know what to say, I didn't want to act to emotional (give him some type of power over me) so I just told him how that wouldn't help anything, only hurt those he cares about (his kids, me, our parents etc.) I also found out that his wife (hopefully soon to be ex) is living with her girlfriend ( I really don't have a problem with this lifestyle just that it had to come at this time, he doesn't need this on top of everything else) I am trying to keep my feelings distant from all of this, it's just so hard. He is my baby brother, it's my job to protect him. Okay, I know it's not my job, but I was raised to take care of him. Again, thank you all, I will try my hardest to follow your advice......

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Obviously I don't know your brother, so what I am saying here is a good rule of thumb for anyone. If a person makes a suicidal statement such as that (esp. where he divulges a plan and has access to the means and has been off his meds for an extended period of time) you should take that as serious as if he were saying he is going to stab you in the chest. 911 should be called. The laws here differ from county to county, but in Dallas, once a call has been made, the paramedics are sent out and the person is taken to the hospital (whether willing or not). Then a MD makes the determination to treat the pt or not. In some counties, the police make the visit and determine if the person is in imminent danger to himself or others and makes the appropriate decision.

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I can't get over the amount of diagnoses he has. Surely they're not all current? If so, his medics need to make their mind up.

If he is off his medication, he will find it very difficult to engage in rational thought and behaviour and so communication will be hard for you. The most important thing is to stabilise his mental state.

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I've just seen the American state locations, perhaps you run things differently to Britain.

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I really think I'm just going to give up trying to talk to my family about this. OMG, I didn't realize how stupid they can be. I know it's not nice to say this about your family but that's what they are being. The only thing I'm going to try is to print off info on his meds and diagnosis and let them read it for themselves. Maybe that will work.:(

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sari noel,

i went through a VERY similar situation with my aunt. it is VERY hard to deal with. All i can say is that you must set bounderies for yourself and make sure he understands them.

i wish you all the best and if you just want to vent or talk just PM me!

t

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