My brother's behaviour

tori.k

It was the sudden change's of mood & on/off odd behaviour that made me think BPD tigerlily,

Savvy_Sue

I'm not sure how helpful it is to discuss what might or might not be the matter with the OP's brother.

It's not 'normal', that's for sure, and the OP's family need to get professional help, for which several useful suggestions have been made.

Brecon_Beacons

It sounds like schizophrenia to me.

Just my opinion.

His age, the drifting in and out of psychosis, particularly the bit about not hearing others and you having to repeat things to him.

Look it up, see what you think - but most of all, get some medical intervention. The stuff with the sword could turn very nasty, very fast.

System

UKTigerlily wrote: »

I have BPD & use a support site with 14,000 members & none of us with *just* BPD are anything like this, it doesn't sound like it to me, more like Psychosis

Though some people with BPD (like myself) can have psychosis as well? Though i do agree he doesn't seem to be displaying any other symptoms? here are other personality disorders he more fits per say but i don't want to make assumptions cos lets face it none of us are really medically qualified to do so.

Zazen999

Brecon_Beacons wrote: »

It sounds like schizophrenia to me.

Just my opinion.

His age, the drifting in and out of psychosis, particularly the bit about not hearing others and you having to repeat things to him.

Look it up, see what you think - but most of all, get some medical intervention. The stuff with the sword could turn very nasty, very fast.

Sounds like a bad case of drugs to me.

Or even....

Sounds like a case of bad drugs to me.

As I mentioned in my first post; the first step would be to find out how he is funding this habit; and cutting that off and seeing how the behaviour changes.

The clue being the way he can suddenly become lucid when in front of a doctor; that's no coincidence.

Amazing how so many jump on the mental illness bandwagon....mental illness may be an effect but the drugs are more than likely the cause.....but lets just ignore that and try to treat the effect, eh? It's an insult to those with real mental health problems in my very humble opinion.

Noctu

Zazen999 wrote: »

Sounds like a bad case of drugs to me.

Or even....

Sounds like a case of bad drugs to me.

As I mentioned in my first post; the first step would be to find out how he is funding this habit; and cutting that off and seeing how the behaviour changes.

The clue being the way he can suddenly become lucid when in front of a doctor; that's no coincidence.

Amazing how so many jump on the mental illness bandwagon....mental illness may be an effect but the drugs are more than likely the cause.....but lets just ignore that and try to treat the effect, eh? It's an insult to those with real mental health problems in my very humble opinion.

The fact that he becomes lucid in front of a doctor can simply be a facet of psychosis.

The cause/effect debate is certainly a contentious one, however drugs can exacerbate an existing predisposition to psychosis. Either way you shouldn't just cut off the source completely, cold turkey, unless you want a very extreme reaction.

If you want to speak about insults to those with mental health problems, I think we should take the stigma out of discerning who developed a condition because of drugs, or just on its own, or (rightly or wrongly) started self-medicating with drugs to try and cope.

Buddingblonde

Drug use and mental health can be very chicken egg ie what came first.

It is not unusual for drug addicts to have underlying mental health issues that they have been medicating themselves to escape symptoms such as paranoia, voices, obsessive thoughts, complusions etc etc

Alcohol and or cannabis are the usual choices for self medication of undiagnosed mental health problems as they are widely available but as mentioned by others they then bring their own problems to the table - more mental health issues and also behavioural issues (agression, anti social behaviour etc).

If there has been behaviours for a long time then it prior to substance abuse then it is this area that needs looking at first as others have suggested. A mental health assessment is required but also a support system must be put in place for your mum and yourself.

Dealing with someone who is ill regardless of what is making them ill is a huge strain and weight for any family to carry. The more support and information you can get from professional bodies the easier you will find this long hard journey - regardless of whether he wishes to engage with services at this time or not.

Good luck xx

j-josie

UKTigerlily wrote: »

I have BPD & use a support site with 14,000 members & none of us with *just* BPD are anything like this, it doesn't sound like it to me, more like Psychosis

Hi Tigerlily, apologies for hijacking the thread but would you be able to tell me what support site you use? DD has had clinical depression since 15; at 17 psychiatrist said she displayed all signs of BPD but was too young to be formally diagnosed with this. Said if she still had same symptoms into her 20s then she would be classified as BPD.
We all feel she has BPD as the info we read on the subject describes her exactly! She is now 19 and at uni and would really benefit from a support site as she struggles from time to time (more often than not, she says, reading this over my shoulder:p).
We love her to bits and think she's done really well to get to uni but it would be great if she could get some more help.

littlenicki

Hiya, I agree with what has been said by previous posters. Firstly I would remove that sword, give it to a friend to keep safe or give it away. Secondly I would make an appointment with your GP, but make sure that someone goes with him or else I have a feeling that he wont talk to the GP about his behaviour, or even attend the appointment. Have you thought of keeping a note of all the bizarre things he does when they happen? This could then be shown to the doctor.

I would also be inclined to cut off his access to money completely so he cannot buy drugs or cigarettes & reduce the amount of caffeine he has (maybe get rid of the coffee). I’m sure these changes will make him absolute hell (and I definitely wouldn’t do it before he’s seen a doctor) but it may help stabilize the drug/caffeine/nicotine highs that he’s going to have been having.

If he does anything really bizarre and prolonged (staring/laughing etc) could you maybe film it, if it wouldn’t agitate him, and then this could also be shown to docs to reinforce what’s happening?

Lastly, if you ever feel unsafe or he becomes very agitated, bizarre or threatening to himself or your family please don’t hesitate in calling 999 or taking him to A&E.

Hang in there

emma_spaghetti

We're hoping to book an appointment with the GP on Tuesday once he's back from holiday- I'm hoping the holiday will have calmed him down abit, he hasn't really been far out of the house since May as he's had no money to do anything. Will let you know how it all goes and will tell the doctor what many of you have suggested (listing the behaviour and so on), thank you.

As for the drugs, he seems to get them from a friend who is quite happy to give them to him for free now and again- We've had a chat to him about it and he says he is going to try hard not to smoke them; I'm hoping he hasn't been smoking on holiday. We've also been referred to our local MIND centre for any further help if he struggles to stop.

As for the coffee, I actually hid it this week, but he always seems to find it again! I'll make sure its put somewhere completely hidden. As for the cigarettes, my mum smokes too so quite often they share them. It annoys me that she just buys him tobacco and cigarettes because he knows he can just go to her for them when he wants them.

A few weeks ago she didn't give him any cigarettes for one evening, and he kept asking and asking me for money to get some, telling me he really wanted some... I said no... so instead he went to the shop and they gave him an IOU! Ridiculous.