My brother's behaviour

karmacookie

Rockporkchop wrote: »

It sounds just like my cousin. He smoked skunk throughout his uni years and then suddenly went completely weird with just the odd moment of complete lucidity (usually when he was speaking to the doctor or psychiatrist). He became obsessed with becoming a monk and started to visit all the monasteries in the country asking if they had any vacancies. He applied to become a coach for the FA and started stalking the place when they politely turned him down. He started playing the guitar and became convinced that he was Jimi Hendrix reincarnated. He had no concept of night and day at all and seemed constantly spaced out all the time.

Anyway, first the doctor said it was depression but the anti ds didn't have any effect. Then a specialist diagnosed him with Aspergers and the medication for this seems to have worked. There does seem to be a very loose link between people who abused drugs in their youth and people who are diagnosed with Aspergers in adulthood.

I really hope that he does manage to get sorted out, it must be awful for you all living in the same house as him.

There is no medication for Asperger's!

fudgecat

Some forms of extreme stress can lead to symptoms of psychosis including hearing voices and other bizarre behaviour. This can be exacerbated or even triggered by use of drugs such as cannabis. I suspect that the pressure of University, new relationships and the fear ( and reality ) of failure have all built up.
If your brother has always found it difficult to relate to others or perceive how others feel, he will have bottled these problems up, adding to the stress. It is possible that he may always have been on the lower edges of the autistic spectrum. This is mnore common in males.
In our area we were helped with a family member undergoing distressing syptoms by a team known as the Early Intervention In Psychosis team which was part of the National Health Service and deal with 16-24 year olds. We needed a GP referral and they then contacted us.
We had consultations and very good care along with home visits. Be prepared for all family members to be interviewed. The problem was largely sorted after 18 months, although further extreme stressful situations could trigger a recurrence, so we will all have to be vigilant in the future.
Your first port of call would therefore have to be the GP to see if a similar team operate in your local area.
The condition can trigger self harm or possibly harm to others, so please do not ignore the situation.
It must be so distressing for you all. I hope you find the care a support you need.

squirrelchops

Fudgcat has answered really well.

The age of your brother is also in a 'danger zone' so to speak for some mental illnesses becoming apparent.

As others have said cannabis can exscacebate (sp) psychosis for those who are already suffering from psychotic episodes BUT it can also induce psychosis in those who hae never been diagnosed beofre...bit of a double whammy.

However, from what you say he has always had some different behaviours throughout his life. It could be that he has found it hard in social scenarios (hence the comments made regarding autism/aspergers). it could be that he has found the drugs help to relieve some symptoms and make him more socialable but then of course they have thier own side effects.

Dual diagnosis is a term used for people with mental health issues and a substance misuse problem.

Unfortuntaley in the UK this courses issues for treatment as often the professionals require the individual to not be taking any substances or else they won't treat the mental health side of things. Although on one hand this is undestandable it doesn't address the fact that for many people self medicating (ie with drugs or alcohol) is the only way they can manage the symptooms of the mental illness.

Francesanne

Can understand your worries and don't want to add to problems but I'd be worried where the money is coming from to support his habits. His cigarette consumption alone must be costing small fortune and he's not working. Do hope you can get him the help he needs quickly for his own sake and his family.

DVardysShadow

emma_spaghetti wrote: »

We also asked him why he took the sword out of the cupboard later on, and he didn't seem to remember, just stared at us blankly and said "dunno".

I am struck, not so much by the oddness of the way he took the sword out of the cupboard as by the oddness of your family for keeping a sword in a cupboard.

courteener

Where does he get his money from? Smoking hundreds of fags a week and the occasional skunk takes significant amounts of regular cash. Cutting that money source off might be very effective in eliminating drugs as a factor in his behaviour. I have Aspergers and he doesn't sound like me.

chickaroonee

Definitely a mental health problem, sounds like he is having a mania episode of some sort. https://www.rethink.org may help with some pointers on how to get help.

Good luck.

Errata

Another source of support and help for the family is the local substance misuse team. They can be contacted direct and phone number for a local service can usually by found by googling name of town and substance misuse team or service.

Rockporkchop

karmacookie wrote: »

There is no medication for Asperger's!

Yes there is! Risperidone is prescribed to help with certain behaviours of Aspergers and he has been like a new person since taking it.

Just to be clear, I wasn't trying to suggest that the OP's brother has Aspergers, I was just sharing a similar experience to let the OP know that there can be light at the end of the tunnel.

OP I really hope your brother gets all the help he needs and everything works out for you all.

UKTigerlily

tori.k wrote: »

maybe take a look at boarderline personality disorder.www.nimh.nih.gov

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