Maybe being taken care of is preferable to him. Who knows what people think and feel.

Live your own life and don't judge your brother or the system he uses to work within. The meds may be right or wrong. You will never know. But he is the only person who can determine what his future will be.

Instead, talk about what you have in your life and what you need to make it even better than it is. That is more productive than worrying about your brother. He is alive, safe and hopefully the meds are doing all they can to help him function, not keep him from functioning.

Mental illness is not something that is the same in any two people. What meds didn't work for you may work for him. What programs work for you in life may not be what he wants for himself.

Mental illness is tragic and devastating but the only thing anyone can do is make sure their own life is in order and moving forward and then give kindness and caring to those who aren't able to manage their own lives - in this case, your brother.

Nisa,I am so sorry you are dealing with this. A LOT of mental illness is nothing more than a chemical imbalance. Please, for yours and your brothers sake, check into natural remedies. Prescription drugs only make the condition worse. They are NOT a cure.I to went through years of depression. Didn't care about myself or anything else. There is hope. I have never taken prescription drugs and never will. Everything we need to live healthy and productive lives is growing right here on Earth.Please check into it Hon, it could be your life saver.

Your answer is right. I am working on just that to create a productive life for myself. I love my work and where I live. I would really enjoy a support group. My mother is elderly so now I take care of her also. So I am trying to balance my life with visits to the hospital and then doing things for her. Even getting a social worker involved I don't think would be enough, it is things such as writing checks and taking her to the doctors. I actually value this time with her, she did so much for me and I enjoy helping people very much. Your words will help me keep this in balance. One thing that could make my life better is a friendship. I am not sure how to begin getting one. It is not that I am not nice, I am shy and so far my life has been transitional, moving around. Now I am settling down, I guess my age and responsibilities make it possible for me to feel that this is where I should be now.

I used herbs and still do when I took myself off of antidepressants, this was in the 1980s. They helped a great deal. I don't want to try it on my brother although it is tempting. If he is really sick I don't want to make it worse.

Hi Janice,will you please not tell people that prescription drugs dont work and only make the condition worse,because that is not a trueism.Iam 61 years old and was diagonosed "manic-depresive" now called bipolar,when I was 13 years old.For years I would listen to this from unknowing persons! I would be on meds and start to feel better and someone would say I was weak or whatever and so I would stop taking my meds and in no time I would become ill again.

You say you went through years of depressions and never took drugs,well,maybe if you had taken the medicine you wouldnt have had such a depressive life!I know you meant well with what you said but sometimes saying things like you said could influence someone that desperately needs medicine

to help them pull out of the hell that they are living in.

If you have found natural herbs or whatever thats great,but they wont necesarily work for someone else.Also,without a herbologist

or a doctor thats well versed in natural medicine a person could get ahold of a combination that could possibly kill them.Like st.johns wort has been tooted as a miracle cure for deep depression,which probally may help!But if a depressed person mixes the herb with other medicines,natural or synthetic they could be lethal.

What works for one person may kill another.

Iam just asking you not to feel superior or stronger than us that have to take meds.

Kay

HURT PEOPLE HURT PEOPLE!!!!

Hi Nisa,

Take some time to finish your profile. Let us know more about you. What do you like to do...do you have hobbies, etc... Just look at other profiles for ideas.

TBD is a good place to start making new friends. Once you feel comfortable here and realize that there are plenty of people that you have something in common with, then you can reach out in the real world and make friends there too.

Thank you! I added my photo and will continue until I feel comfortable. I want to make friends with people who are really truly my friends not just pretending to be my friend. Over the last few years I have made the effort to cut off those who don't treat me as a friend would really treat a friend. You know talk about you behind your back, say hurtful things to you etc. I find this hard since often you are left with no one but I'd rather have myself than someone who doesn't really feel the same as I do.