Need Advice About my brother

[sadsmiley]

Hi All,

Hope you can help. My brother has been working abroad for 12 months and we havent had much contact with him. He came home for christmas yesterday and stayed at my house. He was acting really strangely he was completely hyper all the time and say that all he was here to do was to make people happy and he needed to progress at work. But nothing specific. Everytime i tried to change the subject he would turn it back round to making ppl happy. e.g i asked him to phone our mum and he said he would and if he didnt then i had to remind him because he wanted to make things right and he needed to get his head down at work etc. Nothing i could do or say could get him away from those subjects. He disappeared before breakfast and then started texting me strange texts about how he was going on show and how he would expose me but he had my back.

When he came home around tea-time he was in a really hyper state again. he had printouts in his hand which he said was evidence that the company he works for (a big large bank) was corrupt and how they were going to give him millions of pounds in hush money. he then showed me some of the texts he'd sent to his bosses and the replies he received. he basically got kicked out of work today as they said they would call the police. I managed to get him round to my mums and he seems a lot calmer in front of her than me and says we cant tell her (although of course I have).

She is going to the docs tomorrow to ask for a referral for him but I wanted to know if that is the best course of action or if there is something more immediate I can do? Also i'm guessing he has bi-polar from what i've read but im new to all this so any advice, opinions or suggestions would be gratefully received.

Thankyou

 

[Lozzi_1004]

I hope everything turns out OK for your brother and it's nothing to worry about.

Is this the first time he's ever been hyper like this? Do you know if he's had a drink or using drugs (sorry don't mean to offend ) anything could cause him to act so differently. Equally, it does sound like a possible manic episode (I get ideas like him, the last one included I had the cure for cancer!).

See what the doctor says and if he gets a referal. In the time being, just be supportive and try and make sure he doesn't get himself arrested if his work have threatened to call the police!

 

[jax]

Hi there,
I am so sorry that you are experiencing this with your brother - especially at this time of the year. Loz did ask very relevant questions as to drugs or drink as they can cause such symptoms.
I think it is a very good idea to consult a Dr or someone else about your brother as his behaviour does indeed sound a little strange and hypo-manic or manic like. I hope that he is ok with you consulting someone. Please do know that despite your brother having very evident strange behaviour, he may not appreciate your talking to someone about him; or telling your mum for that matter. Just in-case he gets upset. If he is manic, he will not be aware of it and think that he is perfectly fine.
I hope that he gets help and please do let us know how he gets on.
Jacqui

 

[sadsmiley]

Thanks to you both for your replies. As far as I know my brother is not into drugs and doesn't drink that much but I could be wrong. He managed to get out of going to the doctors. My mum went though and the doctor said without seeing him 'manic' there was nothing she could do. She perscribed my mum some strong sleeping tablets for him in case he got worse but i dont know whether that would help. The real problem I have is that he's so good at hiding it around everyone else. Today I was convinced he was completely fine because he was acting so normally but then he pulled me aside to tell me the director of his company had called him and said he'd transferred 5.5 million pounds into his account cause he was scared... from what the doctor said it seems the only way to get him in the system is if he goes totally off the rails in front of everyone. It seems so tragic for people to have to get into that state before they can get help. My brother seems to think he's going to go back to work in the new year one minute and then planning what he's going to do with the millions the next.

Is there are a particular length of time these manias last? When you come out of a mania do you remember all the things you have said/done? Sorry for the questions but just trying to understand more to help my brother.

I havent told him i've discussed things with my mum. She thinks I should persuade him to tell her tho, so that i'm not the only one he tells all this too as it gets a little frightening on my own

Thanks again guys x

 

[jax]

Hi there again,
Yeah - some people are good at hiding their symptoms. There were things i did whilst manic - that I told only a select few people despite the fact that they were things I would never in a million years do. I somehow sensed that I wasn't meant to be doing them - yet in another sense, I felt that it was perfectly ok for me to do them. I know - a total contradiction.

The thing with Bi-Polar is that there is no 'normal' symptoms etc. A person can be manic for a day or two, or months or longer. I was manic for well over 6 months even though I was on enough medication to knock out a horse. I was however in hospital and so was relatively safe. Even when I was discharged from hospital, I had to attend day hospital daily for months and months.

The fact that your brother is able to hide some of his symptoms will make it incredibly difficult for him to get treatment. I really don't know what to say to ease your mind here. I hope you get him treatment and an evaluation.

Is he talking fast? or is his speech disjointed or the topics of his speech all over the place or anything like that that others would see? I know I could never hide my rapid speech.

Good Luck. Jacqui x

Forgot to say that I forgot some of the things I did whilst manic - but remembered a good deal too.

 

[sadsmiley]

Thanks Jacqui,

His speech was very fast when he first came back but has calmed down a little and the same with the jumping to random topics. To be honest most people just think he is being super happy (it is christmas i guess). I think the only thing I can do is keep an eye on him and keep reading up on bipolar so i can be as educated as possible...I know it's different in all cases but I figure it can't hurt. Something is probably going to happen when he tries to go back to work.

Thanks for the advice though it's good to get info from someone who has been there, much appreciated. Jenny x

 

[jax]

Like I said Jenny, good luck with getting him assessed. There are a lot of core symptoms that are indicitive of mania. The person who is experiencing them may not havethe exact same as me or your brother - but they are closely related. For example....delusions of grandure. I thought that I was a very important person to do with world peace. Your brother thinks he is getting all that money. Both delusions but both different delusions.
Not sure if i can put a link in here but I will try...

http://www.helpguide.org/mental/bipolar_disorder_symptoms_treatment.htm

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Bipolar-disorder/Pages/Symptoms.aspx?url=Pages/what-is-it.aspx&r=1&rtitle=Bipolar+disorder+-+Symptoms


http://www.rethink.org/about_mental_illness/mental_illnesses_and_disorders/bipolar_disorder/

http://hcd2.bupa.co.uk/fact_sheets/html/bipolar_affective_disorder.html

http://www.mind.org.uk/NR/exeres/CF47BE25-4D0B-42E5-BDCE-CA628D03A2CD.htm?

NRMODE=Published&wbc_purpose=Basic&WBCMODE=PresentationUnpublished
http://www.bipolarhelpcenter.com/understanding/understanding.jsp?reqNavId=1

That should keep you going. Good luck again,. Jacqui x
p.s He's lucky to have such a caring sister!! He'll thank you when he is feeling better.

 

[jdoe123]

brother

My thoughts are with you. I hope you had a merry christmas despite the sadness. How old is your brother? Paraniod Schitzophrenic sometimes sets in during young adulthood for males. The information you gave displayed some paranoia. Google both Bi-Polar and Schitzophrenic and verify which fits his symptoms best. Hope this helps.

 

[Dollit]

What worries me a little about this thread is that a diagnosis of mania relating to bipolar disorder seems to have been made but not by the doctor your brother saw. I think it's really important that we say that OUR experience isn't necessarily the same as HIS experience. Mania as a result of bipolar disorder is only one of several things that this could be.

Unless your brother goes to the doctor regularly he will not be diagnosed with anything. Non prescribed drugs could be a factor - my mother will tell you that I've never taken an illegal substance in my life but I was a walking chemical factory for a long time.

Be careful of what you read on websites - even good websites can confuse or give you the wrong ideas when you are upset. This link is to the Royal College of Psychiatrists and it gives information in a good way.

http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/mentalhealthinfo/problems/bipolarmanicdepression.aspx