For my brother
I’m not writing this to fear monger or make it seem like this should or will be the outcome for others… but I think stories should be shared to show the importance of taking mental health crises seriously.
I made a post a few months ago about my older brother who was going through active psychosis when I visited home for the holidays. My brother had no history of mental illness before this, but we do have schizophrenia in our family. I got home a few days before Christmas and knew that something had to be done to help him. So, on Christmas Day we took him to a non-profit mental health clinic, where he was able to talk to a counselor and get some resources for moving forward. In all honesty he needed a full in-patient treatment, but I know that wasn’t an option, and this was at least one step m toward getting him some help. He agreed with me that he was behaving differently and he cried with me, thanking me for doing something to help him.
I had to leave after Christmas but worked hard the following months to get money to pay for insurance out of pocket for him and right after the insurance kicked in and I was working on getting him a doctor to see, my brother was killed. In no way was what happened to my brother his fault. My brother was in a vulnerable place, around a person he trusted (who also happens to be a dangerous person), and that dangerous person did the unimaginable. I just share this because the moment I saw my brother I knew that his mental state had the potential to become a danger to him. I did all I could to help my brother, I just didn’t have the help or time to get him back right before someone took away his chance at ever getting better. My brother was a beautiful, gentle person and unfortunately his battles with mental illness put him in a place where he had the potential to become victimized by a terrible person. I guess I’m just asking people to please be proactive if someone you love needs help. And for anyone battling with their mind, the people trying to get you help only want to protect you. I’ll miss my brother until the end of time and I just hope his struggles at the end of his life don’t follow him after life, he deserves a chance to be at peace.