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Something’s not right

znp
Senior Contributor

Younger brother of mental health sufferer

Hi all

 

My 22yo son was diagnosed with BPD two years ago. Previously he'd been diagnosed with anxiety and depression. He believes he is bipolar, although I am unaware of his psychiatrist providing this information.

 

Regardless of diagnosis, he has had several severe mental health crises over the past two years which have resulted in rage, delusions\psychosis, dissociative seizures, etc. At the times when these occur, I am often the one bearing the brunt of his anger and subject of his delusional\confused tirades.

 

He is currently in the care of a private hospital after we called the ambulance when he started damaging furniture and looked like he was going to hurt himself. He had only been out of the same hospital less than a week.

 

His younger brother is 17 and is being significantly affected by all of this. He stayed with his sister through the worst of it, but it has been traumatising for all of us and I am really worried about him as well now.

 

I feel my 22yo son needs our care, but somehow also needs independence. A lot of his anger is focused on not being able to live his life as he wishes.

 

I am really lost for what to do and I am petrified about his release from hospital and the potential for re-escalation.

 

I have been searching for information on places which might be able to provide him with independence but also support but to no avail so far.

 

I know there are no simple fixes but any suggestions are welcome.

 

Take care

Mark 

6 REPLIES 6

Re: Younger brother of mental health sufferer

Hey there @znp I am so sorry to hear of the ups and downs managing your Son's episodes, and especially navigating not only your own self-care throughout all of it but the younger sibling's wellbeing as well.

Our community is here to hold space and listen as you need Heart No doubt you would be keen for some kind of "Safety plan" or "Action plan" for when your Son returns home, re-escalation can be tricky to manage but sometimes when there's a plan in place it does ease some of the anxiety. There's a list of services here that could be of use to you in regards to support in a caring capacity. 

 

In addition, our SANE Help Centre is open 10am-10pm Mon - Fri, our counsellors may have some ideas to help you in supporting yourself and your son prior to his return. You can phone the helpline on 1800 18 7263 or webchat here 🙂

 

Hope to hear from you soon.

Re: Younger brother of mental health sufferer

Thanks, Nashy. I will take a look at the services and make some connections.

Re: Younger brother of mental health sufferer

@znp I sort of went through the same thing. Now my youngest has psychosis. I'm sure partly it is because of his older brothers. One is autistic the other is depressed and very aggressive. I would suggest Link 2home which is run by the government . They provide housing as well as Mission Australia. there are probably some others depending on where you live.Headspace are great for counselling and information. I got my son into Link2home after hospital. I refused to take him. I had  to kick up a stink. He got housing. Because he's a youth they might be able to get him into youth housing. They will set him up with outpatient care. I don't know how it works with private patients but there has got to be something. My youngest needs our attention now. Poor boy. I wish you all the best.

Re: Younger brother of mental health sufferer

Thanks for the reply.

I am so sorry to hear about your kids. It's so tough.

Link2Home looks like they are NSW only, but I will look for a WA equivalent. I'm sure we can get him some housing support.

At the moment we are hoping he will go to a "stepdown" facility after hospital. It will only cover him for four weeks but this will give us some time to find another option and they can also provide the sort of care he needs.

I hope things improve for you. Take care.

Re: Younger brother of mental health sufferer

hello @znp Heart

how are you going my friend 

Re: Younger brother of mental health sufferer

Hi Shaz

Just OK. My eldest boy is in hospital again at the moment. I have been working hard on self-care though.

Cheers

 

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