The burden often falls upon family and friends of those needing help to attempt to provide that help. Yet that is often an impossible task.

I am not my brother’s care giver. I have (tried to) help him. But I have had to draw a line over which I will not let him cross so I can have my own life to the point of having placed a restraining order on him at times so that when he goes completely nuts I have been able to force the police to arrest him so that he is no longer on the street going completely bananas. At those times the police themselves sometimes do not arrest him and leave him on the street.

My efforts have also included an attempt to provide information to people who should be able to help him. But they themselves are thwarted by idiotic laws and jurisprudence. In once case where he had, while delusional, briefly snatched a lady’s purse, he was arrested. I attempted to provide information to the court. Not allowed. You can’t just walk in to a court and give information to the judge. I’ve tried and was once thrown out of the court house by a small-minded baliff for having daigned to open my mouth in court. No, you are at the mercy of the Public Defender or the District Attorney. In this case I mention, a one year process involving my brother’s incarceration, a full jury trial, and conviction on charges reduced from felony assault to misdemenor battery took place. At NO TIME during this entire farcical use of tax payer money was my brother’s history of mental illness brought up in court testimony. As far as the jury knew, he was just another homeless person who did something bad.

And “Heartbroken,” I feel your pain. Reading your post makes me realized that not alone in this nightmare. I don’t know what else to say or do anymore about this situation. I just feel so emotionally drained and tired.

He’s been in-patient psych a few times, but it’s useless. They lock him up, bully him, medicate him with some useless SSRI, then put him back on the street. He has no job (due to mental AND physical health problems), no health insurance, and no family. THERE IS NO HELP FOR HIM. What kind of a country is this?

His friends do everything they can, but we never know exactly what’s going on or why, and we can’t keep pouring money down this particular drain. I think we’d give him all the money in the world if we thought it would make a difference. But when he’s broke and on the ledge (literally), you could give him $50,000 and it would be useless. He’d spend it in a week on gifts for people, books for himself, drinks for everyone in the bar. Then he’d be twice as depressed that he “screwed up,” wasted everything, thinks now nobody will ever help him again, etc. It’s exhausting.

He is not violent, nor dangerous to others. Although he does have his angry outbursts, there is no harassment, no threats, he’s never been arrested. He’s a wonderful, brilliant guy. But he simply can’t take care of himself and threatens suicide over and over and over again. I have made a million phone calls to every agency you can think of. If they bother to return my calls, the answer is always NO, there’s nowhere for him to go. I have helped him again and again, but nothing changes. Without consistent funds, medication, and some kind of ongoing psychiatric care, he cannot manage his life. I’ve been dealing with this drama for 20 years and I am exhausted and without hope.

Respectfully,
Roshon B