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Submitted by firmbeliever on 4 October 2017

Hi,

I am from bangalore and live with my parents and brother.

My younger brother aged 25 is suffering from following conditions:

1. He has extreme dilusion. He thinks people are following him and commenting on his body and look.

2. He doubts me that i am not his well wisher and does not want him to be happy and prosperous.

3. He thinks people are tracking him, he does not open the window screen of his room. Complains that neighbours are looking at him.

4. He gets extremely agitated on very small instances at home.

5. Has scuffle outside home as he tries to counter people thinking that they are talking about him.

 

Background:

He has been in this condition for 4-5 years now with ups and down. 4 years ago he met a phsyciatrist and took medication for a month and then stopped. He was somehow manageable till date as he completed his Graduation.

But off late his symptoms are picking up. We fear he might end up in other side of law owing to his constant scuffle with others and is extremely  difficult to handle and live with.

But he is not ready to meet doctor. Even if we try to reason with him he says there is nothing wrong with him and it is others to be blamed for commenting on him.

I am really worried about him as he is goinging through lot of pain and suffering and not even ready to meet doctor.

 

I need some suggestion around following:

1. How do i persuade him to voluntarily consult the doctor. Whenever we raise this question he bluntly refuses.

2. In case of Emergency what options do i have to involuntarily admit him. As i understand institutes like NIMHANS only treat if i take him there. And taking a 25 year old without his consent is almost impossible.

3. Is there any self help group/counsellors in bangalore where can i get some help around handling this situation and share my feeling as this is emotionally very exhausting for me.

 

Thanks for Any help or suggestion.

PatientsEngage

Wed, 10/04/2017 - 20:04

Initial feedback on this:Some possible contacts for advice and support (not sure how effective they are) are Bangalore-based https://facemindia.org.in/ and http://www.whiteswanfoundation.org/ (and Pune based http://www.schizophrenia.org.in/home/ ) For counselling, you can also try Parivartan (Don't know the contact details, just got this reference from someone who found a counsellor from there very good)

For emergencies, some organizations do support, but I don't know whether you need to be enrolled with them before/ in their lists before. I've heard that Facemi (link above) has an ambulance equipped for such situations and that People Tree Marga http://peopletreemaarga.com/ also has something. Please contact them beforehand to find out whether (and how) they will be able to help you in an emergency and what the procedure would be - don't wait till an emergency happens to do the research.

PatientsEngage

Wed, 10/04/2017 - 20:05

Pune also has a place called Jagruti Rehab that supports situations even in different cities, but again, please contact and research before the situation becomes a crisis.

Ashish Kejriwal

Thu, 10/05/2017 - 06:19

Hello, I am not a counselor, nor a mental health professional. But I can clearly see that your brother is going through Paranoia and displaying symptoms normally seen in Schizophrenia.I have been through this experience first hand, and can understand how worried and tired you must be. Please do give my audio recording a listen, I recorded this for caregivers in particular. My Hindi is a bit odd, but the message might help you and your family. https://soundcloud.com/ashkejri/schizophrenia-aur-vishwas

firmbeliever

Thu, 10/05/2017 - 11:21

Thanks Admin for the info. Will start my research.
Thanks Ashish. God bless you. It was really insightful and helped in understanding the perspective from other side of the table.
Presently it seems like he is going through a very bad episode. He is suspecting me to be spreading rumour about him and owing to which others are commenting on him.
How long does a episode lasts? Should i wait for this Episode to decrease in intensity before we further discuss around seeing doctor.
Is it possible from this juncture to win his trust. My father is talking to him at present.

And in general i want opinion around involuntarily taking him to hospital. At what juncture should we decide on this approach and what aspect should we take care.
Presently he is functional, is taking care of his hygiene. But gets abusive (not yet physical) and has scuffle with people outside as well.
He is supposed to join his First job within a month. We are confused what to do.

firmbeliever

Thu, 10/05/2017 - 22:29

Hi Admin,
I completely understand it. My brother has not seen doctor in 4-5 years, we have been trying to convince him all this while.
My question was more around what exactly constitutes a psychiatric emergency and in that case what options do we have?
Even though there is no self harming tendency, but his immense suffering everyday clubbed with the our emotional trauma makes me ask this question where do we draw the line to stop persuading him for voluntary treatment and what other option do we have.
Even though he is not in position to understand his suffering, we can see and feel what he is going through.