Legal Question in Family Law in Texas
i have a paranoid schzophrinc brother
We have tried to help him for atleast 10 years. He slept on sidewalks in San Antonio. We would drive down to get him to a a doctorin San antonio the doctor would give him drugs. He said he wa not going to take them because there was nothing wrong with him. We put in a halfway house but he left and slept under the bridge for 3 years. We moved him to Dallas and tried to live with him. it didn't work so we got him on Disability and food stamps. We gothim into an apartment which he distoyed with digarett burns on the carpet. He smokes lid a chimney and calls us every hour to see if we can come by and bring him some. Otherwise he stands around the 7-11 and picks up butts that people throw down. He is very lazy,self-centered.My wife and I are tired of him and feel as though he should either hospitalized or go to a rehab program or be committed We have gotten on medicine but either he's not taking them and if he is, he is worse than ever. He lays in bed all day, eats, and watches TV. He won't clean his apartment or himself' He won't shower bush his teeth and wares the same clothes for 3 weeks.I gave him some wash money for the laundry mat in the apartment complex. he spent it on cigaretts. We want our own life.
Antonio
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: i have a paranoid schzophrinc brother
You have to make a cold hard decision, regardless of what you do.
Sit down with your wife, and discuss recent events, and decide if you believe he is a danger to himself or others. If he is, then you have to have him committed. He is on disability, so you can get assistance in getting this accomplished. Then he is safe, and the people he would have had contact with are safe.
If you do not believe that he is a danger, then notify mental health services that you are no longer providing care for him, and that they should be aware that he has needs. There are outreach programs through the assisted living center, the Catholic Church and the police department in Dallas and the surrounding communities.
Then you have to walk away. If it means changing your phone number, whatever it means. You have to cut ties. Not because you are cold and heartless. But because you cannot help him. You have tried to direct him to help, and he is too sick or too stubborn to seek that help. Sadly his illness is a very destructive one. Your first responsibility is to your family, and you have to protect them. It has been a painful journey so far, and I admire your loyalty and love, but to continue serves no purpose. It hurts your family, and it doesn't help your brother.
Re: i have a paranoid schzophrinc brother
You need to understand that you are not dealing with a rational person.
Since he won't do basic things like brush his teeth or change his clothes, then you should recognize that he's not sane.
Expecting him to do things like clean or behave like a rational person is just beyond him. He can't understand why you want him to behave in a certain way.
Image that you land on the Planet Mars and everyone behaves wierdly and only speaks to you in Martian. You would not understand their customs or their language. It's basically the same as this person. He can't understand why you want him to take drugs since there is nothing wrong with him. The rest of the world is sick -- not him.
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