Need some advice surrounding a problematic brother (long thread)

Caporegime
Joined
1 Nov 2003
Posts
35,691
Location
Lisbon, Portugal
Hi all,

Its not secret for anyone who knows me that my relationship with my brother has been somewhat strained over the years. And I have debated writing this thread many times but tonight I found out some more information which has tipped me over the edge. Right now I am really feeling a strong need to help my parents who are at a complete loss of what to do with him and I fear it may push my already mentally not very stable Mum to do something which can't be taken back.

Some background...he is 28, 3 years younger than me. He was always the kid at school which caused trouble at school, had a serious problem with authority. Many run ins from the law even at young teenage age. He was taking and dealing drugs by the time he was 15. All of this compacted by the fact my parents were going through an incredibly rough and long drawn out divorce so he was left to run riot to his own liking.

After he finished school, he had little interest in holding down a job. Wanted all the money to do whatever he wanted. Didn't want to work for it. Would work 3 weeks, demand some kind of promotion when walk out whilst flipping off the manager, that kind of behaviour.

When he got a car and a license he began drug running for years and was also well into taking whatever they would give him. Including being fully hooked on Heroin for a long time. We all knew what was going on, did what we could to manage and separate ourselves from it. Police claimed they were unable to do anything at the time.

To give you an example of some of his kind of behaviours, he was kicked out of my Mums place when gang members had come around breaking windows to threaten him as he had taken some of the supply and she refused to talk to him. During this weekend he rang me 50+ times (and that isn't an exaggeration, I noted it all down) and he was threatening to come to mine and all the rest of it, I had to get a restraining order against him etc.

Anyway, fast forward a few years of this **** like hell he put us all through, and finally karma gets him and he is arrested by the police with possession of a firearm, drug trafficking, and GBH. Given an 8 year sentence and we all breathed a sigh of relief.

Quite simply put, this time he was inside, was the most peaceful time for all of us. We were all happy about it. Could actually lead some kind of a normal life as well.

While he was inside, the system seemed to do something. They got him clean, he seemed to straighten out a bit. And he served 4 out of 8 years then was released in November on probation.

Dad took him in (Dad has since remarried) gave him a job at his company, a car and a hobby (model power boating, more on that in a moment) - literally a complete fresh start, probably the best that anyone could be offered in that instance.

Everything was fine for a few months. Dad was taking him boating literally every weekend (his thought was if he was keeping him occupied outside of work he wouldn't go back to his old habits and people he used to hang out with)

He kept the job for 3 months, then started turning up late, started telling others he could do what he wanted as his Dad owned the place etc. Started disappearing off for hours at a time and nobody knew where he was, we all knew the signs. We were sure he was up to no good again.

It got to early May when behaviour with him just kept on deteriorating both inside and outside of work (the boating continued as a last hope) but his behaviour was becoming increasingly erratic. Say the wrong word to him and the next thing you know and he is shaking with anger and threatening to kill you, like some kind of light switch in his head had been turned.

Anyway, still in early May, Dad fires him. Gives him his notice and says he needs to find work elsewhere. As his behaviour wasn't acceptable. The following 2 weeks he continued with more erratic behaviour. At this point he just gets ignored because we're all frankly, fed up with him. Then on May 21st Dad gets a phone call. Brother has crashed his car (completely written it off) and the police attended the seen, he has failed a drug test on the side of the road, so was being taken to the hospital to have blood taken from him. He tested positive for cocaine in his system (by the test on the side of the road)

Now this is where the real problems began. So from here, he is still out on probation, and he has just been found to be driving under the influence of drugs. The family were told that once the hospital process the blood test results, if he tests positives for drugs in the system, the police would turn up and take him without notice. This has sent his anxiety off into overdrive.

Constantly repeating himself, saying he is on a "time limit" and wanting to take his boat sailing at every single opportunity to a point where it has turned into an obsession as he is convinced each day is the last day he will get to do it.

What also came to light is that he has been put on prescribed methadone to whine him off whatever he was taking before + anti anxiety medication he has also been ordering various meds online and been self medicating. So really its not a wonder he is all over the place all the time.

As far as I am concerned, he 6ft 4, 20 stone ticking timebomb. Say the wrong thing to him and the mist will descend, then he will do something you can't take back. I am genuinely concerned for those in close proximity to him. My parents are at a complete loss of what to do and he is completely out of control. Part of the issue is also my Dad is away for work constantly right now, so he is worried about my step mum and her kids in case he snaps.

Anyway, thats the LONG context of where we are right now.

I feel like I need to do something here. Parents are at a loss on what to do with him. A completely exhausted loss and they're waiting for the drug test results to come through and him be carted off in a meat wagon. And the other thing is, what if he gets away with it, somehow? They don't know what to do.

So I turn to the collective of OcUK. What authorities can be contacted? Maybe I have seen too many movies, but IMO he needs to be forced into rehab and a forced detox. As he is just way too unstable with all the crap he is constantly putting through his body right now. Its a wonder he has not had a heart attack.

I have genuine cause for concern for those around him. I know he admitted to me in confidence he attempted to take his own life (I don't actually believe him) - but I wondered if that could be used to classify him as a danger to himself to get some more serious measures taken. He is a danger to the public IMO.

I also wonder if anyone who might know more (I know there is a Bobby or two on the forum) - if there is an official time limit for how long the hospital & police can take to get back to us with the results of the blood test?

Thanks for reading if you made it this far. Any thoughts or advice are welcome.

Jake
 
Soldato
Joined
7 Dec 2012
Posts
17,507
Location
Gloucestershire
Hopefully someone will be along who can offer meaningful advice shortly, unfortunately I can only offer sympathy for what sounds a terrible situation, and one that doesn't look easy to solve.
 
Caporegime
Joined
23 Dec 2011
Posts
32,918
Location
Northern England
Find any way you can to get him locked up. This is an absolutely prime example of why releasing people half-way through a sentence doesn't work. He needs to be locked away so he can't harm others, can't harm himself. You and your parents will then finally rest easy again.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
24 Sep 2005
Posts
35,492
Difficult to know what to suggest. I was going to suggest spending time with him in a manner that is completely detached from his problems - just hang out. Maybe he is just lacking an emotional sponge, someone to hear his pain and just say “yes - I know” without offering any advice nor criticism.

But if he is so wound up that you fear he will hurt you, stay clear. If he is really that self-destructive then it sounds like he’ll get himself into trouble before too long and the problem will be taken off your hands.

Beyond being patient (and perhaps notifying the police of your concerns if you expect immediate harm, 999 style) what he does is not your responsibility nor your fault. No doubt you have your own problems to solve so don’t forget about you.
 
Caporegime
OP
Joined
1 Nov 2003
Posts
35,691
Location
Lisbon, Portugal
Difficult to know what to suggest. I was going to suggest spending time with him in a manner that is completely detached from his problems - just hang out. Maybe he is just lacking an emotional sponge, someone to hear his pain and just say “yes - I know” without offering any advice nor criticism.

But if he is so wound up that you fear he will hurt you, stay clear. If he is really that self-destructive then it sounds like he’ll get himself into trouble before too long and the problem will be taken off your hands.

Beyond being patient (and perhaps notifying the police of your concerns if you expect immediate harm, 999 style) what he does is not your responsibility nor your fault. No doubt you have your own problems to solve so don’t forget about you.
Thanks for yours and everyones words.

Being around him, he seems to have little interest in having an emotional sponge. He is so fiercely focused on sailing his boat and absolutely nothing else that that is all he wants to talk about. He is not interested in hanging out or spending time with others. I do often wonder where his empathy levels sit and if he has some kind of sociopathic problem with interacting with others.

Personally I have little interaction with him. I am in the UK once every couple of months, but I am a sounding board for my parents who are just looking for some desperate plea for help. I figured with the internet at my fingers I could put a bit of time in to try to find out what I could. I just found out the type of drug test he would have been administered for example. But haven't found anything regarding any deadline about the result.

Right now, calling the police and sharing the experiences I had with him last week and using that as a grounds for thinking he is a threat might be enough to do it. That is my thinking at least. I am convinced it is a matter of time before he hurts someone, be it me or someone else.
 
Soldato
Joined
28 Sep 2012
Posts
3,865
Location
Monterrey, Mexico
So I turn to the collective of OcUK. What authorities can be contacted? Maybe I have seen too many movies, but IMO he needs to be forced into rehab and a forced detox. As he is just way too unstable with all the crap he is constantly putting through his body right now. Its a wonder he has not had a heart attack.

I can't see any type of rehab or detox being able to do anything for him: I assume (perhaps naively!) that the 4 years he spent in prison were drug-free, but since leaving he's slipped back into his old habits so obviously it didn't work. He really needs to be locked up again, hopefully for a very long time, but unless he does something seriously bad, that's unlikely to happen. Most of these people seem to live in a cycle of a couple of months / years in prison, back out of prison, reoffend, back into prison for a few months etc etc and there's very little that we as ordinary people can do about it.
 
Soldato
Joined
3 Feb 2010
Posts
3,034
People think the US justice system is broken, if he had done half of this stuff in the US he would be facing a 20+ year sentance, and would probably be the best for everyone.

Can't give any advice bud, the blood results should come back shortly and a warrant will be issued for his arrest..

The only little bit of advice is you need to wean your parents away from him.. You need to open their eyes and realise that to care for him they need to let him go.
 
Associate
Joined
7 Nov 2013
Posts
109
You can force someone into rehab. You could have him locked up if he is a threat to himself or others but I'm unfamiliar with the laws in the UK. It seems to be called sectioning.
Drug addiction is difficult to kick and easy to fall back into. What is more concerning is the self-medication and what this indicates.
 
Caporegime
Joined
29 Jan 2008
Posts
58,912
Is he not going to be locked away for a few years now anyway for both the drug driving and failing his probation... I mean he only served 4 out of the 8 years he was sentenced to so how does this work now - does he have to serve the other 4 years now the probation has been failed? Presumably any drug driving offence will run concurrently and won't exceed that?
 
Soldato
Joined
3 Feb 2010
Posts
3,034
Is he not going to be locked away for a few years now anyway for both the drug driving and failing his probation... I mean he only served 4 out of the 8 years he was sentenced to so how does this work now - does he have to serve the other 4 years now the probation has been failed? Presumably any drug driving offence will run concurrently and won't exceed that?

That should be the case, 8 years, 4 served and 4 probation... I would imagine that drug driving is a breach of his probation meaning he would need to serve the remainder of his sentence at least.
 

A2Z

A2Z

Soldato
Joined
9 May 2005
Posts
8,931
Location
Earth
Yep he is indeed a lost cause. Clearly has some mental health issues. Hospital or prison is the best place for him.
 
Associate
Joined
3 Feb 2019
Posts
747
It's one thing being a drug addict and alienating all your family and friends. Your brother just sounds like a complete and utter pr*ck full stop.

Personally life's too short to have toxic people around. I'd just cut him loose and have nothing more to do with him.
 
Soldato
Joined
26 Mar 2006
Posts
11,581
Location
United Kingdom
I'm very sorry to read this Phate.

After reading the post, I feel your father has done all he could for your brother. Yet, I kind of feel sorry for your brother a little too but again at the same time I don't because he is a grown man, he should know better. People do a lot of stupid things but something is triggering this sort of behaviour from a young age. You can't simply just be a doorknob, something triggers it.

He needs help, he needs serious help. Yet I am also finding it disturbing that he's taken stuff from the net (this needs to stop asap), and with you having explained how he is, you need to speak to those in charge whether it be police or hospitals and express your concerns. The onus then lies on them.

Most people would cut a person like that totally but I feel everyone is deserving of a second chance. Though I will say, from experience. If they're like that and it's just their nature to be like that then sadly they will remain like that no matter what.

I wish you all the best and hope he gets the help he needs.
 

NVP

NVP

Soldato
Joined
6 Sep 2007
Posts
12,649
He will go to prison for this for a bit hopefully, and that's a good thing for him and your family. It will give you time to prepare a suitable rehabilitation centre for him, prison would have been a good detox from his poisoness social life so rehab straight after is a great time. Then after rehab the key is to keep him away from his old circle of friends, his old habits, his old life. Build a new one with him and then you'll be helping him.

Good luck.
 
Back
Top Bottom