Location: California, United States of America
Hi all,
My little brother, who is a kind, considerate, generous and otherwise gentle soul, has been struggling with alcoholism for years and every once in a while he experiences a schizophrenic-like episode where he hallucinates, ranging from hearing music to seeing people that aren’t there. Just last night he took his office chair outside and hacked it apart, accusing it of being a person who had come to the home to harm our little sister. The police were called and he was taken to a substance abuse facility but checked himself out just an hour or so later and made his way back home.
The person he perceived his chair to be is now apparently a recurring individual, according to my sister. The last time he got his hands on a knife, the police were called and although he was not armed when they arrived, he screamed at them that he had a gun and was going to shoot them, before he charged at them and got himself tackled and arrested. The court hearing for that event is scheduled to take place on the 8th of next month.
Additionally, last year he had his third DUI, wherein he destroyed a traffic signal. Every time he goes to court about this event, the judge for some reason extends and postpones the proceedings; this has happened 3 or 4 times now. And every time, during the weeks leading up to the new court date, he has a episode like this.
He has been through a multi-week rehabilitation treatment exactly once a few years ago, but generally refuses any treatment, any help, any medical aid, and just checks himself out even if the police drop him off at a treatment facility.
It has got to the point where it feels like him being sent to jail would be a mercy, because he would be forced to become sober and he would receive medical treatment for the shakes, hallucinations, the bloody urine, all of it… but it never comes. The judge always postpones or, even worse, puts him under house arrest, where nothing changes and he is free to continue to drink and slowly kill himself.
What can we do? How do we get him institutionalized? He is clearly unsound of mind and should not be considered capable of making these decisions for himself, and worse than that, we feel it is only a matter of time before he hallucinates and hurts one of us by mistake.