?!?


Same thing.

Ask him what his future kids would think of him(if he's planning on having kids), wasting his life.
That's just selfish what he's doing.
Honestly, in my opinion, if your waking up every morning and not making someone else's life alittle better, then your selfish and a waste of time.(not pointing at you, just my opinion)

Your his brother, help him, encourage him.
Bring up his confidence.
If he likes doing what he's doing, that would be intervention time.
Show him what his actions are affecting.

Just don't let him waste his life.

Ok, I'm just trying to give advice. What you said did make sense but I'm trying to explain how addiction is and the drugs involved. But intelligence has nothing to do with it.

Well, he does inject. People think that just because some kinds of methadone pills come with the 'glue' substance as a retardant for injecting means that people won't do it anyways. Opiates also make people crave sugar, which is why he only eats sugar, but you can't tell anyone that they don't have control over something.

His disability is for bi-polar/manic depressive, which is the only case I've ever seen of bi-polar that I believe in out of the 1000 people that claim to have it. The judge awarded him disability almost out of principle since he had cancer. He has suffered with depression since he was 13. He's 34 now. I would never feel afraid of him, though.

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Yell at him dramatically, and tell him that he is throwing his life away, then slam the door on the way out.

Or just leave him in the past

Then I hope you're well equipped to deal with disappointment.

Oh yeah. It gave me sugar mania.

But injecting methadone is almost pointless. It has a higher bioavailability when taken orally. Your brother probably does it because most IV drug users have what's called a "needle fixation". Methadone is really bad for your veins and will clog them up.

Just try your best to let your mother know how bad of shape your bro is in. If she does enable him and gives him money, try to explain the situation to her.

^

I have a sister that had fallen in with some bad people and begun abusing drugs for the past couple of years. Of course this bothered all of us, but my family made a point to cut off all contact with her during that time. And although she managed to bum off of friends for several months, eventually she ran out of places to go and life only got progressively worse for her.

Eventually she collected the good sense to return home and straighten her life out, but that was a decision she had to make herself. All you can do is hope your brother does the same, and not waste time worrying about it.

Gaming forums properly aren't the best way to get help with this subject, as it is a very complex and often sensitive issue. I assume there are clinics and help centres around the place where you live and I'm sure if you went and spoke with them they would be able to give you some really good advice on how to handle your situation, as people wanting to help their family members get their life back on track would hardly be a rare occurance. At the worst, nothing will change by speaking with them, at the best, you might be able to really help your brother.

I think the most important aspect though is that you shouldn't let him drag you down, don't let checking up on him, or the stress of worrying, overcome important aspect of your life like career goals or relationships.


I've never been in such a situation like you're describing, but I've had many friends over the last few years that have had very low or no future goals for themselves. And that's the most important thing, unless someone has something to strive for they will just coast along on what they see as the easiest path, and unemployment checks or disability money that is enough for someone to live off really give no reason to change their life.

My mom knows, she even talked to him today. And then, he sent me a message telling me she did, and also how [religious text] says this and that. Might as well have been Jim Jones telling him to clean himself up. He also tells me repeatedly that shooting methadone is pointless because it doesn't last long. Still does it, though.

If her religious beliefs get in the way of it, then that probably just irratates him. Is your mother manipulative and over bearing?

Not at all. She's soft-spoken and kind-hearted. She just can't/won't keep her religion out of anything, which is good in her mind, but has serious negative effects in social situations.

Where do you suggest?

I recommend Al-Anon. It's for people with family members that are addicts.

Heres a link: http://www.al-anon.alateen.org/

Edit: the one above is for family members of alcoholics.

This one is Nar-Anon, family members with drug addicts in their families that have affected them: http://www.nar-anon.org/Nar-Anon/Nar-Anon_Home.html

Aren't the 'anon' programs basically a religion?

Please contact local services - county services - like board of health if he is living in filth, local non-emergency police if he may be endangering himself or his neighbors - or something along those lines.
This is not the forum for this kind of discussion though. Please go through proper local channels if you feel it is warranted.

Just updating my close post, because upon a more careful review, I realize the OP was talking about a family member and I came off way more callous than I intended. However, it is virtually impossible for people to get someone who doesn't want to get help to straighten up. People in the grip of drugs or alcohol who are not dependent children cannot be forced into health care, mental health care or anything else. They have to take the steps themselves.

This forum is really not the best place to seek this sort of advice. But good luck.