u/Comfortable_Drop2346

▲ 1 r/family

My Relationship With My Brother Feels Like A Chore

For context, I'm the youngest daughter and I have two older brothers. My eldest brother is almost thirty and I've started to resent him over the past few years. All of us live in my parent's house (I'm in college right now but plan to move out when I graduate) and the past few months have been especially stressful after my brother entered a sort-of psychosis.

He hasn't had a job in a few years after he was fired from his old one for consistently calling out or just not showing up. Since then he's spent the last few years smoking weed and playing videogames. He uses me as his therapist as he has a strained relationship with my parents, especially my Dad (there was a period of a year or two where he didn't speak to my dad at all, despite living in the same house). I think he resents them for treating him more strictly when he was a teenager.

Back to the psychosis, about 2 months ago my brother had a complete breakdown while I was alone in the house with him. He began knocking on my door, begging for advice because he believed thousands of people online were tracking him and knew who he was. My brother hates going outside and talking to people, so this was especially jarring for him. This was pretty terrifying for me as well, but I talked to him for a few hours trying to calm him and convince him he was safe. He tried to keep this situation from my parents but relented and told them.

Those next few weeks were pretty anxiety-filled as we tried to get him help, even turning off the internet for a few weeks for his peace of mind. I left to live with my friend for a week just to get away from it all before my next term started. While I was gone he was taken to urgent care because he started to believe my other brother was one of the people tracking him. From what my Mom told me it was rough, with him yelling at my Dad calling him an idiot and saying he was going to prove that everything was saying was true and trying to leave the hospital.

Since then my brother has been prescribed anti-psychotics (although I have doubts that he's actually taking them) and has been to the psychologist a few times. Although he has made progress in some areas, it still feels like a losing battle. He still only ever talks about himself, only asking how I am so he can rant about whatever videogame he's playing, sometimes even cutting me off mid-sentence to show me something. I don't think he could even tell you what my major is. Even when he talks with my parents the conversation is all about him. My parents try to engage with what he's talking about but he gets frustrated when they don't understand or react with as much enthusiasm. Despite them doing all they can to get him help and make him happy, he didn't even wish my Dad a happy birthday a week ago or acknowledge that it was even Mother's Day yesterday.

Right now he's convinced he's famous in the vtuber scene, believing that vtuber girls make their thumbnails to try and get him to subscribe and that other men are jealous of his interactions with these girls.

I truly don't even know what to do at this point. I can't help feeling upset when I'm around him, and guilty that I feel that way about my own brother. What can I do? Am I being insensitive towards him?

TL;DR: Brother is difficult to be around- am I a bad person for not liking him?

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u/Comfortable_Drop2346 — 10 days ago