u/The_Awkward_Spaceman

Hi. I'm in a situation I never wanted to be in. I'm looking for some help on what to do, as I feel overwhelmed.

Backstory: In short, my brother had (and maybe still has) a strong gambling addiction. He is also married, and has a 1 year old daughter and they don't know about this. Our family worked hard long hours, and 5 years ago bought us apartments, with garages to start us off ahead of everyone else. They are under our names, as well as our parents names.

Ever since he was in his teens he's been in debt. To friends, to me and eventually to fast credits. He couldn't keep lying, because he was so much in the red where he owed 25k. This for our country is the equivalent of years of spending. For me, it took 3 years of saving at a moderately good career, to be able to reach 10k savings. When he came clean to my parents, they helped him consolidate his debt, and he started paying it off. That was 3 or so years ago. In December he went to my family and told them he needed 20k more. My father took out a loan in his name, and is paying it back, trying to not overwhelm my brother with it, as he's already paying off half his salary to his original debt. And a couple of days ago, my brother wanted to talk. He told me that he has 40k more debt, that he needs to pay. That the collectors will begin chasing him and reveal the facade of lies that he'd built up in front of his wife. He'd pawned off their gold to cover debts, he'd borrowed from friends, and now it was all crashing down. I have the means to take out the loan, but I am afraid. Is this all of the debt? Will I need to lose my financial security, in order to save him?

And what terrified me most, he told me about ending his life. He needs professional help, and he can't afford it. The stress is mounting on him, but I don't know what to do. He isn't brave enough or willing to take this to our parents, that are in a circumstance where they can help without pressuring the family in the long term too much. But he's afraid they'll reveal his lie to his wife, and that it may all end worse off, that he might lose what keeps him wanting to live. I know deep in my mind, that the best option is to disclose this, to figure out what to do as a family, but he is avoiding it.

Can you give me any suggestions? Have any of you ever been in this situation, or similar? I don't know what to do. On one side, I don't want to lose my financial freedom, that i've fought so hard to reach, where I'd been saving up, eating cheap all to create. Yet on the other side, if we don't act, his debt will accrue, and it might threaten his property and family as well as his life.