My brother tried to **** himself about 6 weeks ago. Luckily he survived and is recovering now, but it just shocked me because he seemed fairly happy. But it turns out it was a pack of lies. He'd actually dropped out of University about 6 months ago, in his final year as well. No-one, not even his University housemates knew this and we all believed he was still going to University and had graduated. I just don't understand why he carried on the facade. He didn't even seem depressed, he still went out drinking and partying with his friends, so surely he can't have been that unhappy. I just don't understand it.
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Why Did My Brother Pretend He Was Still Going To University?
Started by
EricGladstone
, Jul 18 2012 09:38 AM
2 replies to this topic
#1
EricGladstone
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#2
Epictetus
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Posted 18 July 2012 - 10:17 AM
Hi Eric,
I am sorry you are going through the shock and painful questioning that has happened because of your brother's actions. It could be that your brother did not want to burden you with his problems and that love for you was his motivation. I know when I was depressed and my mind was so weighed down, that I didn't want to share my problems with my family out of fear of hurting them.
Depression is a serious condition that is linked to disease pathology in the brain. Many people are aware that any part of the body can become ill, but few realize that the brain itself can become ill. In depression a person can do things they would not usually do under the powerful force of the illness. There are links between depression and changes not only in the way the brain works, but in the brain itself. There are links between depression and a shrinking of brain areas and enlargement of others. Imagine if your heart suddenly lost 20% of its volume. Imagine how difficult that would be on you. There have been preliminary studies showing that in extreme cases, a part of the brain called the hippocampus can lose 20% of its volume in severe and long-standing depression. So although it is very treatable, it is a serious illness like heart disease or cancer. A return to full health for the brain and the sufferer can take time. And it helps a depressed person to have the support of family because this illness is not their fault.
I think you are a good person and can help your brother by being there for him, by being compassionate and understanding and non-judgmental. These things can help him enormously. I am worried about you too, because in these circumstances, you can also fall into a very low mood which can also hurt your brain. I wish you all the best this day. Many here on the Forum will offer you better words than mine. Take care!
I am sorry you are going through the shock and painful questioning that has happened because of your brother's actions. It could be that your brother did not want to burden you with his problems and that love for you was his motivation. I know when I was depressed and my mind was so weighed down, that I didn't want to share my problems with my family out of fear of hurting them.
Depression is a serious condition that is linked to disease pathology in the brain. Many people are aware that any part of the body can become ill, but few realize that the brain itself can become ill. In depression a person can do things they would not usually do under the powerful force of the illness. There are links between depression and changes not only in the way the brain works, but in the brain itself. There are links between depression and a shrinking of brain areas and enlargement of others. Imagine if your heart suddenly lost 20% of its volume. Imagine how difficult that would be on you. There have been preliminary studies showing that in extreme cases, a part of the brain called the hippocampus can lose 20% of its volume in severe and long-standing depression. So although it is very treatable, it is a serious illness like heart disease or cancer. A return to full health for the brain and the sufferer can take time. And it helps a depressed person to have the support of family because this illness is not their fault.
I think you are a good person and can help your brother by being there for him, by being compassionate and understanding and non-judgmental. These things can help him enormously. I am worried about you too, because in these circumstances, you can also fall into a very low mood which can also hurt your brain. I wish you all the best this day. Many here on the Forum will offer you better words than mine. Take care!
Edited by Ep1ctetus, 18 July 2012 - 10:23 AM.
Mental Illness is a serious health condition not to be trifled with. It requires treament by highly trained, experienced, qualified and Board-certified physicians, physician- specialists, and mental health professionals. There is no substitute for this professional care. I am not a mental health professional, only a fellow sufferer.
"A man is really ethical when he obeys the constraint laid on him to help all life which he is able to help, and when he goes out of his way to avoid injuring anything living. He does not ask how far this or that life deserves compassion as valuable in itself, how far it is capable of feeling. To him, life itself is sacred. He shatters no ice crystal that sparkles in the sun, tears no leaf from its tree, breaks off no flower, and is careful not to crush any insect as he walks. If he works by lamplight on a summer evening, he prefers to keep the window shut and breathe stifling air rather than see insect after insect fall on his table with singed and sinking wings. If he goes out into the street after a rain storm and sees a worm which has strayed there, he reflects that it will surely dry up in the sunlight, if it does not quickly regain the damp soil into which it can creep, and so he helps it back to the lush grass. Should he pass an insect which has fallen into a pool, he spares the time to reach it a leaf or a stalk on which it may clamor and save itself. Animals suffer as much as we do. We must fight against the spirit of unconscious cruelty with which we treat the animals. " Dr. Albert Schweitzer.
"Compassion, in which all ethics must take root, can only attain its full breadth and depth if it embraces all living creatures and does not limit itself to mankind." Dr. Albert Scheweiter.
"A man is really ethical when he obeys the constraint laid on him to help all life which he is able to help, and when he goes out of his way to avoid injuring anything living. He does not ask how far this or that life deserves compassion as valuable in itself, how far it is capable of feeling. To him, life itself is sacred. He shatters no ice crystal that sparkles in the sun, tears no leaf from its tree, breaks off no flower, and is careful not to crush any insect as he walks. If he works by lamplight on a summer evening, he prefers to keep the window shut and breathe stifling air rather than see insect after insect fall on his table with singed and sinking wings. If he goes out into the street after a rain storm and sees a worm which has strayed there, he reflects that it will surely dry up in the sunlight, if it does not quickly regain the damp soil into which it can creep, and so he helps it back to the lush grass. Should he pass an insect which has fallen into a pool, he spares the time to reach it a leaf or a stalk on which it may clamor and save itself. Animals suffer as much as we do. We must fight against the spirit of unconscious cruelty with which we treat the animals. " Dr. Albert Schweitzer.
"Compassion, in which all ethics must take root, can only attain its full breadth and depth if it embraces all living creatures and does not limit itself to mankind." Dr. Albert Scheweiter.
#3
EricGladstone
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- Just Registered
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Just Registered
Posted 18 July 2012 - 12:10 PM
Hi Eric,
I am sorry you are going through the shock and painful questioning that has happened because of your brother's actions. It could be that your brother did not want to burden you with his problems and that love for you was his motivation. I know when I was depressed and my mind was so weighed down, that I didn't want to share my problems with my family out of fear of hurting them.
Depression is a serious condition that is linked to disease pathology in the brain. Many people are aware that any part of the body can become ill, but few realize that the brain itself can become ill. In depression a person can do things they would not usually do under the powerful force of the illness. There are links between depression and changes not only in the way the brain works, but in the brain itself. There are links between depression and a shrinking of brain areas and enlargement of others. Imagine if your heart suddenly lost 20% of its volume. Imagine how difficult that would be on you. There have been preliminary studies showing that in extreme cases, a part of the brain called the hippocampus can lose 20% of its volume in severe and long-standing depression. So although it is very treatable, it is a serious illness like heart disease or cancer. A return to full health for the brain and the sufferer can take time. And it helps a depressed person to have the support of family because this illness is not their fault.
I think you are a good person and can help your brother by being there for him, by being compassionate and understanding and non-judgmental. These things can help him enormously. I am worried about you too, because in these circumstances, you can also fall into a very low mood which can also hurt your brain. I wish you all the best this day. Many here on the Forum will offer you better words than mine. Take care!
Thank You :)
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