# Mental Illness in the family



## Richard King (Jan 7, 2006)

I am dealing with a family member who has lost touch with reality and is behaving schizophrenic. I won't bore you with too many details.
He was once deeply in love with the God whose name he now uses in vain.
This causes one to question everything.
It is not yet a situation where anyone can see God being glorified in any way. 
It seems quite the opposite.
Why does this happen?
When all of the rest of the family is being disrupted and threatened is it best to step out of the way and protect the sane 
...or continue to try to help though it could be devastating to the other members of the family.
Everyone says get medical help. He refuses medicine saying it is something for people with no faith in God. As an adult he can refuse even being evaluated.
Has given away thousands of his savings to strangers and he has given away his cars. All to the 'poor', justifying it by saying that is what Jesus did and declaring money as evil.
I don't even know how to pray at this point. His death could be less of a tragedy than his continued life.
Anyone have any experience with this?


----------



## LawrenceU (Jan 7, 2006)

Richard,
I am all too familiar with what you are going through. In my opinion you need to press through and get treatment. Unless there have been radical changes to the laws in Texas it is much easier to obtain an involuntary commital than in many surrounding states. If the laws had not been more reasonable in Texas a very dear family member of mine would have never been able to receive treatment. PM me if you want.


----------

