Published on 12, July, 2020
Hello folks!
My brother is 41 and has just been diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome. Since the age of 3 he has had behavioural problems. This has taken its toll on my Dad, Mum and me his sister. I had a nervous breakdown 20 years ago due to his behaviour and still bear the scars. On June 4th of this year my beloved father, a retired doctor, hurriedly packed a few suitcases and fled, with my Mum and our Labrador, to Scotland from England. I was with my fiancé in Glasgow when I got a desperate call from my father to say that they were at a motorway service station, fleeing for their lives from my brother. They took refuge with us. We provided a "safe house" for my dear parents. My Dad feared that my "aspie" brother would pour petrol through the letter box and they would be burned alive in their beds. He spoke to us about how best he and my Mum could protect themselves.
There is an army of psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, RMNs, support workers and the list goes on ad infinitum of people who are devoted to caring for people like my brother. Who is looking out for us? Are we not the real victims of Aspergers? The police will only step in if we are assaulted. So we wait in our homes...to be attacked...murdered...annihilated...we don't know what awaits us but we wait.
i would be very interested to hear what this community thinks about our predicament. How do those with Aspergers feel when they read of our heartbreak? How do the professionals feel? What advice can they give us?
A final question...if there are any security experts reading this can they give us any tips on how to keep ourselves safe. I know I will never feel safe in this world while my brother is alive.
Kindest regards,
Anguished Sibling.
I feel so bad for your brother. It used to be pretty common for people with autism to be misdiagnosed with schizophrenia and filled full of drugs that are very damaging. Whatever issues he has, could well have been triggered through misprescription of drugs by psychiatrists. What an awful shame for him, and the clear impact this has had on your family.
I am presuming he is off the drugs now, although he may have high anxiety and even depression and need medication for that as they are often co-morbid with Asperger's/ASCs.
Do post here and ask questions which will assist you understanding your brother, I would say that rather being a victim to your brother's Asperger's you are a victim to the system's misdiagnosis and mistreatment of his condition. They have no doubt affected his neurology negatively with the wrong medications and that can have far-reaching effects on his personality and wellbeing. You may find this interesting:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/youandyours/yy_20041028.shtml and this
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2928288/
If he has been mistreated by a previous psychiatrist your family can put in a complaint about it. For such an incompetence of 20 years I would imagine he deserves compensation.