Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi all, my name is John, I am looking after my older brother Michael with help from my aunt and close family. I have been looking after him since 2013 when my father died. Michael is in his mid fifties and has only just been diagnosed with medium to severe autism. He is in a bad way mentally. He has also been diagnosed with schizoid personality disorder. He is a recluse and refuses interaction with other people. He also has no motivation to help himself or me. I pay all his bills, do all his shopping and maintain his environment. Michael blames my late mother and father for his, as he sees it bad living conditions. He is very hard to deal with. He suffers from OCD, hords rubbish, refuses to open the curtains or windows. Keeps food on the floor and will not use the refrigerator. Often eating 15 to 20 day old food that should have been refrigerated. He often refuses to open the door and gets aggressive if we try to help with cleaning ect. The mental health and council seem to think it's OK to visit once a week or fortnight for 5 minutes and then declare "he's alright". Michael is always saying he will comit suicide and shouldn't have been born. He rants and swears loudly, often we receive complaints from nieghbours. He suffers severe mood swings from calm to ranting and shouting. I am worried for his safety and have expressed my concern's but it all seems to fall of deaf ears. He is living under the borough of [removed by mod] council. We have been informed that this is the worst in the country with regards to mental health. I welcome any advice or comments that you may have.
i would like to say how much I agree with "recumbinantsocks" in the removal of the Local Authority name in Brotherjohn's plea for help. We all need to know how bad this Authority is. I am Brotherjohn's and Michaels Aunt and I know how hard John works on behalf of Michael, even though he has several children and a fulltime job himself. Brother John is hindered constantly by the Authorities. He recently applied for sheltered supported housing for Michael, only to find this application has been blocked "because Michael has assets" I have complained bitterly today, that surely Michael cannot be denied help and support because of an inherited asset. Despite applying for benefits to help Michael, he receives barely enough to live on and this would not cover things like Council tax, Water, Gas and electric. Brotherjohn has been coping with Michael emotionally and financially for almost three years since their Mother and Father died. He desperately needs help, but the local Authority are slow to respond and appear to be doing nothing constructive. We have only managed to get the attention of the Local Authority since Michael was diagnosed with Medium to Severe Autism in 2015. For the last two weeks a support worker has visited Michael for about half an hour each time, the first time I went along to support Michael, but the support worker didn't want me there and I left Michael alone. In doing this, we as a family have no idea what is being discussed or whether Michael is telling the truth. Michael has said to us he wants a flat of his own, but the support worker says Michael does not want to move? It's so difficult dealing with this Local Authority as they seem to be working for their own agenda not the person who is in need of support. Any advice would be much appreciated.