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 expect that the council doesn't see the need to put a roof over someone's head who already has a roof of his own to live under. He will be entitled to some benefits due to his disability but he does not perhaps have a need for housing? he may not appreciate having to live with other people and may be better suited to living in his own home with appropriate help. I'm not an expert on benefits but I expect that he would qualify for Personal Independence payment (PIP) see www.gov.uk/financial-help-disabled
You need to be clear about separating his health needs, his ability (or lack of) to live independently, and housing and financial needs. Each of these probably needs to be tackled separately.