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Schizophrenic Autistic younger brother

Discussion in 'Family, Friends, and Relationships' started by Zeta Male, Mar 23, 2014.

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  1. Zeta Male

    Zeta Male
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    Alright, so I have a younger brother whose always had borderline high functioning autism, and it's never really been that big of a problem. He's never really liked talking to new people, but up until a few months ago he was able to go to school and go out in public just fine. But, recently, things have been getting much worse. He just turned 13 and at first we thought he he was just having a hard time dealing with puberty because of his autism, but the symptoms have gone far beyond any type of autism. About a few months ago he started talking about about seeing a ghost named freddy. At first I thought he was talking about a normal imaginary friend, and one day I was walking past the bathroom and overheard him in the shower yelling "get off of me freddy!" and talking about how the fish in our fishtank were evil, and stopped playing videogames, watching tv, and being able to answer questions without just ignoring the person asking the question or yelling some accusation like that they were always embarrassing him or were hurting his ears. He mostly just lays in his bed doing nothing now, just staring at the ceiling or randomly laughing or yelling. something paranoid about "them". We've tried asking him who thet are but all he says is that they're embarrassing him or being too loud and he wishes he didn't have ears. He also has breakdowns almost every time he's in public(which he's never had before) where he yells and starts violently hitting and kicking our truck or walls, but he hasn't ever hit a person yet.
    We're taking him to get a psychological evaluation soon to confirm that he actually has schizophrenia, but I'm already almost 100% sure that what it is. I don't know how much, if any of this is just worsening autism, but I know full blown hallucinations, extreme irrational paranoia, and lying and bed and losing all previous intrests is not autism. Virtually all of his symptoms fit into Schizophrenia though. I honestly don't know what's going to happen. There's no way we can pay for treatment, and I'm not sure my parents are equipped to take care of him. Also, there are absolutely no papers or information about autism+schizophrenia in one person on the internet.
    Has anyone here ever had Schizophrenic relatives?
     
    #1 Zeta Male, Mar 23, 2014
  2. Kenaria

    Kenaria
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    Autism and Schizophrenia don't normally coinside, but it's very possible. I don't have any relatives with Schizophrenia but I always thought I had a very mild case of it (never got tested, didn't see the need.) It gets to your head, and can make you feel all sorts of things. When I was 9 I had a dream that someone was standing over my bed, and i've seen him in mirrors and reflections of things. It makes you feel differently at different times. You can be scared, get depressed, angry, or other things. Best of luck to you though, I hope this helped :/
     
    #2 Kenaria, Mar 23, 2014
  3. confusedinnh

    confusedinnh Guest

    I don't have any relatives with schizophrenia but I've had friends that have had to deal with autistic relatives.

    What your brother is going through sort of reminded me of a friend's situation. She has a brother that is autistic (an sadly has an inoperable brain tumor where his brain stem and spine meet). Up until he was 12, he lived with his mom, sister and step-dad. Just around the time puberty hit he became very aggressive. His mom had another child and because his aggression was so high, his mom and step-dad sent him to live with his father. He's now living with another relative because his father couldn't deal with him either (it's really kind of sad).

    From a quick internet search, autism and schizophrenia are linked and can show very similar symptoms. But because of the age of your brother and the age of my friend's brother, I was starting to think that while it might not be them dealing with puberty that causes the severe changes but because the body is changing there might be a link to the rush of hormones and autism.

    Also from that search, I saw many articles and blogs that describe severe changes in people with autism when they hit puberty. So there definitely seems to be a link there.

    You might want to have your parents get in touch with some of the autism organizations out there, they might be able to help with finding your brother the help that he needs and offer suggestions on ways to pay for the treatments he needs.

    I wish I could've been more help. Having friends that have been in a sort of similar situation, I felt the need to respond. Hope this helps at least a little.
     
    #3 confusedinnh, Mar 23, 2014
  4. aspie musician

    aspie musician Guest

    Wait for the results of the evaluation before jumping to conclusions.Mental health is very broad:autism ,bipolar and schizophrenia all have a genetic link,many disorders mimick one another,they exist on a spectrum,there are related conditions and getting an accurate diagnosis often takes time and may change over time as well.As for advice as where to go from here,I am not completely sure to be honest.I want to help but am not really able to.I hope you keep us updated though.I suppose autism organizations are an option but I feel wait for the results of the evaluation and keep us updated if you want to.This must be a really tough time for you,hope its okay,just want to give you a *hug*.
     
    #4 aspie musician, Mar 24, 2014
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