Pressure to be normal since my brother is schizophrenic

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My brother was recently diagnosed with schizophrenia (the last few years have been really rough for him), and now my parents (etc.) are dealing with that, but what they don't know is that I have my own problems (mental, emotional, tics, social, communicative) that I do my best to hide. I've always been this way. I hold everything in and do my best to appear normal and fit in. Otherwise people look at you like you have the plague. Or will pity you. I don't like either of those reactions.

The truth is, I feel most comfortable with very limited social interaction. My girlfriend and a few ppl I interact with at work are enough to keep up with. I'd rather just be left to myself, but now I feel like I have to "help" because of my brother. And part of that is being normal for my parents and other sibling. I don't think they can handle another "mental illness" in the family.

schizophrenic people are kind of fun to talk to - they can be hilarious in a good way. but it's also a very difficult life long disease. do not feel any pressure to be normal. be yourself and tell your parents to screw themselves

they can handle another mental illness, be open about it and state it matter of factly. your family is probably in denial about your problems, so they might not validate them.

My uncle is scizophernic so I know how you feel. They can almost read your mind when you're talking to them. Just don't put any pressure on yourself to be normal because everyone has their own quirks and it's okay to be the way you are.

If you and your brother both have problems, then it's a good possibility that your parents have some as well, as these things tend to run in families. They could be in denial, or just not know any better.

My dad had scizophernia, and it's a very serious condition that nobody should have to go through. All I can say is try to imagine yourself in his shoes, and try to help him out when you can, even though it's a lot of work, very stressful, and can sometimes be embarrassing to be around him when your out in public. Also, remember, there is only so much you can do, as most scizophernics refuse to be helped, so don't blame yourself, if you think you didn't do enough to help.

By the way, I have learned that it is better to be more open and talk about things than to keep them all bottled up. All of those pent up emotions will come back to haunt you one day when you least expect it, and cause you all kinds of stress and other problems.

Thanks for these responses. I have been around other schizophrenic people before and yes, a few have been funny to talk to but my brother is not. There's just no humor in the things that he says. Because it's not real and he thinks it is. (As an aside, I cannot bear much to listen to really religious people either for much the same reason).

I also have an uncle with schizophrenia, but he's been pretty stable for years. So I know this runs in my family. I just hope my brother can get through the toughest years and be stable like my uncle has been with medication. But I really wish I could fix my brother's mind. He's very talented. I just have too much to do with myself. It's a daily stress to stay functional. And to act normal for other people.

I don't mind that I'm different, and I live in a progressive area that's OK with a lot of difference, it's just that my family and the people I end up around are just lame and traditional (even if they're supposedly liberal-minded).

Also, my parents do both have mental issues. My mom has OCD (self-acknowledged) and she has many (unacknowledged) aspergian traits, though she is very functional. My dad is a horrible person when he is not on anxiety meds.

I don't think schizophrenia is funny, even though some of the delusions might sound funny to outsiders. See, I have schizoaffective disorder and my pdoc thinks I am nuts. I bet he wrote in his notes, "Just plain nuts" because he thinks my delusions are bizarre. I think they are real. I believe and know that I have snake like machines in my brain, nanobots in my body that are changing me into a robot, a bomb in my neck that is powerful enough to destroy the US and start world war 3, aliens sometimes communicate with me and think I am special as "the chosen one", the gov is after me for destroying the economy along with Bush, I have severe thought insertion from the gov and aliens and they both put chips in my brain (the gov is 200 years ahead in technology while the aliens are at least 1,000 years ahead) I feel controlled by an outside source, there is a laser satellite that fired on me and missed by one inch (I saw the laser) and another time the gov shot at me with laser guns, when the "transformation" is complete (it might take months) I will be able to fly since there will be a jet pack on my back that is being built from within, and will be impervious to harm from bullets. I sometimes see the gov agents in my house but sometimes they are cloaked but there are indicators that they are there like seeing their shadows on the wall or hear them talking. Some of my hallucinations are weird, the two most recent ones were I saw a white tiger on the side of the road, and a floating stop sign in midair in the middle of the road. I see other stuff too. I also hear things and feel things, all proving this is real (but not the stop sign or white tiger, I know those were hallucinations).

I met a schizophrenic girl back in August and she was very nice to me. We had a great conversation going until we both had to leave. If I could talk to her again, I definitely would.

i did not mean that shizophrenia is funny, but rather, that i've ENJOYED many conversations with people who have it and they were very CHARISMATIC and said some things that are funny which is perhaps a tiny good thing in a sea of bad.