I have never posted on a Web site before, but I feel in the mood to vent my frustration a little.

My older brother who is a schizophrenic lives with me, as he has no where else to go. I applied for section housing about five years ago, and I am still hopeful that it will be available soon. However, two years ago he was diagnosed with lung cancer and had surgery to remove his left lung. I don’t know if he can live by himself any longer, and I wonder if he will have to stay with me for the rest of my life.

The extent to which his illness effects my life each day is unbelievable. If you have ever lived with a schizophrenic or if you are living with a schizophrenic, then you know exactly how I feel. Our parents are both gone now. I was there for my dad when he was ill, and again for my mom until her death seven years ago. That was hard, but nothing compared to this. Not in a physical way, but in an emotional way. It is like having a child, except there is no control and nothing ever changes as this “child” never grows up.

My brother, will not bathe, unless I make him. Needless to say he smells pretty bad. He doesn’t change clothes between showers most of the time and will even sit in pants he has wet in due to an enlarged prostate. His room is disgusting to say the least, and every time he leaves for a day or two, I clean it out. To do this I have to put Vick’s under my nose to keep from gagging. His room is located off a very nice patio, that only he can use because no one else can stand the smell. He sits on the patio chain smoking one cigarette after another, with no thought in mind to anyone else.

Over the past 4 to 5 years I have grown to resent him. That is the worst part of this situation. I feel bad for how I feel and hope that he doesn’t know the truth. I doubt he does, because people with this illness don’t seem to give any thought to others. I don’t feel like I can invite people over, believing they will be uncomfortable around him, so I have isolated myself for years.

I’m single, but I will not date. I can’t bring this baggage into a relationship or marriage, so why bother with dating? If anyone out there has some good advice for me on how to accept this responsibility with more grace I would appreciate the gesture. I am sure there are similar stories out there I can learn from.

Please don’t advise me to kick him out. I have already done that once when I found out he was using crystal meth. He was in the middle of chemotherapy at the time, so I let him back in with the understanding that he would not use drugs anymore. As far as I know, he hasn’t. I think he knows that would be it for me.

People with Alzheimer’s disease often benefit from light to moderate exercise. I have read that exercising for as little as 20 minutes every other day can help a person feel better, both physically and mentally. In addition, exercise can help increase a person’s stability, reducing the risk of falls, and can also reduce the risk of wandering and postpone nursing home placement.

Here are some tips to help people with Alzheimer’s stay active:

Begin by seeing a doctor. He will be able to tell you if it is safe for the patient to exercise.Walking with a partner is generally the safest exercise for people with Alzheimer’s. Walking in a climate-controlled environment, such as a mall, can keep the patient safe and socially stimulated.

Many household chores offer the chance to exercise and help the patient feel useful. A person with Alzheimer’s can sweep, mop, rake leaves, fold laundry, etc.

If you have a family member or loved one with Alzheimer’s disease, talk to a doctor about the benefits of exercise.

(photo credit: wmacphil)

Millions of Americans suffer from depression. While many of these people will need prescription medication in order to cope with their depression, there are a number of other things that can help alleviate depression symptoms. For instance, exercise can greatly help reduce depression symptoms.

Exercise is often effective at treating mild to moderate depression. What’s great is that researchers think that any kind of exercise can help depression. Getting at least 20 to 30 minutes of exercise at least three times a week is recommended, however. Be sure to choose an activity that you enjoy so that you won’t be tempted to drop your exercise regimen.

To be safe, you should talk with your doctor before beginning any exercise program.

(photo credit: angela7dreams)

My dad, he’s 52 and he recently tried to kill himself.

He had an addiction problem to pain killers, and we recently found out crack, and when he was younger he was an alcoholic.Before I was born, he was in a train accident, and lost his foot. In the hospital they gave him a morphine drip, which kicked in the addiction problem. I’m not saying that that is an excuse, but he was an addict for such a VERY long time, and I just don’t see how he will ever do it ever again.

I mean be sober, but I never knew ANY of this, I never knew he had ever touched anything in his life, but evidently he did, and I was just blindsided by it totally!

But he was an addict for all those years, and when I was seven, he was going to kill himself, but chickened out, and got really freaked out by it and called me at school to come get him, ME? At the time all I knew was that he had a stomach ache. He went to rehab for that, and a month and six days ago, he tried to kill himself. He overdosed, on purpose, and I came home and found him, everything turned over, and a note. A very short note, that tore my heart apart that he didn’t even mention me specifically, he took complete and total care of me from sun up till my mom got home, but he had the name of his pallbearers down, and that was it!

My dad threatened my mom with suicide every day of their married life–20 years of nonstop torture! Mom has left him now though. She says that I’m not allowed to see him as long as he’s not clean, and he has to live on his own for a long time and prove to us that he can be a man and stand on his own. First he has to be clean for himself (just got back from rehab today acctually) then he has to be a man for me. I’ll never have a dad growing up it seems, do you think that my mom has done the right thing? I really need to know! I have nightmares like crazy, and I just needed to get it out!

(photo credit: nyki_m)