Dear Cary,
I need some advice. I have a 30-year-old brother who has been in and out of jail and constantly needs my help. My mother and father are divorced and are alcoholics and cannot help him at all.
I have built a life with my husband and two kids. My brother constantly needs help with money and he only works two hours a day because his job has now cut his hours. He lies all the time -- I don't even know what to believe anymore. He is constantly moving because he has no money to pay rent so he gets kicked out.
He is living with my aunt at this time and has ruined that because they are going to kick him out soon. For some reason I always help him. I am even paying for a rental car for him at this time. I feel responsible to help him but it's killing me. My husband is always upset at me and I constantly have anxiety due to his problems.
Please help, what can I do.
Fed Up
Dear Fed Up,
What you have to do is sit your brother down and tell him that what he's doing is no longer tolerable to you, and that you are cutting him out of your life. Tell him that you will no longer take his phone calls, or welcome him into your home, or pay his bills, or lend him money or help him in any way.
This might be done in a group, or it might be done privately, depending on many factors, including whether he is a physical threat. It might be done with the help of a counselor or facilitator. You may want strong, capable persons in the room so that he cannot threaten you physically. Or you may want to ask your police or sheriff for a "civil standby." Often used where property must be recovered by one party in a dispute -- say, a husband has been kicked out of the house and wants his clothes back -- it might be available to you in this case, if it's something you feel is necessary.
However you arrange it, you have to tell him that this situation is over.
If you think he has mental problems or if you know of someone in the community that can help him, do not hesitate to give him information about the help that is available to him. And be willing to speak to others who you think might be able to help him -- for instance, if he needs job training, or education, or therapy. But beware of making promises that if he does such and such, all will be fine. If you want to put conditions on him, make them concrete and make sure they are things that would really make a difference for you. Don't sell yourself short, that is. Don't make it easy on him. For instance, if he has a drug problem, then maybe you say he has to demonstrate that he has been clean for one year, or, if drugs are not his problem, he has to demonstrate that he can hold a regular job and pay his own rent for one year. If there are conditions, make them tough.
You know what you want to see. You want to see him living up to his word, working hard, caring for himself, paying his own way, being dependable and truthful. But he may be skilled at fooling people. He may do well in the short term, but you will still be walking on eggshells, wondering if he's fooling you and if he can make it long-term.
The bottom line is, just tell him the truth. If you don't know what it will take for him to get back in your life, tell him that. It's enough that you're honest with your brother, painful as it may be for everyone.
There are many ways this can be done, but the essentials are the same: A difficult, painful but necessary message has to be conveyed to someone who doesn't really want to hear it, is not completely trustworthy or predictable, and whose reactions may be extreme and unpleasant.
After that, you just have to stick to it.
Good luck.
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