Not again...

[aearwen]

At 6AM this morning, my daughter wakes me up and hands me the phone with my sister-in-law, because my brother's depression has tanked him again. Over the course of the next 30 minutes, I convince (coerce, cajole, force - it really didn't matter to me at the time) him to take the antidepressants that he had skipped for the last two days, and told his wife to try to round up a friend for him to spend the day with. When Dave called back about 2½ hrs later, he was at least lucid & coherent, but still very down. Yes, he wanted me to come now.

So, I drive to Arizona tomorrow - with no clear idea how long I'll be there.

Clinical depression is a very difficult situation to try to deal with from a distance of six hundred miles. Dave had called to crow about talking to a congresscritter about the way that Bank of America had jerked him around - and then apparently dropped the ball on getting the documentation the congresscritter wanted to him. Once more, I'm hearing "There's no hope." and "What's the use?" as excuses for just curling up and doing nothing. He claims to have simply forgotten to take his pills. I don't think so.

So, despite the fact that I'm definitely not a Christian of any hue, I visited the Episcopalian priest who was so instrumental in helping me pull him back together when he was here this past July. The lady is an absolute gem - no doubt about it - and she gave me a lot of good information and advice on what to say, what not to say, things to bring up in question form, and ways to nudge Dave into trying to focus on the future. I'm to keep in touch - and I will.

Still. Tomorrow will be a 10-hr drive down the coast to Los Angeles and from there across the continent to Scottsdale. I have enough going on in my own life (including a son in OR who will be homeless in a week's time if he can't find a place to stay) that I really didn't need this - but this is my brother we're talking about here. I only have the one, and he's a fantastic person (when his head is screwed on straight.) I can't not go.

I'll try to keep up to date with my postings, but no promises. A lot will depend on the situation there, and just how much work it takes to (1) keep him under supervision so he doesn't go off and do something stupid; and (2) cajole, coerce and convince him that he's loved and that he needs to be proactive in creating a future he can accept that doesn't include that damned house.

In so many ways, if he can survive losing the house, it will be a relief once it's over.

And that, my friends, is a truly horrible thing to have to say.



Such fun.

Not.