Year help: My older brother (45 years old) has epilepsy and has medication to prevent seizures. - Help.com

Carbamazepine or Tegretol, has to be taken every day, why does he stop takeing them?????

If he carries on like this then he can do a lot of harm to himself. You must get him to se the doctor and get his doctor to put an end to this. Have a word with his wife, and get her on your side, this has to stop and stop now.

I think you’re right about your brother’s motives for coming off of meds. It’s possible he feels he is a man, or normal, emotionally, and the epilepsy and meds, to him, are denying that feeling.

I think, maybe, if he were able to separate himself from the disease, that might help his perspective — the epilepsy does not define him, it’s just a thing he has to take care of.

Sounds like he might want to see someone about a possibility of depression.

Christians can suffer from depression too. Sometimes as christian because we believe in being ggod witnesses we are afraid to admit that we could possibly be depressed

lol oh I see. Either way, I would concentrate on getting him help in that area. Sounds like he is being self distructive & one of the problems with people who are depressed is them having the will enough to take thier meds. Doctors know this.
Also people can often be very good at hiding thier depression.

When it comes to denial, it usually takes something significant to break through. You’re very perceptive about your brother’s attitude, Matt, and I think you may be able to help him somewhat by talking about a different perspective — indirectly addressing his perception.

Maybe not even focusing on the epilepsy, and having a “no big deal” attitude about it; it’s just a thing, not a defining attribute of your brother’s worth.

With him being an adult it will be dificult. Tell him & you & the family are worried about him & ask if you can have permission to talk to the doctor for peac of mind.

Matt, your brother needs to understand that epilepsy is not something that comes and goes. He also needs to understand that is does not make him less of a person unless he chooses not to take his meds in a responsible manner. When he chooses to ignore truth and responsibility he not only jeopardizes his life, he jeopardizes any one in a car with him while driving and any other outside of his vehicle, either walking or driving in his vicinity. Is there alcohol abuse involved here? How long has he been an epileptic and what was the cause?

I think the most significant problem is that he can’t conface his physical disease correctly, maybe, it’s more the psychological promblem than epilepsy. so I suggest that you take you brother to see a psychologist, after that, so you don’t need to find help and this is not seem like a problem at all.

Absolutely. You know you are & hopefully one day he will know too. I know hes not an addict but I think in this case, seeing the potential danger, family intervention is very appropriate. Your family is lucky to have you.

The situation is tricky, Matt, but your brother is angry with you now because he knows there is truth to what you’re saying. The only way I know for your brother to live with serenity is to accept his condition and learn to live well with it.

I think you may find it easier if you also accept that he already has a good idea about what’s happening with him, and if you define your wishes clearly, he may find it easier to accept that he denies his condition at the possible detriment of others.

Other family members could be helpful by understanding that ‘protecting’ him from the truth feeds his denial, and disrespects him. Of hand, I would say that telling him of events which cause you concern is the right thing for you to do, but not to let that dominate your relationship. You may not be the one to get through to him, but we often have to be coaxed out of denial by hearing enough of other people’s perspective to come to our own conclusions. He may not remember everything, but he may be aware of gaps in his memory, and be able to conclude that there really was a danger to his family because he had a seizure while he was driving.

Yo might consider what help he would need if he were to come out of denial, let him know what help is available, let him know you’re there for him.

I don’t think you should apologize for telling the truth.

Great to hear!

Keep us posted.

best of luck