My brothers first tree

[NeolithicMan]

This is some what of a rant:

A few months ago I recieved a phone call from my mother, which is odd as we dont talk very much, and she told me my younger brother was in the hospital. Without going into to much detail here, he has had some mental issues since he was young and has been fed pills by the hand full for years. Our parents got divorsed almost 2 decades ago and still act like rabbid raccoons in a cage. This, I feel, drew attention away from the important things in life and made it seem easier to dope my brother up than to try and work with him on some things. He has gone through the alphabet of drugs for this and that over the years without anyone really knowing whats going on. Me and my fiance moved him in with us and our 2 year old son after picking him up from the hospital and he has been here ever since. I love my brother but it is extremely difficult at times to communicate with him and he has been some what depressed as he gets older and has more trouble relating to people his age and to become a part of society. Both my parents tried getting him into state programs and special housing for a few years and had no luck gettin him employed. Rebekah (my fiance) and I had been helping him look for a job and some sort of purpose in life when my Grandfather passed and everything sort of fell apart. As we started picking up the peices and moving on my brother started hiking in the woods with my dog on his own. He also became interested in my various outdoor activities. I had given him one of my first bows (that didnt blow up!!) and he really enjoyed shooting and discussing different aspects of archery and hunting. He wanted to make his own bow, so a few weeks ago I told him "we do it from the ground up, square one is findin a tree" and we did. He felled, sectioned, peeled, split and sealed a small shag bark hickory tree with me and was absolutley thrilled with the experience. We havent had time to do a lot of bow work as he now has a job and is making a few friends in the area but we are making progress. I truley believe a little time outside and working with your hands can do more than we think.
Here is a picture of my brother and my son who loves to carry the arrows back from the target when we shoot. My son loves his "unka Dyan" (uncle Dylan) and my brother is great with him. Also my dog who loves fetching old arrows I lob off into the woods and fields.

[Stringman]

Cool story, thank you for making time for your brother.

[Eric Krewson]

I had a similar young man in my shop last week, he has Asperger's syndrome, some behavior problems early on but is as normal as can be with the proper medication. He worked tirelessly on his first bow and was excited about the prospect of finishing it.

[Pappy]

Nice story,good for you taking the time to make a difference. :)Lots of folks wouldn't.
 Pappy

[koan]

Awesome story bro! Your doin a great thing and this joint endeaver is goin to bring some healin to you both.. Hats off to your fiance cuz im sure it is tuff on her also.... Brian

[YosemiteBen]

Awseome! Way to go! Good job hanging in there!

[beetlebailey1977]

Awesome that you are helping your brother, great story and everybody needs somebody to help out........my youngest son Matthew has Autism.  We are lucky that it is not severe but he has speech Apraxia and has a very hard time producing words.....I always wonder and worry how he will progress and grow up.

[Auggie]

My brother struggled with  being bipolar for years before we knew what it was. Hes been gone several years,and I still miss him much,didn't get to hunt enough with him while he was here.
hope you and your brother share many hunts together

[Knoll]

Nice story,good for you taking the time to make a difference. :)Lots of folks wouldn't.
 Pappy

Well said.

[IdahoMatt]

Great story.  Very good on ya.  Makes me happy to sort of know you, from the site. 

[lesken2011]

Some of us take a lot for granted. He looks like a nice young man. I hope this type of therapy continues to produce good results for yall.

[Peacebow_Coos]

+1 everyone, I have a similar situation.  I feel that the art we immerse ourselves in lends itself well to those who can't deal with 'society' because it means learning balance and it comes from one's self.  I hope things work out for you guys and gals.

[NeolithicMan]

Thank you all for the encouragement and kind words. It can get extremely difficult at times and it feels like it is just going to get harder the farther we go. He seems to have learned a sense of helplessness when dealing with common issues like fillinf out paper work or correcting a beauracratic mistake. Almost like when ever he got frustrated people did things for him because it was easier than teaching him how to self manage and deal with things. Every day can be a new adventure or a hellish battle. He has been diagnosed with bipolar dissorder, possible scyzophrania (I havent seen any real signs of that) and is believed to be somewhere on the autism scale but not sever. I do get frustrated and worn down after the simplest conversations and have to remember he is just as frustrated by the situation hes in as I am tryin to help him. The mental health care issue in this country has never been more apparent to me than now. I pull hair out as I am bounced from one doctor to another to a psychiatrist to a social worker to a therapist and then back again before having to sit down with some one telling me how much he owes... tht part is always crystal clear "we need more money"!!!!

But in the end I know this is the right thing to do. This is working, this seems to be what he needs! A place of no judgement, no hardlined expectations, and all the support he can get while not holding his hand and or doing it for him. Thank you all again, just a few simple words really makes the difference in thinking I am losing my mind and I am gaining back my little brother.

P.S. Wrestling is WAY more fun now that we are both about the same size!!!