Report aggressive behavior
If someone is persistently aggressive, you should report actual or threatened violence to the treating health professionals (and the police, if necessary) immediately. If you live with someone who is persistently aggressive, seriously consider ways you can live apart. It is very likely that living apart will work out better for both of you.

The Effects of Mental Illness on Brothers and Sisters

Mental illness can lead to a variety of emotional effects for brothers and sisters of the affected person. For example, they may feel:

• Confusion about their sibling's changed behavior
• Embarrassment about being in the affected person's company
• Jealous of their parent's attention
• Resentment about not being like their peers
• Fear of developing the mental illness

What brothers and sisters can and can't do

What you can do
If your sibling has a mental illness, you can:

• Talk honestly about your feelings and encourage others in the family to do the same
• Be active in improving mental health services - for example, through local mental health support groups
• Avoid making the ill person the axis around which the family revolves
• Maintain your focus on living and enjoying your own life

What you can't do
If your sibling has a mental illness, you can't:

• Be totally responsible for their welfare
• Make your sibling behave in a certain way - for example, force them to take their medication
• Solve all their problems or feel you ought to
• Lessen the impact of the illness by pretending that it is not there

Things to Remember

• Neither you nor the person affected by the mental illness are responsible for their condition
• It may help to contact a support group for family, friends or carers of people with mental illness

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