Dead But Still Alive

Your brother was the smartest man you knew. He was wierd, yes, but in a logical way. He was diagnosed slightly autistic, but in a way that let him weaponize his intelligence for incredible focus. He could learn a new language in a month. He could master a skill that would take you weeks in mere days. But his emotional intelligence was...not great. He managed to bungle two marriages because of his constant, unthinking insensitivity. And the second marriage is what broke him. She left him for one of his good friends, one of the few people he trusted. After that he took to wandering. He took jobs in different countries. He would teach English in China, do consultancy work in the Phillipines, or just go hiking in Colombia. He would make enough money to travel, and then just spend it all wandering. He said he needed to find himself. And then he came home. He seemed himself. Seemed normal. For about a week. After that...strange things seemed to begin to happen. The guest house behind your parent's home slowly became emptied of all furniture as he threw it out. The messages you got from him were increasingly less coherent. His ramblings would go from sexual comments about women, to paranoia about those same women there to destroy his life, to thoughts about how he was now chosen by god. It finally culminated in an emergency call. Your parents desperately begged you to come help. Your brother had lost his mind. He had begin screaming, tearing at his hair, and telling everyone they must save him from the demons. He was incoherent. He was feral. You tried to help. There was nothing you could do. Your parents called emergency services. He got taken into custody for his own health. And then released. And his last tether to reality was gone. Approaching the guest home you've seen what it has become. An empty space with a laptop and trash on the floor. Not even a pillow. Your brother has written on the walls, at several points in blood. Nothing makes sense. He sits on the floor, staring off into space, muttering to himself. This is...was... your brother. In an every sense your brother is gone. Dead But Still Alive. ----- Mental illness isn't just hard on the person. It's hard on everyone around them. All you can do is your best. Thats all I'm gonna say about that. Have a good day folks.