Tips to help my schizophrenic brother

Factual Questions
1

My younger brother has been suffering from paranoiac affective schizophrenia for more than two years now and has been recently interned under court order in the psychiatric wing of the hospital because he threatened my sister with a knife (scary, but he luckily didn’t actually hurt her).

After 2 weeks in observation, the doctor has ordered 90 days more. He is basically considered the worse case in the psychiatric wing.

I just visited him last week and apart for some mumbling and attention deficit problems, he seemed “relatively” ok.

What I’d like to know now is how I can help him.

First thing is how to help him fight the complete boredom of the situation. Frankly, if I was confined to a bedroom and a small communal room for 90 days without any entertainment I’d go crazy. I brought him some more audio CD, but I’m thinking of buying him a Gameboy Advance SP since he is really into video games. So my first question is, are videogames good or bad for schizophrenics. And if they can have a positive effect, what particular games should I buy him?

Next, is the absolute piss-poor environment where he is going to live in the next 3 months going to be helpful to him? It is basically worse than prison because he cannot go outside and there is no physical exercise whatsoever available. Supposedly there is a gym and a swimming pool in the hospital but psychiatric patients under observation are prevented from going there. Plus, the last time I went the room stank up of paint fumes (they are painting during the day with the patients around!).

Is it standard operating procedure for schizophrenic to be completly cut them off in a small confined space? I would have thought that some “nature” or physical exercise would be helpful for his condition. What are the alternatives?

2

Go all Shirley MacLaine in Terms of Endearment on their asses. The only people who get help are the ones who have family pushing and asking questions and kissing up to the staff and making sure all the doctors are coordinating with each other. Get lists of his meds from all of his doctors and counter-check them with his other doctors.

Let them know he has family with eyes and ears.

3

If he is really devoid of any exercise provisions, or suchlike, then they are simply not providing what is necessary for reasonable care, and I’d start a serious complaint on that argument. If the paint fumes thing is real, then it’s an urgentissue (because clearly they do not consider patients’ interests when dealing with day-to-day busines).

Obviously the powers you’ll have are dependant on where you are, but make sure you’ve got every source of help and advice to which you’re entitled.

4

…additional comment: make sure you find out exactly what your (and his) rights are. You probably won’t get this information from a doctor. But make sure you know who can decide things, and when, and what limits there are to anybody’s decisions.

5

HELL NO it will not be helpful. The dude is probably on 5 different psychiatric drugs. That is the only “therapy” he will receive.

I would not worry about how video games might effect his condition. Get something with very high replay value. Chess, for example. Tetris, pac-man, etc. Or ask him. There’s a ton of catridges for gameboy. AFAIK, it will play the older games. You can get those for $3 a piece.