Hi all, 

I just wanted to post something in an effort to better understand what I can/should do about a family member of mine who is diagnosed bipolar. My older brother is married with three little kids and is currently is one of the worst manic episodes we've ever seen. His wife left their house and basically called me crying that she can no longer live with him. They've been married 14 years and she cannot handle it anymore. She said she loves him, but cannot live in the house with him anymore. The kids are between the ages of 11 and 4. My brother has been calling us all hours of the night and has not slept in 3 days. When he calls, he will essentially just not stop talking and is completely irrational and won't hear/listen to any reasoning. He's breaking down because his wife is leaving him and won't be able to see the kids. He's asking me if he can make me the beneficiary of his insurance, etc... and he's saying all of these scary and horrible things. I feel absolutely heart-broken and don't know what to do. He sees doctors, he is on medication, but it's not working. Over the months, he's been getting progressively worse and worse. He keeps telling me the doctors don't work, the meds don't work. I don't know if he's actually taking the meds or not tho, he has a history of lying. 

Love my brother to death and I have a feeling that his wife, who is in the process of leaving him is going to "throw him over the edge." I'm concerned about his life, actually. I don't think he'll be able to handle it. The sad thing is... nobody wants him to live with them. My parents are older and cannot take that on. I live out of state and he can't join me. He has a job (I don't know how much longer, as he hasn't been to work all week). I feel like between his marriage essentially ending, probable job loss looming, manic and depressive state, I don't know what the actual fuck to do! I just wish he could get some sleep first and foremost. He hasn't slept in days and docs won't prescribe him sedatives because he has a history of abusing them. I'm trying to make sense of this all and help him, but I just don't know what to do. I'm not so sure if getting him into a facility might work? Or how that works? Is there a way I can just bring the tone and energy down? He's literally paranoid and feels people are monitoring him, when it's not true. He told me as he was tearing up "I just want to be happy..." and it broke my fucking heart.