Reply to Brother potentially suffering from mental illness-- what to do?

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[quote=Anonymous]My younger brother is nearly 50.  In the past year he has lost his job, left his wife and kid and embarked on  a series of changes that would make your head spin. These included, but were not limited to:  deciding to become a novelist/artist, moving across the country to help a poor community, going back to school briefly to become a psychologist and most recently giving away all his belongings to join a monastery.

I come from an artistic/eccentric family so at first, I really did think, perhaps foolishly, this was just his version of a really bad midlife crisis.  Now we're all starting to fear there may be something more afoot.  In his most recent communication to my mother he intimated that he has been called by God and did not expect us to understand, but noted that as a result it would be hard for him to maintain relationships with his family and friends.

I come from a religious family (Catholic) so .I do believe people are called, God works in mysterious ways, etc.  That said, the tone of his letters does not for me jibe with what you would expect from someone who has been touched in that way.  More and more I fear he is suffering from some sort of mental illness and do not know what we should do.  I know he is a grown-up and I don't think he is at risk of physically hurting himself.  I also think he's probably fairly safe in a prayerful environment like a monastery.   I don't believe he's thinking clearly though -- particularly given he has all but cut off his relationship with his teenage daughter. Plus I know my parents are worried about him and my father, in particular is quite distressed.

Has anyone encountered this sort of situation with an adult relative?  What have you done?  Is there anything to be done?  And who or what organization would you recommend we reach out to, if anyone?  I do think my brother told me once he had been diagnosed as bipolar, but that was when he was working for a pharmaceutical company and at the time, we thought he was spending too much time looking at the research. Growing up he seemed happy, had tons of friends, a tendency to really go all out when he threw himself into something and a tendency towards being a little eccentric and selfish, but I don't remember mood swings.

Anyway, thanks in advance for any insight.    [/quote]

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