thanks everyone for your kind thoughts. my brother was never one to ever take drugs or alcohol. he was very health conscious while we were growing up. but i believe he is bipolar and that it was undetected for a long time even from my parents and after a divorce he just snapped and said he turned to an addiction. he says he is not addicted anymore but his actions to me say otherwise. it is difficult to be sure because the symptoms of his addiction he said he had are similar to bipolar symptoms so i don't know if he is lying to me or not. i do know that he went from a well educated successful man with a beautiful home to an unemployed homeless man who is jumping from one friend to another and sleeping on their couch. i have begged him to go to a hospital with me to get help and then offered to help him get a place after he was better and he refused. i don't understand why he won't let me help him. he isn't happy right now but would rather be alone and homeless then have someone who loves him help him get his life back. i can only pray at this moment that he will find his way. and i always let him know i love him and will be there when he is ready to get the help he so desperately needs. i have never dealt with something like this before and am very sick with my own health problems with my rsd and i don't have alot of stamina or money to help him much. but i do my best. my mother and brothers have written him off and i don't want to be around them anymore because of this. they don't even want to deal with me because i am sick. it makes me very sad. i hope that he will find his way back to health and happiness. i pray for him everyday. thank you all so much for praying for him too. it means alot to me. you are really good friends.