Should I take my brother's word for it (more details inside..)
So, last April I moved back home. Meanwhile, a couple of months earlier, when my brother was living LA, his apartment was infested with bed-bugs. So, he moved back home, too; a couple of months prior to me.
When he first got back here, I came to visit one day. We took a walk. After a mile or so from the house, he told me he thought he saw some bedbugs in the house. (This, for some reason, had to be whispered.) We got some Borax, which for some reason, we needed to keep in my car. He felt it was a dire necessity to keep this from my parents. So, herein lies a question: can you only get some bedbugs? Like in a corner of a room? I thought it was make-or-break with those disgusting critters?
Anywho, the other night, some boxes of his stored in our basement allegedly fell over. Now, keep in mind – we have oodles’ of boxes in my basement. He’s convinced that it’s mice; once again, however, my parents have to left unaware. So, what do I do?
I have other suspicions about the clarity of my brother’s thoughts. I am thinking, in my heart of hearts, that he’s full of bull. However, he’s my brother and I love him, and I want to give him the benefit of the doubt. Do I rat him out to my parents? Oh, lord, I don’t know what to do!
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I can’t speak for your brother’s mental health overall, but he certainly seems paranoid about your parents. He’s hiding so much from them.
I wouldn’t tell my parents, but I would confront my brother with his behavior. I’d tell him square in the face he was acting weird and that he should voice his concerns directly to your parents. They are adults and can handle the news brought to them by your brother about his suspicions of bedbugs and mice.
Well, you know your parents. What would their reaction be? Is he right to fear that?
Look for bedbugs about eye height on the wall above the bed at night. They are flat, reddish-brown bugs easy to see.
Also, are you getting bitten? Small red wounds on your hands or arms most likely.
If you have bedbugs in the house, you have to have extermination (professional) done (several treatments). You have to wash every textile in the house in hot water, and get rid of all cardboard boxes Replacing them with lidded plastic storage boxes.. You must encase your mattresses and pillows in special covers,
@Hawaii_Jake – I feel the same way. He’s an adult; of course my parents are. I’m writing this backwards, so you should read the rest of my replies, as well:
@Dutchess_III : I don’t think my parents would be bothered by it at all. He’s concerned that the chemicals an exterminator might use would be toxic for him; he says he has “chemical sensitivity.”
@marinelife – The bedbugs were a while ago, and they were, in my opinion, imaginary. I guess, in all honesty, I’m more or less, asking something along along the lines of, “Is my brother being sane right now.” Now, I know that’s something that I’d know better than you, but the evidence is starting to get really obvious. It just makes me so sad. He’s also very rough around the edges, which makes my usually compassionate side very strained. Also, with me having the bipolar, it makes it that much harder.
Little side note: My psychiatrist has said that usually siblings will both present with mental illness; In my case, bipolar, and though I’m no doctor, I think he has something
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