This might be a bit long .

I am 24 years old and my baby brother is 14. He was always the most special to me from the start. Even tho I have three other siblings( one who is my twin) he is the one who I had most love for.

Now he recently went through puberty about 10 months ago and he’s changed a lot. My parents are always worried about him because he is acting up, not doing too well in school, etc.

today I talked to him because he posted “my family makes me feel like I should kill myself” I was shocked to hear that because I didn’t know what the reason is but now I do.

He’s me.

He is not crazy but he is depressed. He is bipolar. He is EMOTIONAL.

Today I realized that he has always been close to me because him and me are the only two people in this family who understand why it feels like to be dealing with dark things such as depression, such as not feeling good about themselves, such as feeling like a let down, feeling stuck, feeling overwhelmed for no reason.

I hugged that boy and held on to him , he’s over 6ft now so I felt like I’m hugging a grown man

And he cried , he cried on my shoulders he let it all out . I know he needs to see a professional but I also know that he won’t go because he doesn’t think that would help.

I hope god gives me enough strength and patience to help this boy get thru whatever is trying to bring him down because I was (and still am) In his shoes . I’m way better then before but I still have my moments. And I just need advice as how I can help him overcome this because I know no one else in my family will understand him , they haven’t went through this. I just want to keep him safe from himself. He isn’t hurting himself or anything like I used to but I’m scared to let it get to that. He’s like my child. I have two daughters and even tho he’s a foot taller then me he’s still my baby and it hurts me to see that he is also dealing with what I have .

I want to let him know I’m there for him.

I want to keep him positive. I just love him too much to lose him..

has anyone ever went thru this situation with a loved one? How have you dealt with this?