Don't know what to do.

Hello everyone. I need some advice as I am at a lost of what to do.

The issue concerns my older brother. He is almost 40 years old now. Every day he seems to speak out loud as if arguing with someone who isn't there.

He is aware he is doing it. Every time I try to bring up the topic, he would change the subject by answering with things like "its a beautiful day outside isn't it," or something like that.

It started a few years ago. Ofc it wasn't as bad as it is now but there were signs that something was going on. Where do I start......

Lets talk about the conversations he has. When he speaks outloud to someone who isn't there, he always cuts his own sentences off VERY often saying things like:

"shut up"
"You don't know what your talking about"
"shut up you moron"
"Incorrect"

His conversations don't make much sense. ex sentences:

"the act of showing passion to someone show.... "SHUT UP"..... the act of showing passion to someone show...."I said shup up you moron".... and he gets stuck in that looop sometimes before attempting to finish.

I'm not sure what triggered this. A few years ago, he wasn't doing this. He would often be on music forums, or forums related to God (he's a christian). He would often debate things pertaining to music and especially against atheist. I snuck in a few reads and he often makes sound arguments and the admin loved him and even wanted him to be a moderator (he refused though).

I think something happened here that triggered it. As if he is desperate to win an argument perhaps. Before this, there was disillusion signs like he would say people are spying on him through the laptop camera. Of course I googled this and there were hack programs to do this but normally if someone did do this, the lights would still be on. We also had norton so I doubt it could of happened.

Forums, twitter, youtube, etc. He spent a lot of time on here (not facebook, he doesn't know many people).

So we have today.... he's almost 40, hasn't had a job for years (I was in middle school at the time when he had a job and now I'm 27), pasting up and down in his room speaking out loud to someone as if arguing.

My mother is afraid and started crying today when we got him in the church and she refused him to play the keyboard for them probably cause she was scared or something. I honestly don't know whats going on.

Me.... I've always just stayed out of their way. It seems no matter what I say/do, nothing changed.


Sorry, I know I just rambled but I just wanted to hear some.... advice, or what you would do in this situation, anything.

I find myself doing similar things. I've been doing it for quite some time now, it comes out aloud at times and my family has noticed it. They were worried about me because I sit in the basement with all the lights off, completely in the dark, while having headphones in my ears just yelling at someone who's not there. From my experience, i'd say he's talking to himself, as that is what goes on when I do it. For me, this usually occurs in periods of doubt, tension and inner-self conflict.

After reading your post and everything you mentioned, I would say that he is arguing with himself, about his deteriorating, or even destroyed faith in his own religion. I base this off the following information and assumptions:

You mentioned that he is was an astute christian, who often argued against atheism on online forums in the past, it seems like he was an avid believer at that point of his life, his faith was extremely strong. I would assume that god, and religion has been a major part of his life ever since he was a child. You further mentioned that he spent a-lot of time on social media later on such as twitter and youtube. These forums have a-lot of content, and sadly, a-lot of negativity towards religion on them. I would that think after the countless hours spent arguing with people about the belief of his religion that he may have finally began to doubt himself, even a little, and that started eating away at him slowly form the inside. This doubt kept growing and growing with his constant exposure to the vast anti-religion/Christianity posts on social media, and finally manifested into a problem that led him to quit his job and enter the the state that he is in right now. At this point, he may just think that there is no god, and this is destroying him on the inside that he is even doubting the faith that has guided him all his life. I think this really fits into the information that you gave about his conversations. The conversations he has with "the person who's not there" fit the scenario of a man having problems with his shattering faith; i.e, "Is there really a heaven?" - Shut up, "What if religion is really a lie?" - You don't know what you're talking about, "Theres are many inconsistencies in this religion that I have ignored over the years" - Shut up you moron.

From my standpoint, and with the limited information that I have been given about your brother, I would think that he fits the profile of a man who has spent his life adoring his religion, a man who spent countless hours reassuring his faith in his god and the fact that this dogma will lead him to a better life in the future. And now after the many years of continuously reassuring his faith, he believes that he has wasted his entire life believing in a lie. This inner conflict about his faith may have started early on in his 30s and led to him leaving his job because he could not function properly at work while doubting his faith. It really hits hard when someone who has devoted their life to a religion begins to doubt their faith, and it can lead to periods of depression and anxiety.

I apologize in advance if I have offended you in any way with my analysis, but with the information you gave, and my own past experiences in this exact scenario, I would think it could be a logical explanation.