How can help my brother

[Somethingsosimple]

My my dear brother has had several bad episodes of depression in his life. Each time medication as helped him recover. He has taken a new very responsible job and he is struggling. He won’t talk about it but his girlfriend has confined in me that he is getting worse and worse and will not seek help. He is not sleeping , drinking most evenings and is clearly very depressed and says he has never felt so ill. He has an infected toe which he refuses to get looked at and I think he is being very self destructive. I’m not supposed to know all this but my brothers girlfriend is clearly very worried about him but doesn’t know how to help him. She is has begged him to go to the GP but he won’t. I am worried that if I try and talk to him it will make it worse as he is very paranoid that everyone is talking about him.

So he's not on meds at the moment? It sounds like the work stress is the trigger? Would reassuring him that a trip to the GP is confidential help? Reminding him that meds have helped in the past?

Are his new responsibilities clearly defined at work? Does he have clear objectives? Are there things that can be renegotiated or pushed back time wise? Does he have a confidential helpline through work?

Can the gf convince him to go to A&E this weekend for the infected toe?

Maybe his girlfriend could remind him that he is in a position right now to be in charge. He can decide where/what doctor will treat the infected toe. He can decide where/what doctor will discuss his depression & stress and possible medication and/or other therapy.

But when the infection gets even more serious, when the depression becomes more severe (either of which could happen quickly), most of the decisions regarding his care will be made by someone else.