Brother’s temper often flares up

Dear Abby: A year ago, my brother “Leon” had a nervous breakdown at work due to a co-worker constantly harassing him. He’s currently under the care of a therapist through his workplace and has not worked for a year.

Recently, at a family get-together, I asked him a question about his current situation. He became angry and very emotional. He accused me of “not listening” and went through the process of re-describing in detail how the co-worker harassed him. He then became confrontational, as if I were on trial. His adult daughter kept her head down, until she finally told her father that I only asked him the question because I loved him and was concerned for him. My niece and her sister both tried to de-escalate the situation, but were unsuccessful.

After he was done with his tirade, he proceeded to harass and belittle ME! At that point, I got up and told my husband privately that I wanted to leave, which we did. This isn’t the first time my brother has behaved this way at a family gettogether. He acted out toward family members long before the incident at his workplace.

How do I handle this in the future and still have fun with my family?

Dear Line of Fire: It appears your brother is not progressing well with his therapy, which is sad. Because you are no longer willing to tolerate his abuse, a logical answer would be to see your relatives in situations where he isn’t included. Consider doing some entertaining on your own, because in that way, you can control the guest list.