I am in complete agreement with Chris. "Charity" may begin at "home," but it is NO gift to enable a mentally ill person by catering to their every whim.   My domestic partner of 13 years has his 31 year old schizophrenic son living in our house. He is handed money, cars, etc and given an inch, this "boy" will take a mile. I am convinced that schizophrenia is not his greatest handicap, but being a spoiled brat is. He can spend 12 hours at a time making his youtube videos about a religion he has created, as he is creator of the universe, but he can't hold a job for more than two hours. His mother does the same, although she dropped him at our door three years ago (after having him for three months) and here he remains. They give him money for food and gas that he spends on cigarettes, pot and beer. And no one bats an eyelash. I tried to at least get them to give him only grocery store and gas cards. Worked for about two months. They put no limits and no expectations on him. He lies, he steals, he manipulates to get his way. I am the only person, it seems, who has the courage to say "No," to him. And I do, and he hates me for it.   They are doing him no favors, and I've tried to explain this. One day they will both be dead, and there will be a 50 year old man who's never held a job and has no place to live. And who thinks the world owes him everything.   A few hundred dollars a month may not be much, but it comes with other benefits like housing and food stamps and  health insurance, and the possibility of truly living independently. That is absolutely not the same thing as saying that the aged of our culture don't deserve our help. No comparison.   The sad thing is that I am at my wits end. I love this man, but his catering to his son is killing our relationship. I am tired of being a second-class citizen to a lazy, spoiled brat who also happens to be schizophrenic.   I do feel for him. And I feel for the parents. It's a pickle. Hard choices must be made. But I truly believe that in the long-run it would be better to hold him accountable for at LEAST applying for benefits.   And, speaking of which, my understanding is that everyone gets denied social security/disability benefits at first. You just have to keep appealing. I also understand it takes about two years now to get it through. Don't give up.