My brother used to hit me a lot, but my parent justifies it by his autism and schizophrenia. Was it still abuse?

By enabling the behavior, your parents are not advocating for your needs. Regardless of a mental health diagnosis, the behavior is not appropriate or acceptable. The parents have a role in providing a safe and nurturing environment for all the children under the roof. A large part of working with diagnoses such as autism and schizophrenia is by following a care plan established by a mental health provider. These types of plans can assist parents and family members towards correcting behavior while still having a safe living situation for all family members. Abuse can persist in many ways- emotionally, physically, financially, etc. Without support from your parents validating your needs and safety, it presents a harmful environment.

Yes, that is still abuse. Your brother hit you, disabilities and disorders are no excuse for mistreatment. His struggles should not give him an excuse to cause you pain. I am so sorry your parents are invalidating your experience by brushing it off on his conditions, you deserve support from them. I can empathize with your situation, my parents also invalidated my abuse experiences. However, with professional help and both of us willing to improve, they now understand that I went through pain and need support. I hope your parents will learn soon and be able to support you. Recovery from these experiences is very possible, and I wish you the best in your journey.

I am really sorry to hear that behavior that has been harmful towards you hasn't been sufficiently managed by your parents and accepted as being a part of your brother's Autism and Schizophrenia. Mental health condition, disability, or no condition at all- intervention is required in any situation that causes harm to another person. With a combination of these conditions, it seemed that seeking further support professionally may have been helpful for feeling safe. You have every right to feel safe. Any act of hitting is a form of abuse and I'm really hearing this affected you a lot (e.g. the lack of accountability). So it's very natural to feel mixed feelings. Thank you for sharing this very difficult experience with us all as I can imagine seeing a loved one suffer as well as receiving mistreatment is traumatic. Specialist sites such as Rethink Mental Illness, National Autistic Society, and NHS can help understand the various presentations of ASD. You are welcome to request emotional support from one of our listeners 1-1. You have every right to grieve, feel sadness and frustration towards what has happened. We also have a sharing circle where you can feel a sense of togetherness in a community environment.