Father

[AngieTank]

Yesterday I met my two scottish cousins for the first time. the youngest is only 9 and was messing around a bit then my father exploded at him, grabbed his arm and forced him backwards onto me while lookin g him in the eye and shouting that he needs to grow up and that its not his house etc we were all terrified of all the things my father who is mentally ill but i don't know what with has done he has never physically hurt us. its not even like its his house we were at my grans and my cousin was just acting like a 9 year old boy should trying to annoy his sister and cousins. I feel guilty that i did nothing i was the oldest and should have protected him but i was so stunned and if i'd tried to get up he'd have been crushed between us. does anyone know what he may have?  

[mammo]

If your father is mentally ill, this may have been part of it.  It sounds like something just set him off, maybe something to do with someone in the house at the time, something that may have happened a long time ago, and he took it out on this child.  Probably had nothing to do with the child, something triggered a very angry response.  But having said this, you may want to talk to your mom about this, because it could be one of you next.  That child had to be terrified as you were, and this is not healthy for any of you.  If your mother witnessed his behavior then I hope she speaks to his doctor regarding it so that it can be prevented from happening again.  Mental illness can cause a wide range of behavior which can also change, so it's important that your mother is aware of his actions.  He may never do this again, because often mental illness can result from something that happened in the person's childhood, and his anger may have been an expression of this with seeing someone he had not seen in a long time.  You actions were correct, this was not a good time for you to have try and step in, so don't beat yourself up for this.