Cesar Altieri Sayoc, the mail bomb suspect arrested Friday, has struggled for years with “a lack of comprehension of reality,” his former lawyer told CNN.

Attorney Ronald S. Lowy said Sayoc’s mother and sisters have urged him to seek medical treatment, but he has refused.

“He thinks there’s nothing wrong with him,” Lowy said shortly after meeting with the suspect’s family.

Sayoc has been estranged from the family for the past several years, Lowy said, and his mother “can’t understand his (Sayoc's) behavior or views."

Though FBI searched the mother’s home on Friday, Lowy predicted it would be “a waste of time” since Sayoc hadn’t visited the residence for at least three years.

Lowy said the closest he came to getting treatment for Sayoc was in 2004 during a drug case that involved steroids. He said he negotiated with prosecutors to have it charged as a narcotics case so his client could get court mandated-treatment.

It was not immediately clear whether he actually received such treatment.

Lowy, who said he now represents Sayoc’s mother and two sisters, said they are struggling to come to terms with the allegations.

“It’s a very emotional time for them,” he said.