my neighbour has schizophrenia, and apparently hasn't been taking her meds for the past few months. i feel very very uncomfortable at home these days. last night, she was heard screaming from midnight until 6am from her room, in the hallway, slamming her door, etc. this has happened before, and i can never sleep through it. When i exit my building, i walk by her room, and i can sometimes see that her door is just slightly open, and stares at me. sometimes she'll startle me by yelling odd noises. i hate feeling like this at my own home. it's gradually becoming more and more of an issue.
does anyone have any advice for me? i've done a bit of research on schizophrenia, and i understand that she is not likely to commit acts of violence, but i can't help but feel tense everytime i come into my building, or hear someone walk outside my door.
i try to be friendly and say 'hi' to her when i see her. sometimes she'll be friendly and say hi back to me. other times she gives me a blank stare. i guess that depends on her mind state. should i try talking to her? if so, how? somehow i doubt this will have any effect though.
please help.
-huma126
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If so maybe you should speak to the landlord about the situation and see if they can offer a solution.
I lived with a paranoid schizophrenic person who often quit taking his meds so I do know some of what you are saying and if you have read up on it you know that some people are paranoid. Some hear voices, etc.
I do not know your neighbor's state of mind but I do not think it would be a good idea to approach them by yourself. Sometimes when they are not taking their meds they tend to lose a grip with reality.
If they are paranoid they may think you have come to harm them in some way so best to speak to the landlord first.
If there is not a landlord to speak to maybe you should call the local police department and ask if they have any contacts that could approach the person in your building so they can get the help they need.
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i suppose i should call the police the next time this happens.
thank you.
if anyone else has any other advice, it'd be highly appreciated.
-scott
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You or your landlord might try to contact a social service group.
Most counties have their own agency to take care of mentally handicapped people. Try the yellow pages.
One more comment I would like to make...I live in Indiana and of course all states have different laws, but in this state if someone is found to be harmful to others or to themselves the police will send them to a mental hospital for 48-72 hours (sounds like if your neighbor has quit taking meds they may be harmfull to themslef or others!).
If you know how to contact an agency in your area you may want to call the police department for information on what to do...you should not have to wait until your neighbor does something.
Best of luck to you.
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DO NOT APPROACH HER. The best thing you can do is totally avoid her. If you pass her in the hall, DO NOT EVEN LOOK AT HER. Look down and do not make eye contact.
Your neighbor needs professional help, and she needs to get her medications regulated again. Social Services, Adult Social Services, should be contacted and requested to "check on her status". They have a legal responsibility to follow up on all calls concerning mentally ill people. If they determine, thru their professional evaluation, that she needs emergency care, they can take the next steps to get her into a hospital facility.
In the meantime....you might want to start looking for another place to live.
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Schizophrenics vary in terms of what threat they pose to you. be careful. she may see you as a threat and act violently. stop it with the poor thing c**p. a schizophrenic attacked my mother because a voice told him she was dangerous. he beat her very badly. they should be removed from society if they dont take meds.
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If you can move. If not make an appointment to see your local member and demand shes places elsewhere.
Good luck
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I wish I could help you because I have a neighbor with the same disorder. She was out in 23 degree temps chopping ice at 1:30 a.m. with a broken foot and didn't seem to think that was wrong. She's disrupting our entire neighborhood, kids that go to school, people that have to work. She's self centered and also yells at you if she's irritated but it doesn't matter that she irritates others. Contact her family and ask them to call her doctor and let them know of your concerns. That's what I had to do - the police won't even come out to try to talk to her so they're useless. She needs to be medicated and/or committed but family or a doctor are probably the only ones that can do so. Hope this helps a bit. PS - Ignorance is Bliss - try to ignore her.
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Your neighbor can work in her yard or house whenever she want's to! It her house and it's her yard.
She should be praised that she is doing her own yardwork and housework, instead of not doing any work around the house at all, ever.
At least she is not out destroying other people's property or trying to kill them. So give her a break and let her be!
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To be honest as a person with severe Schizophrenia myself I can assure you that handling the situation in any way mentioned here will most likely only serve to make her condition worse, and she may even become a threat to you. Let me put it to you like this...from someone with somewhat a shared perspective as your neighbor. She may already be a bit paranoid regarding you and your landlord if your landlord has made frequent attempts to evict her, or has made it know that she plans to evict her. If you have been talking with your landlord, and the walls are thin it's quite possible depending on which senses her schizophrenia enhances she could have heard you two talking..and to the worst fears feeding into any paranoid delusion it was about her..and about doing something 'bad' to her. Now, when you post on the internet and have people who do not understand the disease telling you to try and evict her, call the police, have her sent away....if you do these things, and she comes home (which 99% of the time is what happens after someone has us taken away to the facility) she is for SURE going to be paranoid of you, your landlord, and probably everyone else in the building. If you would like to handle this properly I would say contact her family, in a polite manner, if you know the details; or request your landlord contact her emergency contact number. See if they can help her, and help her feel better about taking her medications. Then, when she is in remission, befriend her. If you are serious about wanting to remain in your building shouldn't you make friends with your neighbors anyway? If she trusts you, if you honestly make an effort to be her friend and not just for self serving reasons, you may be able to help her with taking her medications if she comes off of them again...which helps someone with a disease (more on that in a second), and helps you have a peaceful building...not to mention you could make a new friend. Now, onto responding to the other posters here. I'm sorry that we are inconvenient for you, but we are human beings with a disease. No different that diabetes, cancer, etc. It's a chronic illness, and will never go away. Most of us are NOT (contrary to the popular stigma) violent people. We are sick people, and usually because of our condition (and assholes like most of you) we have quite a distaste for other people. Do we do crazy things? Yes...we are crazy; but, you can not (at least and continue to call yourself a decent, well thought, human being) simply say "oh, throw them in the hospital. They are annoying me." We have a right to make a go at a normal life just as any of you do. So, I guess...I should call the authorities every time someone coughs without covering their mouth..because to be honest that has more chance of hurting me than a schizophrenic off their medications.
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I do confess some good sleep would be appreciated.
A nice realistic permanent solution better still.
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