The Decompression Chamber

[RainyCoast]

just a few months ago an acquaintance was telling me of these fishy characters lurking in our neighborhood, parked there, he was certain they were up to no good and because he's been delusional in the past, i assumed he was paranoid again. glad i didn't say anything.

[Scoe141]

Doggos are deterrents. I'd make sure to bring him with you everywhere! Or pack some heat. Yea, pack the heat and bring doggo.

 

 

 

Stay safe!!!

[RainyCoast]

i do think so. i doubt dogwalkers in trainers picking up dog poo are interesting targets.

 

if he wasn't leashed when we pass that area though, he'd gladly run over to people to play, he very rarely avoids anyone.

 

he thinks humans are awesome somehow, bless him.

[happyfrank]

my neighborhood is becoming increasingly more dangerous. drug deals, weapons, prostitution, robberies, assaults.

 

...fishy vehicles parked in the same spot for hours, with other vehicles driving up to them and leaving after a few minutes.... i see them when i'm walking the dog in the morning, and when i get from work to walk pooch again they're still there. then comes another vehicle, same routine for the next few hours. third vehicle on my evening walk, and if i can't sleep i still see them there parked at night.

 

i woke up at 3 am, or earlier maybe, unable to fall back asleep. vehicle from last night still there as i am opening the blinds. i'm like..whatever, same old same old. i go to the kitchen to make coffee and hear screams and thuds, like someone being slammed against a car repeatedly. young lad, judging by the voice, and screaming alarmingly, like someone being beaten, thuds, thuds and screams. i try calling the cops, busy line. it dies down for a few minutes, then screams and thuds again and the car drives off. takes about ten minutes for the police to pick up the phone. i reported. i worry nothing will come of it, they drove off long ago, and the kid could've been buying drugs, owed money, or whatever, afraid to report the beating. or it could've been another passerby getting mugged again....or whatever happened...anyhow, i don't want people beaten...and right under my nose.

 

an elderly lady got mugged and beaten nearby at 5 am recently.

 

it wasn't like this here before. i mean you were smart to be careful outside, as always, but this...i'm not used to this.

 

A way to prevent this is gentrification but that will make the whole area expensive to live.

 

It's what happened around my city.

[RainyCoast]

oh dear if they level up i'll be the first to have to move my freshly-out-of-debt-zero-savings-arse outta here...into a trailer park (perhaps the pink panther rv is for sale lol). it's already a middle class area, with some upper class condo complexes nearby. the abandoned building and parking lot that draws them is right across the street from me, it used to be a huge car dealership and is currently empty. it was nicely shaded by large pines, so i think the privacy attracted them. the pines have recently been cut down, and the plot bought bought by a new business. hopefully once the bizz is up and running they'll have to find a new place.

[happyfrank]

oh dear if they level up i'll be the first to have to move my freshly-out-of-debt-zero-savings-arse outta here...into a trailer park (perhaps the pink panther rv is for sale lol). it's already a middle class area, with some upper class condo complexes nearby. the abandoned building and parking lot that draws them is right across the street from me, it used to be a huge car dealership and is currently empty. it was nicely shaded by large pines, so i think the privacy attracted them. the pines have recently been cut down, and the plot bought bought by a new business. hopefully once the bizz is up and running they'll have to find a new place.

 

 

 

That would be great. Hopefully that problem gets fixed soon.. Can you walk into police station and file a report? That will have them routinely check the block at night.

[RainyCoast]

i did, i called them and they came round my place (i'm assuming they went to check the scene) to file a report. i wouldn't have, had there not been a person harmed, i can't not report that. they were surprisingly nice, and said it was right to call them. i'm hoping they'll check. the new business has already started planting olive trees where some of the pines were, so looks like they plan to open soon.

 

had my coffee watching a crime scene. that's a first.

[Jibralta]

I saw a DIY-type program where some people purchased a building in a rundown, crime ridden part of town and painted the building outlandish colors with murals of giant flowers and rainbows and stuff like that. All of the no-good drug-dealing/drug-using/criminal tenants and neighbors moved away pretty fast because the building attracted so much attention that they couldn't do all of their naughty stuff in secret. Eventually, the whole neighborhood improved as a result!

[RainyCoast]

I saw a DIY-type program where some people purchased a building in a rundown, crime ridden part of town and painted the building outlandish colors with murals of giant flowers and rainbows and stuff like that. All of the no-good drug-dealing/drug-using/criminal tenants and neighbors moved away pretty fast because the building attracted so much attention that they couldn't do all of their naughty stuff in secret. Eventually, the whole neighborhood improved as a result!

 

 

LOL i'm imagining if it was painted pink elephants and unicorns and hello kitty and winnie the pooh, why didn't they think of that here.

[RainyCoast]

btw i just passed it and a police car is driving around the building.

[RainyCoast]

sad for people who suffer with psychoses.

 

the catch 22 of the inability to gain insight into the delusional nature of their experience makes me feel so helpless. their monsters are real to them, the threats are real to them, "i'm not paranoid, this is justified concern, why doesn't anyone see it?!", it keeps them alert and up at night and scared, the persecution is real to them, the harassment is real to them....and i can't take it away...because it is not there.

 

it's heartbreaking. especially in the beginning when they refuse meds. usually, an incident occurs where they are hospitalized and treated against their will and the process is horrible because they believe they are being unjustly perceived as ill and again, persecuted. it takes months for the brain to be able to see there was an illness at play.

 

it's so hard to keep them comfortable.

 

what a cruel illness.

[Jibralta]

I knew two schizophrenic women when I was in college. They seemed normal at first, but then their digressions became difficult to follow and I noticed that when I asked them to explain in more detail they got sort of a funny expression. I wondered if they thought I might be one of the "bad" people. But years later, I was talking to a friend who is a psychologist and he helped me to understand that that expression was probably more like, "Oh no, this person doesn't believe me, either!"

 

I'm describing it like I interacted with both women at the same time, but they were totally separate relationships. One was a studio mate; the other was my boyfriend's mom.

 

It has to be a very difficult existence.

 

Have you ever heard of Jill Bolte Taylor?

[RainyCoast]

"Oh no, this person doesn't believe me, either!"

it's that exactly. i have even received exasperated pleas..... please, please believe me this is true. when they stop elaborating you can be sure they decided to shut up before you call the psych ward. it hurts that they are scared of us ( of us "reporting them as ill when they're really not").

 

it's tough because you want them to trust, but how can they, when everyone is just pressuring them into treatment "they don't need" and meanwhile because we don't believe them (this one now is paranoid) "there is a criminal harming children on the loose" (it was actually a man who had a small kid with him and stopped to throw a plastic bag of trash into a bin at the side of the road). it's like "they don't get it, they're all so blind, they don't see the severity of this", and it must be so lonely too, on top of being torturous.

 

Have you ever heard of Jill Bolte Taylor?

i have not, i just found her on TED talk, thanks!

[RainyCoast]

i have not, i just found her on TED talk, thanks!

wow, i love this woman! thank you for this gem. amazing.

[Jibralta]

You're welcome! Yeah, she's got a really interesting story. And she went into neuroscience (as you probably now know) because her brother was schizophrenic.

[RainyCoast]

You're welcome! Yeah, she's got a really interesting story. And she went into neuroscience (as you probably now know) because her brother was schizophrenic.

yes, i actually thought...with all the love that went into the hard work of understanding him, it does not surprise me that her epiphany was one of endless divine bliss and peace. i see she has a book on her stroke of insight too, i will look for that. i can't stop feeling amazed.

[RainyCoast]

not completely unrelated...i felt emotionally stunted for a quite a while but the past few days everything i notice and encounter leaves me very emotional...in a good way. it's not my hormones either. just....somehow...everything strikes my heartstrings. i am glad i'm not a zombie after all, but i need to get off youtube (man saved 669 holocaust children, istanbul cares for it's strays, the list is endless), i'm feeling emotional enough off screen.

 

i'm not crying, you're crying!

[Jibralta]

^that happens to me sometimes.

[RainyCoast]

it's cool isn't it? "ahhh, so i'm not a sociopath!"

[RainyCoast]

aaand i just opened a random old folder and it had magritte's Heartstrings painting at the top.

 

 

[Jibralta]

it's cool isn't it? "ahhh, so i'm not a sociopath!"

 

yes, actually

[Jibralta]

Speaking of surreal, I had an odd dream this morning where my boss took me to his family's house. Part of the house was undergoing renovation. He went downstairs for something and I took that opportunity to change my clothes, more or less in the front hallway! I was literally butt naked standing in the foyer when his family came in to greet me: his daughters, their husbands, his wife, and I think even some of my coworkers. I really wanted to put my clothes on, but nobody seemed to notice and I didn't want to draw any attention to the fact that I was naked. I remember looking at myself and thinking, "Ok, I look alright. As long as I look alright, it doesn't matter that I'm naked. At least, I look ok from the front. But I'm not so sure how I look from the back." And I moved around so that I didn't turn my back to them.

 

Just thought I'd put that out there.

 

heh heh

[RainyCoast]

LOL!!!

 

"just act natural, no one will notice"

[RainyCoast]

testing because i don"t know what the ridiculous v bulletin message i am receiving is on about

[RainyCoast]

i swear it's like the sooner the OP leaves the thread, the longer the discussion continues