Mentally Ill /Dangerous People

[harllee]

Sure is a lot of Hoplophobia in this thread.

OP here. I had to look up Hoplophobia. I don't think i have a fear of guns, grew up in the country and everyone owned hunting guns and hunted. But I do have a fear of a gun in the hands of a person I think is mentally ill.

Anyway I guess I took the coward's way out and sold the house and moved away from the bully and I have never seen or heard from him again. But I will feel guilty that I did not do anything if I read in the paper that this person shot someone.

 

[ER Eddie]

Fwiw, the criterion professionals use is "reasonable suspicion." That is, if you have a reasonable suspicion that someone may hurt themselves or others, you report. "Reasonable suspicion" doesn't mean gut feeling or "he seems creepy," but behavioral observations that are linked to a risk of violence/abuse/suicide/whatever. In particular, this includes verbal statements about intent to harm. It would include other things as well, such as previous violence, ready access to means, etc. If you have enough of that to add up to a "reasonable suspicion," you would call the police and report your concerns.

 

[Rianne]

Many serial killers and sociopaths are engaging and charismatic. I'd rather know an A_hole who is up front about their feelings, even if they are opposite of mine or disgusting to me.

My uncle was handsome, funny, very charismatic and upper middle class. He did so many awful things in secret. I found out about several of them as I got older. As family members who knew of these things got the courage to talk about them, I realized he was a criminal but knew how to hide it. Mental illness? I'm more afraid of people like him than what society calls mentally ill. The wolf in sheeps clothing comes to mind.

 

[MRG]

OP here. I had to look up Hoplophobia. I don't think i have a fear of guns, grew up in the country and everyone owned hunting guns and hunted. But I do have a fear of a gun in the hands of a person I think is mentally ill.

Anyway I guess I took the coward's way out and sold the house and moved away from the bully and I have never seen or heard from him again. But I will feel guilty that I did not do anything if I read in the paper that this person shot someone.

I did too. It comes from a person who I only know from their writing and find him interesting. Personally I'm not afraid of firearms, we own a few. I'm afraid of folks who are unstable and angry.

Before DW and I were married, all of 17 when this occurred, we were out in the boonies of PA at night when 6-8 drunken kids found us. For the next couple of hours they held us captive and terrorized us. Their stated goal was to kill me and rape her. They couldn't figure out how to open my hood as the car had been in a minor accident and the linkage was broken. Smashed out my lights and kept trying to break through the windows.

Finally one carload left, to get tools or weapons? When that happened I could pull out following the first car(I'll never forget the look on the kids face who was dancing on my hood with a big rock in his hands as I took off) . Fortunately my broken lights were an advantage as I passed them on dirt roads out in nowhereville. We drove to a house with lights and called the state police. I actually identified two of them based on their vehicles and did receive 50% restitution, 50% were minors and I have no idea what happened to them.

Point is, firearms or not, alchohol or not, sometimes crazy comes to you.

 

[Marita40]

The most volatile people I have ever encountered are drivers. I have learned never to make eye contact and never to act aggressively in response to their aggression.

Anytime I encounter anyone who seems angry or potentially violent, I quickly distance myself as far away as possible. I never interact with them if I can possibly help it.

 

[JoeWras]

The most volatile people I have ever encountered are drivers. I have learned never to make eye contact and never to act aggressively in response to their aggression.

Anytime I encounter anyone who seems angry or potentially violent, I quickly distance myself as far away as possible. I never interact with them if I can possibly help it.

+1

Saw my first serious road rage incident in many years a few weeks ago while boxed into the metering lanes in the on-ramp of an expressway. Two drivers next to me were going at it with f-bombs, blood red faces and every possible gesture known to every culture. I was afraid if the guns came out, I could be collateral damage. Came very close to ducking for cover.

I couldn't distance myself because we were boxed in. And yes, there was also the possibility of one them using their car as a weapon and a few of us being collateral that way. No gun necessary.

 

[Winemaker]

For example, during the 2008 recession we bought a foreclosure in a very nice neighborhood with very large lots at a bargain price. It was run down and needed a lot of repairs. We had all the repairs done and moved into the house. Soon after moving in we were accosted on the street by a neighbor who accused us of bringing down the prices of the neighborhood because we bought the house at a bargain price.

When DS and his wife purchased a "short sale" several years ago, the bank offered up the difference on paper as goodwill, in order to keep the sale price close to the appraised value. The reason being, if you bought the house for say $50,000 under appraised value, then everyone in the area with similar houses would lose $50,000 in value and put everyone "underwater". This would then recreate more chaos in the market, and the banks would lose further.

He was probably ticked because he underbid you, and lost.

As for harmful deranged citizens, that is why I have a concealed carry permit for most states in US. I'd rather be judged by 12, than carried by 6. YMMV

 

[workburnout]

There are so many all around - anywhere you go.

My neighbor is an ex-cop who was fired from several departments for making racist comments, among other reasons. He has a collection of guns he brags about. My other neighbors have made comments about how they expect he might wind up in the news after going crazy shooting someone. He loves to talk negatively about others, especially anyone who is not white like him. Said he moved here due to too many blacks in his past neighborhood.

He moved in next to me with his family a few months after I bought my house. This was 12 yrs ago. There are a few blacks but it's 95 percent white, in this neighborhood - so he's ok with that.

I do my best to ignore him. He sits on his front porch staring at whoever goes by, and unfortunately my driveway is right in his line of sight.

Before I realized how racist and negative he was, I got him a job in outside sales for my company. He was later fired for lack of production - though I'm sure his racist comments were heard when he visited the office/warehouse in town - and expedited his firing. This was several years ago.

He badmouths the company where I work to this day - to all my neighbors and anyone who will listen - he's still bitter they fired him - though luckily he has said he does not blame me.

What's funny is it's a Jewish run/owned company and if he knew that I'm sure he'd have more racist comments to say. He never realized it since he didn't do much research on it.

Sad he is raising a teenage daughter who hears his comments.

Anyway I think there are crazy people everywhere.

My own sister is a sociopath, though not in a violent way. She's liberal and not racist, she's crazy but not in the same way as my neighbor.

So many people have serious issues.

Some who hide it really well turn out to be in the nightly news having killed someone.

All this is why I chose not to have kids of my own. I do not want to bring more people into the world, to be subjected to the craziness that's all around us. Not worth it.

Now in the case of an accidental pregnancy like some family members have had, I don't blame them or others in similar situations for having kids. But I would never purposely try to have kids, despite the fact I like them - and would be a good parent if I had to.

It is too bad the world is full of so many bad people. There are some good ones but way more bad than most people want to realize.

I'm sure so many people have done bad things and not been caught. Think of all the unsolved crimes. Murders, even.
There are killers walking around, never caught, that we see at the grocery store.

I had a cousin, teenager, who was shot and killed by a child predator. He is in jail now, after 30 plus years, but he almost was not ever caught.

Humans are the worst species, if you think about it, what other animal has serial killers who kill for sport?

It's a crazy world, for sure.

 

[travelover]

There are so many all around - anywhere you go.

My neighbor is an ex-cop who was fired from several departments for making racist comments, among other reasons. He has a collection of guns he brags about. My other neighbors have made comments about how they expect he might wind up in the news after going crazy shooting someone. He loves to talk negatively about others, especially anyone who is not white like him. Said he moved here due to too many blacks in his past neighborhood.

He moved in next to me with his family a few months after I bought my house. This was 12 yrs ago. There are a few blacks but it's 95 percent white, in this neighborhood - so he's ok with that.

I do my best to ignore him. He sits on his front porch staring at whoever goes by, and unfortunately my driveway is right in his line of sight.

Before I realized how racist and negative he was, I got him a job in outside sales for my company. He was later fired for lack of production - though I'm sure his racist comments were heard when he visited the office/warehouse in town - and expedited his firing. This was several years ago.

He badmouths the company where I work to this day - to all my neighbors and anyone who will listen - he's still bitter they fired him - though luckily he has said he does not blame me.

What's funny is it's a Jewish run/owned company and if he knew that I'm sure he'd have more racist comments to say. He never realized it since he didn't do much research on it.

Sad he is raising a teenage daughter who hears his comments.

Anyway I think there are crazy people everywhere.

My own sister is a sociopath, though not in a violent way. She's liberal and not racist, she's crazy but not in the same way as my neighbor.

So many people have serious issues.

Some who hide it really well turn out to be in the nightly news having killed someone.

All this is why I chose not to have kids of my own. I do not want to bring more people into the world, to be subjected to the craziness that's all around us. Not worth it.

Now in the case of an accidental pregnancy like some family members have had, I don't blame them or others in similar situations for having kids. But I would never purposely try to have kids, despite the fact I like them - and would be a good parent if I had to.

It is too bad the world is full of so many bad people. There are some good ones but way more bad than most people want to realize.

I'm sure so many people have done bad things and not been caught. Think of all the unsolved crimes. Murders, even.
There are killers walking around, never caught, that we see at the grocery store.

I had a cousin, teenager, who was shot and killed by a child predator. He is in jail now, after 30 plus years, but he almost was not ever caught.

Humans are the worst species, if you think about it, what other animal has serial killers who kill for sport?

It's a crazy world, for sure.

You are right. There are a lot of crazy people out there.

 

[MRG]

You are right. There are a lot of crazy people out there.

Yes there are. On the floor of 200 co-w*rkers doing systems development w*rk, two of them were murdered. These were just regular people who didn't have high risk factors.

 

[Helena]

OP here. I had to look up Hoplophobia.

I had to look it up too... but then, I live in open carry Texas.

My personal favorite, AR-15, which is easy for a woman to shoot.

 

[Helena]

You are right. There are a lot of crazy people out there.

What some might call "crazy"... others might call "well informed."

Since police are on the front lines and see it happening first hand, they are usually better informed than the rest of us who get news filtered by the media.

 

[Brat]

Some of those 'hidden' bad actors may be called to account through some very fascinating use of publicly available DNA.

 

[Oz investor]

*** Humans are the worst species, if you think about it, what other animal has serial killers who kill for sport? ***

bored house cats kill for sport ( but usually not their own species )

and rats will eat their own colleagues in high stress situations

maybe societies and cities are reaching critical mass

 

[MRG]

*** Humans are the worst species, if you think about it, what other animal has serial killers who kill for sport? ***

bored house cats kill for sport ( but usually not their own species )

and rats will eat their own colleagues in high stress situations

maybe societies and cities are reaching critical mass

Hogs eat their young.

 

[candrew]

The most volatile people I have ever encountered are drivers. I have learned never to make eye contact and never to act aggressively in response to their aggression.

Anytime I encounter anyone who seems angry or potentially violent, I quickly distance myself as far away as possible. I never interact with them if I can possibly help it.

+1

It used be back in the day, 40 or so years ago, road rage consisted of drivers giving each other the finger and that was the end of it.

Not so today. Those sorts of disputes too often end up being settled with firearms.

 

[brewer12345]

The actually mentally ill seem more likely to **** up their own lives than anyone else's. We have had a family friend who has been badly manic-depressive for decades. SiL has all kinds of mental health issues. At no time do I believe they were any risk to anyone but themselves.


Now the actual *bugfunk* crazy are another matter. The 17 YO kid across the street had a nutjob box him in and accost him at a traffic light and smash his driver's side window, for example. Other than avoidance, generally all you can do is defend yourself. The police typically have little if any legal ability to do squat until after the crime has been committed. If you are in your car and someone wants to throw down, remember you are in a multi-thousand pound vehicle: it is wrecking ball time. Otherwise, pick your neighborhood carefully, make yourself a difficult target, and be prepared to repel boarders. If you are insane enough to ignore the three dogs in my house who at the very least will be making a LOT of noise and one of which would happily take 50 cents of hamburger out of any attacker's hind quarters, I am prepared to back it up with lethal force in a state with "make my day" laws. I don't ever want to be in a situation like that, so I live in a milquetoast suburb and take pains to be friendly with the neighbors.

 

[eytonxav]

I think there have always been unhinged people, but they do seem to show themselves more frequently in this day and age. As others mentioned, document your encounters and speak to the police to at least make them aware. As much as I would like to confront these bullies, that is the worst thing one can do, so avoid that at all costs.

 

[USGrant1962]

I think there have always been unhinged people, but they do seem to show themselves more frequently in this day and age. As others mentioned, document your encounters and speak to the police to at least make them aware. As much as I would like to confront these bullies, that is the worst thing one can do, so avoid that at all costs.

I suspect thar “show themselves more frequently” is a media artifact.

 

[braumeister]

The 17 YO kid across the street had a nutjob box him in and accost him at a traffic light and smash his driver's side window

I have a small canister of OC spray in the console of my car for such events.
Once, some years ago, I actually had to display it, which was enough to make the person back off. With luck, I'll never have to actually use it, but it's comforting to know it's there. You really don't want to be hit with that stuff.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

Unfortunately it is getting worse, people get desperate when they are uncertain of how they re going to pay their bills and put food on the table. I am not sure they are mentally ill, but they are certainly easily angered. in the recession a lot of people were upside down on their homes with no means of recovery.

Our solution was to buy into a more affluent neighborhood (at the low end) and all our neighbors are very cordial and do not have issue paying their bills.

[mod edit]

 

[ERD50]

Statistically, people who are clinically mentally ill are far more likely to be victims of crime as opposed to perpetrators. ....

That may be true (I didn't look it up), but does it matter (from the standpoint of our own personal safety, it certainly matters to the mentally ill)?

For illustration, let's say the clinically mentally ill are 100x more likely to be victims of crime than the average population. But what if they are also 10x more likely to be a source of crime against the average population? That means that on average, I should be 10x more wary of the mentally ill.

Reminds me of a few years back I was on the Rapid Transit with DW in Chicago, a safe area of the city, broad daylight. Car was pretty full, but there was one guy, appeared homeless, appeared drunk, and talking to himself. Everyone tried to keep their distance but it was tight, and then he started getting "in the face" of two women in business attire. They moved to another car.

This guy may have been clinically mentally ill, and not just drunk (or 'self-medicating' with Budweiser). You are honestly going to tell me that I shouldn't be more wary of this guy than the two business women, or the other people on the car minding their own business?

Nope, I got some street smarts, even though I came from the farm. I keep my guard up, and watch for this. I don't care if the person approaching me is black, white, brown or green - I look for signs that they are minding their own business, and have some business in mind, and not looking for trouble or just hanging around. I could be wrong, but better to err on the side of caution and avoid anyone who looks "shady".

-ERD50

 

[Major Tom]

It used be back in the day, 40 or so years ago, road rage consisted of drivers giving each other the finger and that was the end of it.

Aaah, the good old days, when folk gave each other the finger. We were so neighborly and genteel back then

 

[easysurfer]

Many serial killers and sociopaths are engaging and charismatic. I'd rather know an A_hole who is up front about their feelings, even if they are opposite of mine or disgusting to me.

My uncle was handsome, funny, very charismatic and upper middle class. He did so many awful things in secret. I found out about several of them as I got older. As family members who knew of these things got the courage to talk about them, I realized he was a criminal but knew how to hide it. Mental illness? I'm more afraid of people like him than what society calls mentally ill. The wolf in sheeps clothing comes to mind.

+1

What was taught when I was in grade school about stranger danger doesn't always hold true. We might expect folks that are mentally ill/dangerous to outwardly show signs, but that isn't always the case.

Of course, an example about serial killers is Ted Bundy. Charming on the outside. I remember attending a meeting for some volunteer work I used to do and a guest speaker came in. Forget why, but the topic of crimes and serial killers came up. The speaker said like, you never know, folks like Jeffery Dahmer aren't easily spotted but could be someone who appears like your neighbor.

 

[Brat]

Sociopaths often hide their proclivities until they find a victim.