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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 6 of 6. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by jjj on March 8, 2004, at 8:16:16
Hello,
I've been having a problem with my neighbor, at least I'm thinking now that it is my neighbor. I hear complaints through my thin walls from his apartment about all the noise in my apartment and about how I spend my time. I have problems with social phobia and have trouble relating to others, so I spend a lot of time at home. I use my computer for gaming and I lurk on message boards, etc... My computer is usually on for several hours a day. I think he has problems with the typing and mouse click noise. This seems totally ridiculous. Anyways, I hear things faintly through the walls. "All you do is watch videos and play computer games. All day. All night." "What the hell is wrong with you?" "What are you doing with your life?" "Why do you live here?" "You are the worst neighbor I've ever had!", etc... This isn't a once and a while thing. Last night he kept me up pretty much all night. My refridgerator is getting old and the compressor makes a bit of noise when it kicks in. So, at 4:00 am I'm hearing complaints about the refridgerator along with all the other stuff.This started a couple of months ago. It was REALLY bad, so I started taking risperdal, thinking that the neighbor's voice was a hallucination. At the time I was hearing the voice outside of my bedroom, at work, etc... I wasn't sleeping very much. The risperdal helped a lot. The voice pretty much went away, so I was convinced that I was psychotic and the medication did the trick.
Now I'm still taking risperdal, and I'm still hearing these complaints. I'm unsure if I'm really hallucinating or if my neighbor is really extremely angry at me for making too much noise.
Is it possible that I may need a higher dose of risperdal over time?There he goes right now...
I was wondering if anybody else has these types of problems. I'm thinking of going over and knocking on the guy's door. Something along the lines of "I'm not sure how much sound gets through the walls. Would you mind if I came into your apartment to listen and see how loud my television and computer are?"
I feel pretty guilty about the whole thing, but I really don't appreciate what the guy is doing (assuming that he is real). I don't want to change my behavior after he's kept me up all night. He really has no right to question how I spend my time.
Thanks for reading. I'd appreciate your thoughts on this subject.
-jjj
Posted by Simus on March 8, 2004, at 8:40:59
In reply to psychosis or psycho neighbor, posted by jjj on March 8, 2004, at 8:16:16
Get a good tape recorder and turn it on the next time you hear your neighbor's voice. This should prove if you are "hearing voices" or if you just have an obnoxious neighbor.
Posted by Camille Dumont on March 8, 2004, at 9:31:38
In reply to Re: psychosis or psycho neighbor » jjj, posted by Simus on March 8, 2004, at 8:40:59
If you're not hearing his voice outside your appartment, I second that video recorder thing. You could even record it and go play it to them as ask them whats bothering them so much.
Also, it could very well be a psycho neighbor. A few years ago, I had one who complained that the "water running through the pipes when I flushed the toilet or used the sink" was keeping her awake.
So ok maybe it makes noise but there is a limit to what a neighbor can expect. So long as your doing "normal stuff" like typing on a computer ... they can't really complain about it.
Some people are just wayyy too intolerant of noise. My psycho neighbor wanted me to not flush the toilet at night or not take a shower after midnight ... ya right! As if! Especially since I worked at night! I guess it never occured to her to get ear plugs or to move her freaking bed. Silly people.
Posted by jjj on March 8, 2004, at 12:48:56
In reply to Re: psychosis or psycho neighbor, posted by Camille Dumont on March 8, 2004, at 9:31:38
Thanks for the tips. I haven't tried a tape recorder yet. I think I'll pick one up on my way home from work today.
I've tried the following:
1. ear plugs -- still hear voices, although they're quieter
2. invited a friend over to listen -- she didn't hear anything (now she thinks I'm crazy)
3. putting my ear against the wall -- don't hear anything when I do thatThe sound is so faint I wonder if the tape recorder would pick it up... It also seems completely unreasonable for a person to complain so much about so little. So there is some noise that is bothering you, why the hell would you complain about it ALL NIGHT?
If he had knocked on my door or called me on the phone and complained, I'd be fine with it. I'm willing to setup quiet hours that are reasonable and stick to them. Instead I'm getting this passive aggresive taunting, mostly complaints about my lifestyle and not the noise. He
seems to take everything so personally, like I'm staying inside and doing stuff at home just to bug him. (of course what is he doing listening to me all day anyways...).I'm inclined to think it is voices again, because it is so unreasonable. I have heard similar things at work and such when it was really bad. Maybe it is both. I hear the real guy, then it really bothers me and I start obsessing about it and then I hear the same stuff in my head for the rest of the day.
ugg. I need some sleep.
-jjj
Posted by Camille Dumont on March 8, 2004, at 15:59:19
In reply to Re: psychosis or psycho neighbor, posted by jjj on March 8, 2004, at 12:48:56
I feel for you ... I'm stuck with something similar but its visual. Sometimes I will see things that aren't there ... and it takes me a while to realize that its not there or that I'm interpreting it wrong.
I once saw "Recycle your kids" on an add ... only to realize that it was something like "think of your kids, recycle" but it did give me a few funny mental immages.
Usually it makes so little sense that its how I know what is real and what is not (like seeing someone with a giant scarab latched onto their neck or a giant tiger on the street) although I have no way of knowing if some of the more reasonable things I see are real or not ... it can get a bit freaky.
To listen better at your neighbors, it helps if you put a glass upside down against the wall and then put your ear on teh bottom of the glass. You should normally get a much clearer sound. If its a real one that is.
Posted by jjj on March 8, 2004, at 19:52:37
In reply to Re: psychosis or psycho neighbor, posted by Camille Dumont on March 8, 2004, at 15:59:19
hmmm. Yeah, when things are really out of whack it is much easier to tell what is real or not. Everything that is happening seems somewhat strange, but it isn't something totally out of reality. It could be happening, but it seems unlikely. If the voice was crazy and giggling or something, or if it knew too much information, I'd know that it wasn't real. But it is so believable. It really seems like my neighbor is quite upset with me.
I tried the tape recorder and glass on the wall. Nothing as far as I can tell. With the glass on the wall, I hear the voices the same as without it. No changes. With the tape, I heard white noise. I turned the volume up a lot and thought I heard stuff. But if I'd rewind I wouldn't hear it the same the second time. I think I'm just picking up patterns in the ambient noises around me and interpreting them the wrong way.
At least I know not to go knock on my neighbor's door or anything...
-jjj
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