Has anyone heard of “gang stalking”?

[Not at the table Karlos]

My friends brother has been acting strange for a few weeks. Especially while in public. He tries to keep himself covered up or hidden as much as he can. He double tinted the windows on his car. Covered all the windows in his house so you can’t see in or out. He mentioned to his cousin that he was being “gang stalked” and to look it up. He’s lost his job and relationship during this time and seems to blame everything on these “gang stalkers”. It doesn’t make sense why a groups of people would do the things he’s saying. 
 

We looked it up and it seems like it’s caused by paranoia from drugs but there’s people claiming it’s an actual thing. I got attacked and banned when questioning it on Reddit.  His parents asked him to take an at home drug test and see a counselor. He passed the test but they’re not the most accurate and the counselor seemed to think he was normal but there’s times he is normal and then a switch flips. I think the counselor was before we knew he thought he was being gang stalked so idk if it was brought up. 
 

Nobody is quite sure how to proceed. 

[Augie]

I have never heard that term before, but I hope he keeps up with counseling. Our son went thru years of counseling, and the top layer of the onion doesn’t tell you much. You never know what you might learn if you stay with it.  You also never know what is mental health and what is a real threat, or how much of each. 

 

P.S. - At home drug tests are not hard to get around. The best route is testing hair, but our son’s hair was very short so they had to pluck it from his armpit. He did not enjoy that at all, but it was court ordered to maintain custody of his son. Small price to pay. 

[DrDawkinstein]

21 minutes ago, Not at the table Karlos said:

My friends brother has been acting strange for a few weeks. Especially while in public. He tries to keep himself covered up or hidden as much as he can. He double tinted the windows on his car. Covered all the windows in his house so you can’t see in or out. He mentioned to his cousin that he was being “gang stalked” and to look it up. He’s lost his job and relationship during this time and seems to blame everything on these “gang stalkers”. It doesn’t make sense why a groups of people would do the things he’s saying. 
 

We looked it up and it seems like it’s caused by paranoia from drugs but there’s people claiming it’s an actual thing. I got attacked and banned when questioning it on Reddit.  His parents asked him to take an at home drug test and see a counselor. He passed the test but they’re not the most accurate and the counselor seemed to think he was normal but there’s times he is normal and then a switch flips. I think the counselor was before we knew he thought he was being gang stalked so idk if it was brought up. 
 

Nobody is quite sure how to proceed. 

 

Havent heard of this before, but this sounds a lot like some mental health issues rearing their head. More so than drugs or anything else even.

 

How old is he?

 

Weird that he told you to "look it up" because when I google it, all that comes up are articles connecting it to "Persecutory delusion" and mental health issues.

 

The guy needs help.

[Not at the table Karlos]

23 minutes ago, DrDawkinstein said:

 

Havent heard of this before, but this sounds a lot like some mental health issues rearing their head. More so than drugs or anything else even.

 

How old is he?

 

Weird that he told you to "look it up" because when I google it, all that comes up are articles connecting it to "Persecutory delusion" and mental health issues.

 

The guy needs help.

35 I believe. Yeah same thing. When I googled it, pretty much all that came up was delusions.  
 

Any ideas on how to get him to seek help? He seems to truly believe these things are happening. 
 

I just talked to one of his family members that talked to him and what they described to me sounded like breaking bad when Jesse was hallucinating the bikers coming to kill him. What makes us think drugs. One of the forums mentioned meth as well. 

Edited January 31 by Not at the table Karlos

[DrDawkinstein]

7 minutes ago, Not at the table Karlos said:

35 I believe. Yeah same thing. When I googled it, pretty much all that came up was delusions.  
 

Any ideas on how to get him to seek help? He seems to truly believe these things are happening. 
 

I just talked to one of his family members that talked to him and what they described to me sounded like breaking bad when Jesse was hallucinating the bikers coming to kill him. What makes us think drugs. One of the forums mentioned meth as well. 

 

I think the family needs to start looking into the process of Involuntary Commitment. The specifics can change state to state I believe. Google the 5150 and 5250 codes too.

 

At this point, its a waste of time trying to determine whether it is drugs or mental health. It doesnt really matter while he is still out on his own. The priority should be getting him into ANY type of assistance facility, and let them figure it out from there. Regardless of the cause, he needs help.

[Augie]

14 minutes ago, Not at the table Karlos said:

35 I believe. Yeah same thing. When I googled it, pretty much all that came up was delusions.  
 

Any ideas on how to get him to seek help? He seems to truly believe these things are happening. 
 

I just talked to one of his family members that talked to him and what they described to me sounded like breaking bad when Jesse was hallucinating the bikers coming to kill him. What makes us think drugs. One of the forums mentioned meth as well. 

 

So, was this brand new a few weeks ago, or did it just get worse? Was he “normal” before?  Does he seem to be a danger to himself or others? 

 

We’ve dealt with a lot of mental health stuff, and there are always far more questions than answers, unfortunately. 

 

 

.

Edited January 31 by Augie

[teef]

3 minutes ago, DrDawkinstein said:

 

I think the family needs to start looking into the process of Involuntary Commitment. The specifics can change state to state I believe. Google the 5150 and 5250 codes too.

 

At this point, its a waste of time trying to determine whether it is drugs or mental health. It doesnt really matter while he is still out on his own. The priority should be getting him into ANY type of assistance facility, and let them figure it out from there. Regardless of the cause, he needs help.

doesn't involuntary commitment only come when someone is a potential harm to themselves/others?  i'm not sure if here's there yet, but this is the first time i was made aware of any of this.

 

[DrDawkinstein]

Just now, teef said:

doesn't involuntary commitment only come when someone is a potential harm to themselves/others?  i'm not sure if here's there yet, but this is the first time i was made aware of any of this.

 

 

I am lucky enough to not be too familiar with the specifics. But it was the only thing I could think of to point the family to. Maybe they'll find another option when looking into it.

[teef]

2 minutes ago, DrDawkinstein said:

 

I am lucky enough to not be too familiar with the specifics. But it was the only thing I could think of to point the family to. Maybe they'll find another option when looking into it.

i'm there with ya.  i would have no idea how to manage a family member with possible delusions.  

[Not at the table Karlos]

13 minutes ago, Augie said:

 

So, was this brand new a few weeks ago, or did it just get worse? Was he “normal” before?  Does he seem to be a danger to himself or others? 

 

We’ve dealt with a lot of mental health stuff, and there are always far more questions than answers, unfortunately. 

 

 

.

Im not sure how long it’s been happening for. I saw him about a year ago and he seemed fine. 

[loyal2dagame]

I'm not sure that K-2 synthetic Marijuana would show up on an at home drug test,  but smoking it is known to cause delusions and paranoia. I've dealt with and seen some bizarre things from people that have used that crap. 

[Augie]

1 minute ago, Not at the table Karlos said:

Im not sure how long it’s been happening for. I saw him about a year ago and he seemed fine. 

 

It’s probably a little like watching your kids grow. They change so slowly that if you are with them every day there isn’t much to notice. But if it’s weeks or months it’s more likely to jump out at you. 

3 minutes ago, loyal2dagame said:

I'm not sure that K-2 synthetic Marijuana would show up on an at home drug test,  but smoking it is known to cause delusions and paranoia. I've dealt with and seen some bizarre things from people that have used that crap. 

 

Ahh, excellent point! I have a buddy whose son used that in high school. I mean, an ambulance was called for this kid he was with after they smoked that stuff at lunch. That was not the first or only time, but it did present some super bizarre mental issues. 

[Not at the table Karlos]

43 minutes ago, loyal2dagame said:

I'm not sure that K-2 synthetic Marijuana would show up on an at home drug test,  but smoking it is known to cause delusions and paranoia. I've dealt with and seen some bizarre things from people that have used that crap. 

I know he’s smoked weed in the past. Stopped for a new job around the time I last saw him. This is definitely a possibility we haven’t considered. 

[Fleezoid]

[Augie]

26 minutes ago, Not at the table Karlos said:

I know he’s smoked weed in the past. Stopped for a new job around the time I last saw him. This is definitely a possibility we haven’t considered. 

 

Yep, look at the timing. He may have gone synthetic to get past testing, and have no idea what effect it’s having on him.  My buddy whose kid had experience with it said it can be really bad. 

 

 

.

Edited January 31 by Augie

[DrDawkinstein]

26 minutes ago, Not at the table Karlos said:

I know he’s smoked weed in the past. Stopped for a new job around the time I last saw him. This is definitely a possibility we haven’t considered. 

 

Doesnt matter. Let the doctors figure it out.

[Augie]

1 minute ago, DrDawkinstein said:

 

Doesnt matter. Let the doctors figure it out.

 

But he’s got to be willing. That is the hard part. 

[Not at the table Karlos]

1 hour ago, teef said:

i'm there with ya.  i would have no idea how to manage a family member with possible delusions.  

My Dad has similar issues as my friends brother due to an assault when he was younger causing brain damage. Any time we would try to get him help he’d act normal for the time he was at the facility. When he’d get out it was right back to the delusions. He lost it on me one day when I helped him pay a bill a few years ago saying the president tried to kill me at the blvd mall when I was a baby and he’s the only one able to protect me. He disappeared after that. He will comment on quora from time to time. Only way I know he’s still alive. 

[teef]

7 minutes ago, Not at the table Karlos said:

My Dad has similar issues as my friends brother due to an assault when he was younger causing brain damage. Any time we would try to get him help he’d act normal for the time he was at the facility. When he’d get out it was right back to the delusions. He lost it on me one day when I helped him pay a bill a few years ago saying the president tried to kill me at the blvd mall when I was a baby and he’s the only one able to protect me. He disappeared after that. He will comment on quora from time to time. Only way I know he’s still alive. 

ehhh.  stories like this are really sad.  

[Nextmanup]

2 hours ago, DrDawkinstein said:

 

Havent heard of this before, but this sounds a lot like some mental health issues rearing their head. More so than drugs or anything else even.

 

How old is he?

 

Weird that he told you to "look it up" because when I google it, all that comes up are articles connecting it to "Persecutory delusion" and mental health issues.

 

The guy needs help.

This is my guess as well, though I'm not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV.