Has anyone heard of “gang stalking”?

[Bill from NYC]

2 hours ago, 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.

 

It is extremely hard to get.

 

I remember a case of an 85 year old man in a rather wealthy neighborhood. His wife died and he lived alone. He started having all night parties with prostitutes, drug users, and probably drug sellers. His kids took him to court and the judge refused to have him committed. He told the judge that his kids just wanted his money. The neighbors (one of which was his goddaughter) were furious. 

 

I left before the case was (if ever) resolved. 

3 hours 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. 

He sounds as if he is in dire need of therapy, hospitalization, medication, or any combination of the three. I explained in a post above that involuntary hospitalization is extremely difficult to obtain. 

 

I wish good luck to all involved.

Edited January 31 by Bill from NYC

[LeviF]

Involuntary commitment depends on the state. Ordinarily very difficult to obtain, as Bill mentioned above. In NYS, for instance, involuntary commitments are governed by the mental hygiene law and for a police officer to initiate an involuntary commitment the standard is "appears to be mentally ill and is conducting himself or herself in a manner which is likely to result in serious harm to the person or others."

 

If I had to guess based on similar things I've seen in my work history your friend's brother is suffering from some kind of psychosis. Most folks in that situation never hurt themselves or anyone else but tend to have a hard time supporting themselves as they continue to decompensate. 

[teef]

5 minutes ago, LeviF said:

Involuntary commitment depends on the state. Ordinarily very difficult to obtain, as Bill mentioned above. In NYS, for instance, involuntary commitments are governed by the mental hygiene law and for a police officer to initiate an involuntary commitment the standard is "appears to be mentally ill and is conducting himself or herself in a manner which is likely to result in serious harm to the person or others."

 

If I had to guess based on similar things I've seen in my work history your friend's brother is suffering from some kind of psychosis. Most folks in that situation never hurt themselves or anyone else but tend to have a hard time supporting themselves as they continue to decompensate. 

i'm willing to be this makes up a sizable portion of the homeless community.  

[Not at the table Karlos]

8 minutes ago, LeviF said:

Involuntary commitment depends on the state. Ordinarily very difficult to obtain, as Bill mentioned above. In NYS, for instance, involuntary commitments are governed by the mental hygiene law and for a police officer to initiate an involuntary commitment the standard is "appears to be mentally ill and is conducting himself or herself in a manner which is likely to result in serious harm to the person or others."

 

If I had to guess based on similar things I've seen in my work history your friend's brother is suffering from some kind of psychosis. Most folks in that situation never hurt themselves or anyone else but tend to have a hard time supporting themselves as they continue to decompensate. 

They’re in Texas. I’m not sure if that changes things. Going to go down there and talk with his family about it. He seems to listen to his brother and I more than anyone else. Hopefully we can get him the help he needs. 

[LeviF]

4 minutes ago, Not at the table Karlos said:

They’re in Texas. I’m not sure if that changes things. Going to go down there and talk with his family about it. He seems to listen to his brother and I more than anyone else. Hopefully we can get him the help he needs. 

 

Best of luck, really. I don't know much about Texas laws but a voluntary commitment for initial observation is good anywhere. Might need some baby steps first if he's had zero treatment or evaluation though.

10 minutes ago, teef said:

i'm willing to be this makes up a sizable portion of the homeless community.  

 

Back when I worked for the shelter it was a pretty decent majority of our clients.