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Sufferer Hi! Recently diagnosed, disruptive and threatening neighbors

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Odyssey

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Hi. I was dignosed with PTSD earlier this year.

My story began in early March 2016 and ended in May 2019. It's been nearly a year since the source of my trauma has moved away, but I've been gradually dealing with triggers/auditory hallucinations/and other physical and mental symptoms since then.

Basically, I was dealing with two antisocial neighbours and narcissistic abuse from the environmental health/local government whose job it was to deal with them.

The first antisocial neighbour subjected me to five months of nightly door slamming that evolved to an all day and night routine. There was a regular pattern of behaviour. There were also regular angry outbursts between him and his girlfriend. It left me physically and emotionally drained. I couldn't go to bed without the anticipatory stress of knowing that I'd be forced awake against my will. If I had plans, then I'd have to deal with their outbursts before I left the house and when I came back. My free time wasn't my own. I was living on someone else's timetable.

The environmental health/local government encouraged me to report noise to them and the police. I don't like using the phone, because of anxiety, but knew that it would be resolved quickly. The noise was so regular it wasn't even funny. However, the environmental health/local government tried to downplay the situation in their report while, at the same time, encourage me to report noise. They contradicted themselves in person and in writing, used word salad and gaslighting techniques. I knew something wasn't right, but I was too stressed and sleep deprived to see that they were a bigger problem.

The aim was to stop the noisy neighbour making noise. In the end, they weren't punished or even evicted. Instead, I was labelled with a learning difficulty because I didn't understand how their service worked. The truth, and reality, of the situation was that the environmental health/local government knew that I found it hard to use a phone - especially when the noise triggered my anxiety, over a long period of time. (I had to leave my home for a month because I was at breaking point. There was no end to the noise and it just grew worse. By then, I'd developed face and scalp ecsema too.)

The environmental health/local government weren't dealing with the problem and smeared my name and long term health. This is despite everything that happened - from a loan shark threatening my noisy neighbour outside my front door, to a 6 AM drug overdose, and finally my second noisy neighbour threatening the first noisy neighbour and his girlfriend.

The first noisy neighbour abandoned his property while I stayed with my parents for a month. When I came back home, I was greeted with a smashed entrance door to my flat/apartment. Apparently the second noisy neighbour had returned from jail, or had avoided it, and had caught up with the first noisy neighbour. I'm assuming that he didn't like his pesonal belongs being stolen. For a while, the first noisy neighbour looked after his home. One evening, I saw the first noisy neighbour carrying a widescreen tv and other stuff inside but didn't think it was suspicious at the time. I'm glad that I wasn't there to see them fight because I wouldn't have coped.

Four days after I'd resettled into my home, the trouble with the second noisy neighbour started. The same pattern of behavior continued with this guy - constant door slamming after 11 PM and domestic fights with the girlfriend. I told the environmental health/local government that I was worried about a repeat scenario. Of course, they told me to report noise to the police and hoovered me into another cycle of narcissistic abuse. I also had to deal with loud, repetitive music, dog barking, vandalism, and revving a motorcycle indoors.

The environmental health/local government claimed that the noise would only affect people living directly below the noise. Which is a hilarious excuse because I share a wall with the second noisy neighbour's property. I could hear song lyrics and loud conversation.

The repetitive music really triggered me. There wasn't anywhere in my home that I could escape it. Again, if I had plans for a night out, then I'd have to deal with the noise before and after I left the flat/apartment. The situation was so bad that I had trouble walking anywhere. I was in a lot of pain and had to make adjustments to my routine.

Meanwhile, the environmental health/local government were always short of witnessing the antisocial behaviour. There were always excuses to avoid accountability. I was also subjected to name calling and more character assassination in their reports. This is despite the fact that my second noisy neighbour had a long history of violent, antisocial behaviour in public (bars and restaurants.)

Eventually, the second noisy neighbour abandoned his property. I'd stopped reporting noise at that point and had went no contact with the narcissistic environmental health/local government. Although, that didn't stop the second noisy neighbour or the authorities trying to hoover me back in for more narcissistic abuse with dog fouling issues in the neighbourhood. I didn't play their game, which was the best thing to do, but I knew the damage had already been done.

Today, I still have difficulty going to bed at a regular time. I also have difficulty concentrating sometimes, have experienced disassociation, and have flashbacks of the mistreatment. The auditory hallucinations didn't last long, maybe three or four separate times, and I hope they don't come back. There's a lot of stuff that I haven't written here but it was really stressful and frustrating.

I hope to find like minded people here and give my support too.
 
Hold up. . . You were genuinely diagnosed? With PTSD? Over. . . noisy neighbors and government acting like the always do? I’m confused. . . I get if there’s like sensory processing disorder going on but not PTSD. . .
 
Im not sure if I missed it in your post, but do you have any critA trauma? Noisy crap neighbours suck, and I'm sorry you've had to deal with that, but I'm not sure it'd give PTSD. It definitely would have the potential to trigger existing PTSD though, so I guess I'm asking if you have had trauma prior to your noisy neighbours?
 
Hold up. . . You were genuinely diagnosed? With PTSD? Over. . . noisy neighbors and government acting like the always do? I’m confused. . . I get if there’s like sensory processing disorder going on but not PTSD. . .
Im not sure if I missed it in your post, but do you have any critA trauma? Noisy crap neighbours suck, and I'm sorry you've had to deal with that, but I'm not sure it'd give PTSD. It definitely would have the potential to trigger existing PTSD though, so I guess I'm asking if you have had trauma prior to your noisy neighbours?

My home is small. I live on the ground floor of a complex. My bedroom is roughly 15 feet away from my front door. The only access to and from my home. My living room couch is roughly 20 feet away from my front door. The whole apartment/flat is roughly 27 feet across. My first noisy neighbour lived directly across from me.

The first incident of antisocial behaviour was kinda frightening. Both noisy neighbours knew each other and hung out together.

The second noisy neighbour had cut his hand and smeared blood all over the communal entrance door to my apartment/flat. This is the same guy with a history of public violence. He went back inside my first noisy neighbour’s house and flew into a rage. He took his frustration out on a door.

That was probably the first moment that I can pinpoint a traumatic experience. I had to call the police a few times again that night because the fighting/arguing was intense. Plus, the second noisy neighbour came back later that evening with friends. The first noisy neighbour wasn’t happy about the police arriving at his door and wanted to take his anger out on the older woman upstairs. He had to be restrained and calmed down.

I don’t have a back door to my property. The front door is my only access. These people were aggressive. I didn’t feel safe in my home.

The first noisy neighbour had a nightly pattern of slamming the communal entrance door which is adjacent to my property.

My bedroom window is roughly 12 feet away from another entrance door on the opposite side of my property. The first noisy neighbour would travel back and forth between his property to another neighbour. The activity was suspicious and regular. There were hints of illegal drug use.

Their night time activity crossed paths with my bedroom which faces out to the front side of the building. I’d hear doors slamming on both sides. They did that for three or four hours a night, which evolved to almost every hour of the day over a five month period. I was flanked by antisocial behaviour on both sides.

The second noisy neighbour’s activity was much worse. I’d lose around 21 hours of sleep a week. Probably more than that. His antisocial behaviour flip flopped to different days of the week. It was hard to get a consistent sleep.

He played the same half a dozen songs in a specific order. I’d hear the songs up to three times a night. EACH.

Then you factor in the narcissistic abuse of the environmental health/local government who refused to stop the situation.

I was denied help over an extended period of time. I’ve got a long term illness and a lack of sleep was disruptive to my wellbeing. I made 28 phone calls to report antisocial behaviour. The environmental health/local government responded to 6 calls.

One time, the police screwed up a call and sent it to the wrong department in another city. I was close to taking my second noisy neighbour to court. I just had to have the noise witnessed another 2 times. Then he’d be given a warning. If he broke the court order he’d go to jail. The situation affected me for a week. I wasn’t eating properly.

I made two formal complaints, got the local press involved, took legal action and the situation still continued.

Door slamming or loud noises are a trigger to me. I can’t go to music events or standing events anymore. I tried to cope with the noise by going out. Although it was extremely hard because I’d lose sleep before and after going anywhere. I feel uncomfortable going out now as a result..

Both noisy neighbours had a violent disposition. Once, the second noisy neighbour got locked out of his home. He tried to contact other neighbours. When they didn’t reply, he threatened them. I had to call the police because he was shouting abuse outside my bedroom.

The threat of noise and violence might be gone but the fight or flight response/hyper vigilance is still there.
 
I’m sorry, I want to be supportive I do. But I just can’t wrap my head around this one. I’m going to back out though so I don’t get mean since I’m still reeling from last nights nightmare about my molestation. But I wish you luck, just maybe do some research on Crit A trauma see if there’s something there. Anxiety sure, but anyway I’m backing out. Good luck.
 
I’m sorry, I want to be supportive I do. But I just can’t wrap my head around this one. I’m going to back out though so I don’t get mean since I’m still reeling from last nights nightmare about my molestation. But I wish you luck, just maybe do some research on Crit A trauma see if there’s something there. Anxiety sure, but anyway I’m backing out. Good luck.

I'm not sure what Crit A trauma is.

Prior to March 2016, I had no PTSD symptoms. Over a 38 month period, I was subjected to prolongued loud noise in the form of constant door slamming, repetitive music, aggressive outburts and vandalism within a 12-20 foot radius of my home. A lack of action taken by the the environmental health/local government to tackle the ongoing problem, and a campaign of narcissistic and mental abuse (to keep me in a toxic codependent relationship that offered no real help or resolution, and then label me as the bad guy) contributed to my development of PTSD.

Since March 2016, I've experienced:

* chronic muscle tension and pain.
* Recurring nightmares of my abusive neighbours breaking into my home. Also anxiety nightmares when stressed out.
* Concentration issues.
* Auditory hallucinations. I heard a female voice say hello, heard music and garbled noises.
* Feeling irritable for no reason.
* Insomnia and sleep issues.
* Blurry vision.
* Dissociation. Feeling numb with hobbies/interests.
* Hypervigilance. Having a lot of adrenaline or feeling on edge for no reason.
* Panic and anxiety attacks.
* Flashbacks. Body reacting to fight or flight response.
* Fatigue.
* Crying for no reason.
* Laughing for no reason.

These symptoms come in waves. Some days I'm feeling okay and other days they can hit me. Not all at once but it depends. I'm also dealing with eczema which is also stressful.

I was stuck in an abusive cycle that was affecting my long term health. I experienced some PTSD symptoms while the trouble happened. When I managed to break free of the situation, (no longer dealing with the authorities or the noise issues, taking back control of my life, until both of the noisy neighbours went away), then I became aware of other PTSD symptoms. It wasn't an over night thing.

Also... I went to three different doctors before I was diagnosed with PTSD. Before that, I had been treated for muscle tension and asked another doctor for help, who declined, while I was still dealing with my noisy neighbours.

The first noisy neighbour situation lasted five months. I couldn't take another five months of disruptive behaviour. One night of noise was enough to trigger me. It happened again and lasted for two and a half years.
 
Crit A is one of the factors involved in diagnosing PTSD. It comprises a list of traumas such as: childhood abuse (physical/sexual/etc), rape, combat exposure, physical assault, an accident. There are a few others and the list is definitely not an be all end all.

I just can’t touch the rest of this.
 
I think the diagnosing pro mighta factored the very physical intimidation / terrorizing the whole hood as threatened violence...

Which I believe is there in the criteria.

Actual *or* threatened violence or sexual violence.

Welcome, Odyssey. :)

Your post just got a little confusing, as what you present as most distressing - noise complaints - is not what IS most distressing - criminals with a wide known history threatening the whole community with public threats of grave harm / murder were.
 
All I have to say is WOW? Fearing for my safety for five straight months, day and night would surely have horrid consequences and maybe OP had more in their past and this newer stuff set it off? It's at least a possiblity, too?

"Never underestimate the pain of another person. In all honesty, everyone is struggling. Some people are better at hiding it than others." - Author Unknown

I know the responses are not usually as judgemental as they were here. I'd have left a LONG time ago if that were so.

Thank you @Ronin for your wise words.
 
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