Armed and Unstable
Well, D has always been a little eccentric. I met her when I first returned to New Orleans in 1996. She had just moved here from --- Washington State? We met at a meeting of people with a common interest and became friends. She lived in my neighborhood and we became walking partners -- taking two turns around the track at Audubon Park every day after I got off of work. D's work was sporadic. She told me she worked in the nuclear power industry and that she wasn't working at the time because she was a "whistle blower" reporting hostile and unsafe conditions at several of the plants where she had reported. I had no reason to doubt her story. She did seem a little obsessed with the thought of "them" being after her. But she pointed out that her therapist had said, "D, in this instance your paranoia is justified. 'They' ARE after you!" Still, when her employer would contact her for a job, she used me as a reference. Shortly after she would leave town for her work, I would get a form in the mail asking me various questions about D's activities during the time that she wasn't working. I would give them the answers:
She exercises.
She volunteers.
She goes to movies.
That seemed to satisfy their requirements. Sometimes they would also call to verify this information.
There were a few times that D displayed odd behavior. Talking about her inner female warrior and her third eye and intuitively knowing things. I didn't think too much about it at the time. After all, I'd spent 18 years in Los Angeles. Such talk isn't at all uncommon out there.
D always seemed to be either "celibate" or "sex crazed". There was never an in between state and in the 10 years that I've known her, she has never sustained a romantic relationship for more than a few weeks. Still, I felt protective of her and stuck up for her whenever members of our group talked about how crazy she was. D had really been there for me during a particularly difficult time shortly after we met. My boyfriend at the time had committed suicide and everyone had an opinion on the matter. D just closed ranks around me and kept the "bad guys" away until I could take care of myself.
Then, just before the storm hit, D began to exhibit extreme paranoia. Believing that different people were hired by her employer to spy on her and to discredit her to "bring her to her knees" as she said. She also began to revise the history of her sexual escapades. Where she had confided in me all along about various encounters while out on work duty as consentual flings. Now, she began to claim that they were assaults. She felt that her employer had set her up for these "brutal attacks" and that they were trying to destroy her. She sought help and began to see a therapist. At one point, she threatened suicide -- leaving me messages telling me that she was going to kill this person or that person and then kill herself -- and I called suicide prevention. Suicide prevention told me that there was nothing to be done unless she wanted help. When the crisis passed, I told D that she couldn't leave these wild messages on my telephone talking about killing people. I explained that it put me in a terrible position and that if she did it again I would have no choice but to call the police. She apologized, but said that she had no recollection of leaving those messages. That is when I began to REALLY worry.
On the Saturday before Katrina hit as I was getting ready to evacuate, D called me and left a message screaming almost incoherently about not feeling supported and being pissed at me because she had been there for me when I needed her and now I wasn't there for her when she needed me. I called her back and left a message telling her that I was sorry that she felt that I wasn't there for her and that it was not my intention to hurt her. I wished her well and determined to just keep my distance since D was clearly watching a different movie than the rest of us and life was about to become crazy enough without the added drama.
After the storm hit, D called completely calm. She again apologized for her behavior and I wished her well. I was away from home for three months and when I returned, D was still in Texas where she had evacuated. She returned sometime after the New Year.
I saw her a few times. She seemed calm and "normal"... more normal than I had ever seen her. Then it all seemed to unravel. She focused on a very beautiful young woman named V and began to torment this woman at group meetings. She took pictures of her and left nasty notes for her. All the while leaving me messages telling me what a bitch V is and how she was going to take care of her! V eventually moved away. Then D seemed to focus on her downstairs neighbors, a woman named C and her two little girls. At first all seemed rosy. Then D claimed that C's ex-husband was "brutalizing" the girls and that C would do nothing about it. She was threatening to have C's children taken away. She tried to get a restraining order to protect herself from C's ex but to no avail. THAT really set her off. She began to leave messages at City Hall for the mayor. She showed up more than once at my office unannounced. I would be typing at my desk and suddenly D was standing behind me.
Then D told me that she had purchased a gun. I told her to do me a favor and check with her therapist to see what he thought about that. When I questioned her on this later she told me that he was okay with that.
I ignored D's telephone calls after that. She was leaving very bizarre messages. At the end of March she left one telling me that some of her Tsauist friends had sent her a series of wonderful orgasms and that she was holding on to a tree to recover. Then the messages took on an ominous tone. Telling me in a sweet lighthearted voice about her plans to go to Harrah's late at night dressed provocatively so that a "sexual predator" would try to pick her up so she could take him outside, "cut off his nuts and throw them onto the stage of one of the gentlemen's clubs on Bourbon Street". Her plan was thwarted because no-one approached her that night, but they had the night before. She just wasn't prepared that night!
Shortly after receiving this message, I got a call from D's landlord, Mr. P. Mr. P had my telephone number because my grown kids used to live downstairs from D and he knew that D and I were friends. He asked me what I knew about D's behavior of late. I told him that I was worried about her. Mr. P said that his downstairs tenants, C and her kids, had reported that D was threatening them and that she had left a note for them telling them not to "fuck" with her because her "inner assassin has been released". Mr. P asked if I had D's son's telephone number. I didn't. I know C's boyfriend, M. Mr. P gave me M's telephone number and I called to find out what on earth was going on. M said that they weren't able to stay in their apartment for fear of D. Mr. P told me that his long-time tenant next door to D had moved out due to D's behavior and that she was threatening C and her kids now. Mr. P said that in his dealings with D she was calm and sweet and that he wouldn't have believed it if he hadn't seen the notes and heard the messages.
We were all trying to locate D's son who lives in Texas, but no-one had a telephone number. I had saved all of my messages from D and put them on a tape. I talked about it at one of my meetings and it was suggested by a friend who is therapist that I try to have D committed for psychiatric help. I didn't think too much of that and wasn't looking forward to having D's wrath directed at me, but when D left me a message telling me that she thought that I was working for her former employer and spying on her...screaming obscenities over the phone and just generally scaring the shit out of me, I called a friend who is a psychiatrist (K) and asked if he could have her committed. I was really frightened both for D and for anyone (including myself) who would be her target. K contacted the Orleans Parish coroner's office and they agreed that D needed professional help. So I got an order for protective custody and had it served. D was put into East Jefferson Hospital psych ward where she stayed for 10 days.
She did call me twice from EJ. Once the day after she was committed to ask me why I had done this to her. (I told her that I hadn't done it TO her so much as FOR her). Then she called me again on a Sunday a week later apologizing to me for her behavior. I accepted her apology, wished her well and told her I couldn't have contact with her ever again. She told me she understood but that she just wanted to put her apology out there. I felt better.
Shortly after D was released the crazy telephone calls started again. She was arrested for destroying the property of the folks who lived downstairs from her (it seems she had cut the clothes they left in the dryer into tiny pieces and then slit the throats of some of the kids' toys). I say lived because D was evicted from the apartment. She began leaving messages directing her rage at me. Telling me that she was going to ruin me financially and calling me various colorful names. I obtained a peace bond which both D and the judge in her case signed stating that D would be subject to arrest if she came within two blocks of my home or my office.
That didn't stop her. She showed up in my office building to deliver a letter detailing her paranoia and insanity. I called the police. They filed a report. D's court date comes up in mid-July.
Meanwhile, a mentally unstable man in Metairie shot two police officers last week before being killed by a police sniper.
So the police are now in the position of being our mental health care providers here in New Orleans. And the whole city is suffering from depression and post traumatic stress. I'm thinking they should just add Prozac to the water supply. That way maybe I'd have a chance of controlling the sudden crying jags that over take me in the most unlikely places...like the meat section at Save A Center.
On the bright side, the National Guard arrived yesterday to help with the soaring crime. 54 murders so far this year. I suppose I have every reason to cry.
She exercises.
She volunteers.
She goes to movies.
That seemed to satisfy their requirements. Sometimes they would also call to verify this information.
There were a few times that D displayed odd behavior. Talking about her inner female warrior and her third eye and intuitively knowing things. I didn't think too much about it at the time. After all, I'd spent 18 years in Los Angeles. Such talk isn't at all uncommon out there.
D always seemed to be either "celibate" or "sex crazed". There was never an in between state and in the 10 years that I've known her, she has never sustained a romantic relationship for more than a few weeks. Still, I felt protective of her and stuck up for her whenever members of our group talked about how crazy she was. D had really been there for me during a particularly difficult time shortly after we met. My boyfriend at the time had committed suicide and everyone had an opinion on the matter. D just closed ranks around me and kept the "bad guys" away until I could take care of myself.
Then, just before the storm hit, D began to exhibit extreme paranoia. Believing that different people were hired by her employer to spy on her and to discredit her to "bring her to her knees" as she said. She also began to revise the history of her sexual escapades. Where she had confided in me all along about various encounters while out on work duty as consentual flings. Now, she began to claim that they were assaults. She felt that her employer had set her up for these "brutal attacks" and that they were trying to destroy her. She sought help and began to see a therapist. At one point, she threatened suicide -- leaving me messages telling me that she was going to kill this person or that person and then kill herself -- and I called suicide prevention. Suicide prevention told me that there was nothing to be done unless she wanted help. When the crisis passed, I told D that she couldn't leave these wild messages on my telephone talking about killing people. I explained that it put me in a terrible position and that if she did it again I would have no choice but to call the police. She apologized, but said that she had no recollection of leaving those messages. That is when I began to REALLY worry.
On the Saturday before Katrina hit as I was getting ready to evacuate, D called me and left a message screaming almost incoherently about not feeling supported and being pissed at me because she had been there for me when I needed her and now I wasn't there for her when she needed me. I called her back and left a message telling her that I was sorry that she felt that I wasn't there for her and that it was not my intention to hurt her. I wished her well and determined to just keep my distance since D was clearly watching a different movie than the rest of us and life was about to become crazy enough without the added drama.
After the storm hit, D called completely calm. She again apologized for her behavior and I wished her well. I was away from home for three months and when I returned, D was still in Texas where she had evacuated. She returned sometime after the New Year.
I saw her a few times. She seemed calm and "normal"... more normal than I had ever seen her. Then it all seemed to unravel. She focused on a very beautiful young woman named V and began to torment this woman at group meetings. She took pictures of her and left nasty notes for her. All the while leaving me messages telling me what a bitch V is and how she was going to take care of her! V eventually moved away. Then D seemed to focus on her downstairs neighbors, a woman named C and her two little girls. At first all seemed rosy. Then D claimed that C's ex-husband was "brutalizing" the girls and that C would do nothing about it. She was threatening to have C's children taken away. She tried to get a restraining order to protect herself from C's ex but to no avail. THAT really set her off. She began to leave messages at City Hall for the mayor. She showed up more than once at my office unannounced. I would be typing at my desk and suddenly D was standing behind me.
Then D told me that she had purchased a gun. I told her to do me a favor and check with her therapist to see what he thought about that. When I questioned her on this later she told me that he was okay with that.
I ignored D's telephone calls after that. She was leaving very bizarre messages. At the end of March she left one telling me that some of her Tsauist friends had sent her a series of wonderful orgasms and that she was holding on to a tree to recover. Then the messages took on an ominous tone. Telling me in a sweet lighthearted voice about her plans to go to Harrah's late at night dressed provocatively so that a "sexual predator" would try to pick her up so she could take him outside, "cut off his nuts and throw them onto the stage of one of the gentlemen's clubs on Bourbon Street". Her plan was thwarted because no-one approached her that night, but they had the night before. She just wasn't prepared that night!
Shortly after receiving this message, I got a call from D's landlord, Mr. P. Mr. P had my telephone number because my grown kids used to live downstairs from D and he knew that D and I were friends. He asked me what I knew about D's behavior of late. I told him that I was worried about her. Mr. P said that his downstairs tenants, C and her kids, had reported that D was threatening them and that she had left a note for them telling them not to "fuck" with her because her "inner assassin has been released". Mr. P asked if I had D's son's telephone number. I didn't. I know C's boyfriend, M. Mr. P gave me M's telephone number and I called to find out what on earth was going on. M said that they weren't able to stay in their apartment for fear of D. Mr. P told me that his long-time tenant next door to D had moved out due to D's behavior and that she was threatening C and her kids now. Mr. P said that in his dealings with D she was calm and sweet and that he wouldn't have believed it if he hadn't seen the notes and heard the messages.
We were all trying to locate D's son who lives in Texas, but no-one had a telephone number. I had saved all of my messages from D and put them on a tape. I talked about it at one of my meetings and it was suggested by a friend who is therapist that I try to have D committed for psychiatric help. I didn't think too much of that and wasn't looking forward to having D's wrath directed at me, but when D left me a message telling me that she thought that I was working for her former employer and spying on her...screaming obscenities over the phone and just generally scaring the shit out of me, I called a friend who is a psychiatrist (K) and asked if he could have her committed. I was really frightened both for D and for anyone (including myself) who would be her target. K contacted the Orleans Parish coroner's office and they agreed that D needed professional help. So I got an order for protective custody and had it served. D was put into East Jefferson Hospital psych ward where she stayed for 10 days.
She did call me twice from EJ. Once the day after she was committed to ask me why I had done this to her. (I told her that I hadn't done it TO her so much as FOR her). Then she called me again on a Sunday a week later apologizing to me for her behavior. I accepted her apology, wished her well and told her I couldn't have contact with her ever again. She told me she understood but that she just wanted to put her apology out there. I felt better.
Shortly after D was released the crazy telephone calls started again. She was arrested for destroying the property of the folks who lived downstairs from her (it seems she had cut the clothes they left in the dryer into tiny pieces and then slit the throats of some of the kids' toys). I say lived because D was evicted from the apartment. She began leaving messages directing her rage at me. Telling me that she was going to ruin me financially and calling me various colorful names. I obtained a peace bond which both D and the judge in her case signed stating that D would be subject to arrest if she came within two blocks of my home or my office.
That didn't stop her. She showed up in my office building to deliver a letter detailing her paranoia and insanity. I called the police. They filed a report. D's court date comes up in mid-July.
Meanwhile, a mentally unstable man in Metairie shot two police officers last week before being killed by a police sniper.
So the police are now in the position of being our mental health care providers here in New Orleans. And the whole city is suffering from depression and post traumatic stress. I'm thinking they should just add Prozac to the water supply. That way maybe I'd have a chance of controlling the sudden crying jags that over take me in the most unlikely places...like the meat section at Save A Center.
On the bright side, the National Guard arrived yesterday to help with the soaring crime. 54 murders so far this year. I suppose I have every reason to cry.
posted by Mary @ 1:47 PM
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