[hamstergirl]

Her name is V--- and she's a sweet old lady, but the thing is, she's a little weird.

A few months back, she told me that radiation from her TV and the cable satilite dishes was making her sick. ( She could actually hear the radiation hitting her body at night, she said.) As well, the management of her building was conducting lethal experiments on the building's tenants and that she had a list of all the people who died in said experiments. (She said they picked old people because no one would notice when they died.)

Now V. says someone's broken into her apartment to sabotage a lamp. She has three separate locks on her door and she's asked me to pray for her, so she's safe.

I knew something was screwy when V. first started going on about radiation, but I was able to keep a straight face long enough to go to Father Lindsay and ask what was going on. He said it could be paranoid schizophrenia. In fact, I've never laughed at this woman, because she must be scared to death and I spent 1 and a half years with people likely as screwed up as she was, and many of those people were my friends.

I tried to treat these people with decency and respect, because of all the times I got yelled at, many times just for how I was feeling.

I want to be a friend to this woman, but I don't know how to approach this problem, though Father Lindsay said to break off the friendship if my mental or physical well-being were threatened.

That hasn't happened yet, but I'd like to do more for this woman than offer up a few prayers. Whatever she's going through, it must not be a fun way to live, to put it mildly.

[(JD)]

It could also be dementia. I had a grandfather that got that way as he got older. My grandmother had to divorce him (he was her second husband...) because his delusions included her... and she wasn't safe.

[allautumn]

Just how old is V? Dementia is a real possibility, my grandma has some interesting days. My great grandmother used to hide plates of food in drawers, and believed that the people in the tv were really in the room, would talk to them,or yell at them to get out of her house.
Another possibility is minor stroke... have you talked to her about seeing a doctor? Or do you feel that would overstep the bounds of your relationship with her? Is it possible to get in touch with her family and talk to them about the problems V is having? My great aunt had a blockage in a blood vessel in her brain caused by cholesterol, and she used to do some interesting things too. She accused her husband of cheating on her (they're in their seventies), she used to call my dad all the time to come and take a look at her mulberry bushes (which were long since cut down, and were on the farm that she hadn't lived on in 40 years). There are a number of things that could be happening to V at this point, and I think that if this is something new for her at her age, it is most likely dementia/alzheimers and not schizophrenia. I do think it's important that V gets some medical attention, and unfortunately she's not likely to ask for it on her own. If you can get in touch with her family, please do so. Even at the risk of having her get mad at you. She doesnt have to like you for you to help her, right? I'm sure her family will appreciate it, just be tactful and say that you are worried about her. In the mean time, it's really good that you're keeping an eye on her, good for you. You're a good neighbour.