WTF!?!?!?!?

[EagleFan]

Strange back story here:

One of my wife's friends from school has always been a little strange, and not too bright but it has always seemed as just an annoyance more than anything else.

Recently things have gone way to the weird side. We receive calls from her at as early as 6 AM sometimes and they have begun to range from calm "what would you like to do the next time we get together" to the more recent weird hysterical ones "my mom is kicking me out". Recently the latter of the two became "my mom is having me arrested."

Those calls are usually followed up within a few hours by a call from her mom, and follow up call from her and both act as if nothing is wrong.

Now tonight, just a few freaking minutes ago, there is a call and it is her. She leaves a message and she sounds really out there (drugs maybe? or just flat out nuts?). She is asking about this weekend and my wife bringing our girls to the beach with them. She keeps talking about how they can go to 54th street so they can keep a better eye on them and "keep them out of the water". She mentions that phrase several times and it sent chills up my spine each time I heard it. I believe the area she is talking about is practically empty as it is not a good "beach spot".

My wife has become annoyed with her lately because of the weird calls but she has not yet heard this one. What the hell should I do to not only show her that her friend is nuts but to the point of being afraid of what she may be capable of.

I may be over-reacting but who the hell makes a call like that at practically 1 AM? Hell, who makes a call like that at any time? If it was just a call to see about the weekend, but at a normal time, I would be okay with it. The tone of her voice and the obsession over the girls and the water has me more than just concerned. There were two of her friends from school that she still used to hang out with when we got together. This one was the most annoying of the two but just seemed weird but harmless to me. Her other friend was not a friend but a leach. She always needed something and preyed on my wife's kindness towards her. I was able to get my wife to see that thankfully.

I should be getting some sleep, if I can now, just wanted to get that off my chest.

[flere-imsaho]

Yeah, that's not normal. No advice as (thankfully) my wife hasn't had freaky friends like that. Good luck!

[Lathum]

I wouldn't let her near my kids.

[DaddyTorgo]

stay away from my kids.

could she have snapped mentally? schizophrenia or something?

[wade moore]

If it were me, and she was a good friend of mine, I would be doing anything I can to help get her attention from a trainted professional.

No joke at all. Mocking her and running from doesn't seem like the answer to me if she really is a friend of your wife's - trying to get her help does.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

This sounds like a thread for EF27.

[BrianD]

With absolutely no psychological training at all, I am going to guess that those phone calls are coming from someone in the manic phase of a bi-polar disorder. One of my wife's friends is bi-polar, and your descriptions of the calls sound familiar.

[Mustang]

This sounds like a thread for EF27.

At first, I thought it was EF27 and I was thinking 'WTF does he need our help diagnosing odd behavior?'

[BrianD]

At first, I thought it was EF27 and I was thinking 'WTF does he need our help diagnosing odd behavior?'

That was my first reaction too. :)

[Celeval]

This sounds like a thread for EF27.

This sounds like it should be accompanied by theme music.

[Fidatelo]

I wonder if you could call some sort of mental health help-line and describe the behaviour and see if they can give you any advice on how to handle the situation?

[Toddzilla]

When she makes a strange call at a strange time once, you mark it down as unusual and move on.

When she makes a strange call at a strange time a second time, you mark it down as annoying and maybe say something.

Since she continues to call at odd times, and you guys keep picking up the phone and playing along, you are enabling this lunatic. It's just as much your fault for not telling this person to stop calling late at night or early in the morning as she is for calling.

[Toddzilla]

With absolutely no psychological training at all, I am going to guess that those phone calls are coming from someone in the manic phase of a bi-polar disorder. One of my wife's friends is bi-polar, and your descriptions of the calls sound familiar.Oh, wow, I should have RTFT first. BrianD is right on. When my wife wnet through her really bad manic phase befor her hospitalization, she did the same thing - called people at all sorts of crazy hours. I think the situation has changed - you're not dealing with an annoying jerk, you're dealing with a potentially very sick individual and you and your wife ought to see what you can do to get her help. Because it's not going to get better, it's going to get worse, and it could get much much worse for the caller. Good luck.

[Rizon]

With absolutely no psychological training at all, I am going to guess that those phone calls are coming from someone in the manic phase of a bi-polar disorder. One of my wife's friends is bi-polar, and your descriptions of the calls sound familiar.


Seconded. We had a neighbor once do nearly the same things, and turned out she was bi-polar. Once she got on the meds those types of things stopped.

[Eaglesfan27]

If it were me, and she was a good friend of mine, I would be doing anything I can to help get her attention from a trainted professional.

No joke at all. Mocking her and running from doesn't seem like the answer to me if she really is a friend of your wife's - trying to get her help does.

QFT.

[Eaglesfan27]

With absolutely no psychological training at all, I am going to guess that those phone calls are coming from someone in the manic phase of a bi-polar disorder. One of my wife's friends is bi-polar, and your descriptions of the calls sound familiar.

Could be mania that is from bipolar or drug induced mania. It could be psychosis from Schizophrenia or drug induced psychosis. It could be she is just an odd person who is annoying (although that is less likely if this is a new sudden onset.) Either way, it sounds like this lady needs to get some help from a professional in the NJ/Philly area. Since I went to medical school there, I have a lot of contacts in the area. Feel free to drop me a PM EF, if you want some names.

[JonInMiddleGA]

At first, I thought it was EF27 and I was thinking 'WTF does he need our help diagnosing odd behavior?'

+1

[EagleFan]

When she makes a strange call at a strange time once, you mark it down as unusual and move on.

When she makes a strange call at a strange time a second time, you mark it down as annoying and maybe say something.

Since she continues to call at odd times, and you guys keep picking up the phone and playing along, you are enabling this lunatic. It's just as much your fault for not telling this person to stop calling late at night or early in the morning as she is for calling.

We don't answer at the odd times, the machine picks up. I almost picked up last night before I saw who it was (figuring it was something like a family emergency).

[EagleFan]

Could be mania that is from bipolar or drug induced mania. It could be psychosis from Schizophrenia or drug induced psychosis. It could be she is just an odd person who is annoying (although that is less likely if this is a new sudden onset.) Either way, it sounds like this lady needs to get some help from a professional in the NJ/Philly area. Since I went to medical school there, I have a lot of contacts in the area. Feel free to drop me a PM EF, if you want some names.

Thank you. I'm going to have to have a long and serious talk with my wife about her (sadly today was eaten up completely by work for me). Unfortunately my wife is of the opinion that hse is just a little odd and that nothing is wrong (at least she was before yesterday's call, hopefully she sees that there may actually be a problem now).

[stevew]

The only possible rational thing could have been if they went to the beach previously, and had a hard time with the girls wanting to get into the water. She could be referring to the last time your wife and her went there. Maybe she was just drunk or something.

Or, yeah, like everyone else said, she could be fucked in the head.

[EagleFan]

Oh, wow, I should have RTFT first. BrianD is right on. When my wife wnet through her really bad manic phase befor her hospitalization, she did the same thing - called people at all sorts of crazy hours. I think the situation has changed - you're not dealing with an annoying jerk, you're dealing with a potentially very sick individual and you and your wife ought to see what you can do to get her help. Because it's not going to get better, it's going to get worse, and it could get much much worse for the caller. Good luck.

Thank you. The problem will be getting her to see the problem, or her mother to be able to understand (I hope that doesn't sound too mean but I wouldn't rule her out for having the same problem).

[EagleFan]

The only possible rational thing could have been if they went to the beach previously, and had a hard time with the girls wanting to get into the water. She could be referring to the last time your wife and her went there. Maybe she was just drunk or something.

Or, yeah, like everyone else said, she could be fucked in the head.

I am afraid it is actually the second option. They have gone to the boardwalk before but I have no memory of them actually going to the beach.

[EagleFan]

Here is the potential problem. Her mother and her seem to both be irrational. My wife may not want ot admit there is a serious problem with her friend. Even if she does, getting her friend or her friend's mother to see the situation as a problem is not going to be easy (my wife has spoken to the mother about the early calls and the mother has not seen anything odd about them).

This is going to sound mean but it is the only way to describe the mother. She has a bit of a trailer trash type of personality and sees her daughter's troubles as more of a bother to herself (she seemed to be annoyed when her daughter had to get an operation a few years ago for health issues). I may be misreading the situation between her and her mother (and hope that I am) but the whole thing seems very messed up.