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Assisted Outpatient Treatment Program for Mentally Ill vs. Jail
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by duo | July 21, 2009 at 03:53 am
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John M Grohol, PsyD, reports that mentally ill offenders who went through Minnesota's mental health court received a 20 to 25 percent improvement in offender outcomes. Although any decrease in imprisonment of the country's most vulnerable citizens is valuable to the mentally ill, their families, and taxpayers, the rate of improvement could easily and inexpensively triple if mentally ill offenders were placed in Assisted Outpatient Treatment programs (AOTs). AOTs combine subsistence assistance with mandatory psychiatric treatment. AOT program participants in New York received better between 85% and 97% reduction in their rates of arrest, hospitalization, homelessness, and incarceration. Enforced treatment makes the difference.
Mental patients often stop taking their meds and keeping psychiatric appointments soon after prison or hospital release due to a condition called "anosognosia" that makes it impossible for them to know that they are sick. Discontinuation of psychiatric treatment frequently causes these persons to lapse back into psychosis and eventually break the law. New York AOT program participants' 90% decrease in homelessness, arrests, hospitalizations, and incarcerations compared their experiences three years prior to program participation shows clearly that WE ALREADY HAVE THE ANSWER.
It is only common sense that if a person is mentally deficient, he is unlikely to make wise decisions about mental health care, especially during a psychotic episode. It is wrong to leave it up to sick people whether to treat or not, especially those exiting prisons and mental institutions. This issue needs to be addressed before more soldiers suffering from PTSD transition back home to civilian life. A study of the Balkan Wars soldiers showed that around 54% had some level of PTSD. People who have been trained to kill when they feel threatened will soon fill our cities, and some are soldiers who have been stressed beyond their limits of endurance like Sgt. John Russel. It is wrong to put any of our sick citizens in the position of going untreated and eventually be jailed for crimes and/or wandering homeless because they don't have the mental stability to seek help. Acute mental patients are even more likely to be hurt themselves than to hurt others, and many die during arrest attempts or by suicide. The reduction in arrests and recidivism among AOT program participants demonstrates plainly that the communities were safer because of the program. AOTs can end the madness.
In addition to being highly effective at restoring mentally dysfunctional persons to a wholesome existence and increasing community safety evidenced by fewer arrests, AOT program participation is far cheaper than incarceration. Each inmate in the general prison population costs taxpayers up to $50,000 per year per prisoner plus an additional $100,000 annually for each chronically ill prisoner who receives special housing, trained guards, and regular treatment. These hefty prison fees come after the cost of police services, attorney fees, and court costs. Since AOT programs reduce recidivism by up to 90%, billions of dollars could be saved off the nation's prison budget by releasing mentally ill persons from prisons and hospitals only under court ordered participation in an AOT program.
Court ordered AOT participation for mentally ill persons released from inpatient facilities and prisons (at least during parole or probation) would relieve them of a responsibility that most chronic mental patients are unable to handle reasonably: their mental health care. Rigid requirements in most states prevent enforced treatment unless mentally ill persons are immediately dangerous to themselves or others. Therefore, the released mental patients' families are not allowed to enforce their treatment, and anosgnosia prevents psychiatric patients from seeking or agreeing to psychiatric services, especially during a psychotic episode when help is most needed. Na Yong Pak is a 32-year-old woman who was released from a mental health facility in Georgia last year despite her family's protests. She is a schizophrenic patient with violent tendencies. Within 12 days of hospital release, Na Yong quit taking her meds (or never started after release from the mental hospital) and set her mother on fire, burning her to death. See this family's tragic story here: http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/gwinnett/stories/2009/02/11/burned_woman_mental.html
There has been ZERO reduction in costs to taxpayers resulting from closing hospitals and reducing mental health services in the communities. In fact, a significant cost increase resulted from shifting sick people to the prison system. The mentally ill are not being incarcerated rather than treated in order to save money or save sick people from institutionalization. The difference is who gets paid - private prison profiteers rather than hospitals and outpatient treatment providers.
Methods and reasons for decriminalizing mental illness are examined in the article HUMAN RIGHTS FOR PRISONERS MARCH, as well as reasons why AOTs are not more broadly applied despite being a less expensive, highly effective, lifesaving approach to dealing with mentally illness, particularly for those exiting prisons and hospitals. See the article at this link:
http://my.nowpublic.com/world/human-rights-prisoners-march-was-postponed-weather
Comment continues after Dr. Grohol’s article and an excerpt from the Philadelphia Inquirer. Dr. Grohol is the CEO and founder of Psych Central. He has been writing about online behavior, mental health and psychology issues, and the intersection of technology and psychology since 1992. The Philadelphia Inquirer published an editorial in favor of AOTs being more widely used in March 2009. It is the first mainstream news source to publish an editorial in support of AOTs replacing imprisonment for mental patients. Notice was published by Treatment Advocacy Center (TAC) at this link:
http://www.treatmentadvocacycenter.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1347&Itemid=97
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Imprisoning People with Mental Illness
by John M Grohol, PsyD
July 18, 2009
People with mental illness are increasingly ending up being imprisoned, rather than in the mental health care system where many of them belong. With the down economy, states and counties — who are primarily responsible for the health of the indigent — cut social services first. And with most public psychiatric hospitals long-since closed, people who have a mental disorder end up being warehoused not in hospitals, but in prisons.
Yes, we succeeded in closing down the state mental hospitals. But we moved the population not to outpatient facilities, but to our prisons.
Now, finally, people are realizing the short-sightedness of locking people with mental illness up, as the spiraling prison costs of doing so become a burden to cash-strapped local governments.
In Philadelphia, a new mental health court has just started, meant to divert people away from prison and into mental health treatment. By doing so, the hope is that they can reduce the incidence of mental illness within prisons, and provide better care for people with a mental disorder in the process.
The new court is part of an approach called “sequential interception,” which includes programs designed to intervene so that people with mental illness don’t get caught up in the criminal justice system - or even killed by it. [...]
The court and the CIT are responses to a complex problem that began decades ago when the closing of state hospitals released mentally ill people into the community without adequate support or services.
Decades later, the high numbers of mentally ill people occupying prisons - some reports put the number at 30 percent of the inmate population - suggests that in too many cases, prisons have replaced state hospitals.
Imagine that — up to 30 percent of prisoners could have a treatable mental disorder. And guess what kind of mental health care most prison systems offer? Limited, if any (federal prisons tend to do a better job in this area than state-run prisons, but none come close to offering the kinds of services one would typically find in their local community).
Human Rights Watch has called out the U.S. prison system for its warehousing of the mentally ill and giving them inadequate care:
In 1998, the Bureau of Justice Statistics reported there were an estimated 283,000 prison and jail inmates who suffered from mental health problems. That number is now estimated to be 1.25 million. The rate of reported mental health disorders in the state prison population is five times greater (56.2 percent) than in the general adult population (11 percent).
Women prisoners have an even higher rate of mental health problems than men: almost three quarters (73 percent) of all women in state prison have mental health problems, compared to 55 percent of men.
“While the number of mentally ill inmates surges, prisons remain dangerous and damaging places for them,” said Jamie Fellner, director of Human Rights Watch’s U.S. Program and co-author of a 2003 report, “Ill-Equipped: U.S. Prisons and Offenders with Mental Illness.” “Prisons are woefully ill-equipped for their current role as the nation’s primary mental health facilities.”
Prison systems are horrifying places to be in the first place. They are even more so for someone who is suffering from schizophrenia or bipolar disorder and doesn’t have access to standard treatments for them. The previous Human Rights Watch report noted:
Inmates with mental illness are often punished for their symptoms. Being disruptive, refusing to obey orders, and engaging in acts of self-mutilation and attempted suicide can all result in punitive action. As a result, the report noted, prisoners with mental illness often have extensive disciplinary histories.
Frequently, the prisoners end up in isolation units. “In the most extreme cases, conditions are truly horrific,” the report stated, adding:
Mentally ill prisoners locked in segregation with no treatment at all; confined in filthy and beastly hot cells; left for days covered in feces they have smeared over their bodies; taunted, abused, or ignored by prison staff; given so little water during summer heat waves that they drink from their toilet bowls. … Suicidal prisoners are left naked and unattended for days on end in barren, cold observation cells. Poorly trained correctional officers have accidentally asphyxiated mentally ill prisoners whom they were trying to restrain.
These are conditions one would expect in a third-world country. Not in the U.S. And not for people who are often most in need of compassion and care.
What research is there to show such mental health courts help? On Friday, a study was released that showed a 20 to 25 percent improvement in offender outcomes under the mental health court system in Minnesota.
Dr. Grohol's article is at this link: http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2009/07/18/imprisoning-people-with-mental-illness/
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Philadelphia Inquirer on Assisted Outpatient Treatment Programs
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/20090330_Editorial__Mental_Health.html
March 30, 2009
EDITORIAL: MENTAL HEALTH
Better treatment
Court-ordered outpatient treatment for the mentally ill is effective for the individual and less expensive for the state. But in Pennsylvania, it's rarely used.
That's because the state's outdated 1976 mental-health law requires ill people to be a "clear and present danger" to themselves or others before a judge can order them to get treatment.
By the time people with mental illness deteriorate to that point, outpatient services are often not appropriate. They usually end up hospitalized.
If such people receive community-based treatment before they deteriorate too far, the results are positive. But people with mental illness often don't recognize they need help, and won't agree to treatment voluntarily.
Forty-two states have some form of assisted outpatient treatment for the mentally ill. And a bill pending in the state Senate would bring Pennsylvania up to date in providing round-the-clock outpatient services. (The New Jersey Senate is also considering similar legislation).
Sponsored by Sen. Stewart Greenleaf (R., Montgomery, Bucks), SB 251 would allow judges to order outpatient mental-health treatment for people involuntarily for up to six months. It would apply only to patients who have been hospitalized at least twice within the previous three years, or have been involved in a serious violent incident within the past four years.
The new standard would be a "likelihood" of danger for receiving treatment involuntarily. The bill provides for a court hearing and legal representation for the mentally ill person. (See the link above for full article.)
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MARY'S COMMENTARY
THERE IS NO MYSTERY AS TO WHY 1.25 MILLION MENTALLY ILL AMERICANS ARE IN PRISON. IT HAS TO DO WITH MONEY, AS DR. GROHOL WROTE, BUT NOT SAVING TAXPAYERS MONEY.
Some believe that public defenders offices have limited resources because of the lack of capital. The opposite is true. Every inmate, whether innocent or guilty, costs taxpayers around $50,000 per year to incarcerate, an amount which varies by state. Providing poor legal defense actually costs taxpayers more money than providing adequate defense, as it frequently results in innocent people being sentenced to expensive prison terms or offenders being sentenced to excessive terms of incarceration. A 30-year-old man who is sentenced to life in prison costs taxpayers around $3.5 million dollars if he lives to his full life expectancy. That amount can more than double if the inmate is or becomes chronically mentally or physically ill. Therefore, public defenders' lack of adequate resources results in unjustified human suffering and substantial avoidable expense to taxpayers even if just one wrongful conviction or overlong prison sentence occurs.
Most instances of imprisoning mental patients are violations against their civil rights, because so many of them lacked an understanding of their Miranda rights (giving accused persons the right to remain silent with the understanding that what they say during police interviews can and will be used against them). Acute mental patients also usually lack the ability to contribute to their own defense at trial. Na Yong Pak's brother reported that after she burned their mother to death within 12 days of release from the mental hospital, Na Yong had no idea whatsoever why she was in prison. What good is it that taxpayers spend millions of dollars "punishing" people like Na Yong? Acute mental patients like Na Yong recognize that they are being punished by imprisonment and often tortured by solitary confinement while cold and naked in small isolation cells, but many of them have no idea why they are made to suffer.
Prisons are called "correctional institutions," and the primary objective is punishment for wrongdoing. Prisons are also supposed to be rehabilitation facilities, even though precious little is done to rehabilitate inmates. Acute mental illness cannot be "corrected" by punishing sick people; neither can mental illness be "rehabilitated." It is a chronic health condition and must be treated, not punished. The victims of the devastating illness need care, like victims of heart disease, diabetes, or any other chronic illness. The cost of treating mental illness in outpatients under an AOT program which combines subsistence assistance with mandatory psychiatric treatment costs substantially less than the average cost of $3.5 million required for lifetime imprisonment after expensive trials that sick people may not even understand.
Nationwide application of Kendra's Law for non-violent mentally ill offenders and hospitalization for violent sick people would save billions annually off America's prison budget and restore 1.25 million Americans to a more wholesome existence. AOT programs have the capacity to facilitate moving many mentally ill offenders from being a taxpayer burden to becoming taxpayers, themselves.
WHENEVER THERE IS A SOCIAL ILL, LOOK AT THE MONEY TRAIL AND SEE WHERE IT LEADS. THERE IS ALWAYS A MONETARY CAUSE FOR EVERY SOCIAL PROBLEM. ( link: 1 Timothy 6:10 )
WHATEVER THE PROBLEM, CHECK AND SEE WHO PROFITS, whether it is a matter of war and peace; poor prison rehab programs; withholding treatment from the mentally ill unless they have the wherewithal to seek psychiatric services (reserving them for prison); environmental injustice; equipping all police officers with Tasers that they should recognize as being less lethal, not "non-lethal"; inadequate public school education (keeping people ignorant); ousting God from public everything (so the Government will be the highest authority in the minds of the people), the proposal of forcing all U.S. citizens to choose between accepting a potentially harmful or deadly H1N1 vaccine or be incarcerated in FEMA camps, etc. Someone profits from every social problem.
______________________
I prayed for you and for me today and found this song:
WHERE IS THE LOVE? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9H1r1BMmGbc
More articles (170+) by this writer are available by clicking the dogs icon or using this link: http://NowPublic.com/duo
Work by this author written to bring Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill include:
ASSISTED OUTPATIENT TREATMENT PROGRAM vs. JAIL FOR MENTALLY ILL
http://my.nowpublic.com/health/assisted-outpatient-treatment-program-mentally-ill-vs-jail
ENFORCED TREATMENT vs. PRISON FOR ACUTE MENTAL PATIENTS and UPDATES, by MARY NEAL http://my.nowpublic.com/health/enforced-treatment-vs-prison-acute-mental-patients-and-updates-mary-neal
WRONGFUL DEATH OF LARRY NEAL
http://WrongfulDeathOfLarryNeal.com
ANNOUNCING ASSISTANCE TO THE INCARCERATED MENTALLY ILL http://my.nowpublic.com/health/announcing-assistance-incarcerated-mentally-ill-aimi
YOUR feedback is welcome at the rich text comments field below. If you have any problems opening links herein, please let us know. Thanks for your interest. Remember that love is more than a noun - a feeling. It is a verb and a commandment from the Lord.
Mary Neal
http://wrongfuldeathoflarryneal.com
Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Il
http://www.Care2.com/c2c/group/AIMI
Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless. ~Ecclesiastes 5:10
And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. ~ Matthew 25:40
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at 12:26 on July 21st, 2009
Very good information
at 09:00 on July 22nd, 2009
Thank you. Please share with others, especially decision makers. We can make wiser decisions about mental health care that will save the sick and promote safety in our communities. All we have is one world, and we must all live here together. What affects one ultimately has the capacity to impact many others. AOTs work extremely well. They have a documented success rate and are cheaper and more humane than criminalizing mental illness.
Elected officials should consider that 1.25 million mental patients have millions of relatives who are voters. It would be wise for our officials to consider their own popularity, which could be greatly enhanced by applying AOTs and winning the devotion of voters who endure hardship caused by criminalizing mental illness. Furthermore, officials would be able to show a significant reduction in crime and jail budgets within a couple of years of instituting AOTs, and that would also benefit their careers.
Of course, there are some offenders who should not be considered for outpatient treatment because of the nature of their offenses. Some of the money saved by applying AOTs should be applied to opening and/or improving inpatient facilities, especially for mentally ill offenders who have committed violent crimes that exclude them from rejoining their communities. No sick people should ever be incarcerated, but either hospitalized or treated in their communities, depending on their offenses. Clarity should be established regarding "not guilty by reason of insanity" pleas. Right now, there are people with extensive backgrounds of psychiatric disorders sitting on death row. That should not happen in a civilized society.
The answer to every problem is in the Bible. I didn't learn that for a long time, and some in authority still don't know it. All that is needed is for decision makers to consider that if their own son or daughter got a head injury today, they would not want their child imprisoned for misbehavior in six months. Yet this is the position many families throughout the U.S.A. are in today. Their weakest members - sick loved ones - are locked away in prisons and jails for behavior they had no control over. Sick citizens suffer, and their families suffer along with them. So do our criminal justice and prison budgets.
We must apply the Golden Rule to the way mental illness is handled in our society.
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. ~:2 Timothy 3:16
I appreciate your comment!
Blessings,
Mary
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anonymous comment (not verified)at 08:26 on July 28th, 2009
http://www.al.com/news/press-register/metro.ssf?/base/news/124877253351170.xml&coll=3
Just another one of many "beyond disturbing" stories. May God help us all. Perhaps you've seen this Mary, but in case you haven't...
at 09:34 on July 28th, 2009
Thanks for letting me know about this. I am sick over his treatment. Thank God he did not die. His notes about his experience are crushing. The worse part is there was no remorse on the part of the officers. No compassion. No shame, even when they discovered why he did not open the door. No concern for the man. They still arrested him. Then if the judge had not been righteous, they all were willing to see this American with a disability go to jail although no crime was done. Where did they recruit these police - the Taliban? Those officers were heartless, cruel beyond imagination. Many of them are, even the women.
Listen to this tape of the Idaho man who was sodomized by a policeman using taser weapon in February.
WARNING -- VIOLENT CONTENT, PROFANITY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9ogk8fQ3Eo
That was my front page story at Care2 yesterday. See the people's comments here:
http://www.care2.com/news/member/513396753/1204505
Where is the love? Where is the commitment to serve and protect? Where is plain human decency? If this keeps happening, I will believe people are either being recruited specifically because they are heartless, or that someone is feeding them some chemical to erase all humanity from their personailities. There cannot be this many officers willing to abuse people under ordinary circumstances. There must be a reason why there are so many people who show sociopathic tendencies on our police forces. I don't think if you got any 100 people together, you would find among them 2 who would treat a deaf mental patient this way. So why are so many of our police officers doing things like this? Something is wrong. I read that many police officers are on steroids, and those can erode a person's sense of reason. The pro wrestler who killed his family and himself was on those.
Maybe many officers were like this all the time and I did not know. The man on the video at the link above seems to believe this is how things always were, but the public did not know until the advent of video cameras and other electronic media to capture the abuse. Maybe he is right. If he is right about it being 50%, and I certainly hope that is wrong, we are all in big trouble.
at 11:49 on July 28th, 2009
Thank you for posting your comments and so much information. As the mother of an adult son who is paranoid schizophrenic, I am aware of the insufficiencies of caring for the mentally ill.
The criminalization of mental illness and drug addiction reflect a punitive society where "out of sight, out of mind" concepts prevale supporting the idea that prisons somehow "solve" the problem. There have been some advances since my son was diagnosed many years ago like mental health courts, but the problem of lack of or insufficiency of community programs to care for and support the mentally ill have left many individuals who do not have family support either on the streets or in prison.
Progress towards a sociological approach to those in the society who need to be taken care of is a slow process. I cling to the belief that it will eventually happen, but probably not in my lifetime.
The stories about abuses by the police are heartbreaking, and this is a complicated problem. I try and take the position that the causes stem from lack of education about the mentally ill, and not creating units that specialize in handling the mentally ill. There is no denying that police interventions are sometimes necessary, and anyone with a mentally ill family member would testify to this, but the outcomes can be much better with well trained officers. I understand that the abuses take precedence in the news, and the times when police interventions are compassionate and effective are not. Additionally, the answers must be not only with the police, but also the public perception of the mentally ill. If we as a society decide to treat the mentally ill humanely, it will be incumbant upon the government systems to respond to the demands of the people. Therefore, the changes that need to occur start with us and how we daily practice tolerance and compassion. And even more understanding directed to those who are ill, and that includes drug addiction and alcholism.
at 23:03 on July 28th, 2009
Hello, A. Thanks for your comments. You are where I was a couple of years ago. You believe criminalizing mental illness is caused by a lack of understanding on the part of decision makers. That is not the problem. After years of study and publishing about this issue, it is apparent to me that this system deliberately uses mental patients as commodities for prison profiteers. Believe me, decision makers understand fully that community care with enforced treatment would solve the problem. I was surprised to learn that what I was advocating has already been tried and fully proved. There are existing programs such as Laura's Law and Kendra's Law, which are Assisted Outpatient Treatment Programs. In New York, program participants experienced around 90% decrease in homelessness, arrests, and hospitalization under Kendra's Law.
Don't waste your time, Sister, trying to get the system to "understand" what is needed. They already know and have the studies done and the results are in to prove you are right. They also know that to restore the acute mentally ill to a more wholesome existence in their communities would cost them significant private prison profits. That is the entire problem.
The exact same thing that happened to children in Pennsylvania who were channeled into private prison facilities by judges who confessed to earing $2.6 million in kickbacks for doing so is what happened to America's chronic mental patients in the 1960's and 1970's. If you read about the Pennsylvania judges' case, you will know that they diverted funds from the public juvenile facilities in order that public facilities would not meet the minimum criteria for operating and be closed. Then, they channeled children who appeared in their courtrooms into privately owned detention centers, including children who had done no serious crime and should have been dealt with in their homes and communities.
Similarly, funds were diverted from mental hospitals and community care a few decades ago, resulting in hospitals closing and reduction in community programs. After that happened, hundreds of thousands of Americans with severe mental problems were turned out on the street or returned to their families with the full understanding that most of them would fall victim to the penal system due to inappropriate behavior. It worked like a charm. Each year, the amount of money pouring into our prison system grows. According to PEW, the prison budget is now $50 BILLON EACH YEAR, at the rate of from $50,000 to $150,000 per acute mental patient, and such persons comprise around 1/2 of the 2.3 million people incarcerated.
In the Penn. case, the indicted judges were working with the private prisons, and now the Penn. Supreme Court judges are pushing to destroy the records of over 6,000 children who were affected, which would prevent them ever having legal recourse for their pain and suffering. Judges, elected officials, prison owners and investors, and perhaps even some in the mental health associations are prison profiteers. That is why the public hears there is inadequate funding, when the truth is that probably twice or three times the funding needed for enforced community care and hospitals is instead diverted to prisons, leaving our mental patients vulnerable and subject to arrest.
A, there is no lack of understanding by decision makers about your son's needs and my late brother's needs. It comes down to money - not the Lack of money, but Who Gets the Money. Many of the decision makers are in the position of the Pennsylvania judges, private prison profiteers. They are private prison investors and owners, and private prisons are not used until public facilities are full and overflowing. Therefore, we live in a prison nation, and the mentally ill are the primary targets.
I am sorry your family has the same battles that mine faced with trying to protect and provide for a schizophrenic member. There are currently 1.25 million mentally ill prisoners in America, so there are probably 10 million people like you and me, assuming that each mentally ill inmate has several close family members and freinds who care about his/her treatment. When we add the acute mental patients who are not incarcerated, the number is likely over 20 million people (voters) who wrestle with caring for a loved one with inadequate support from the system. In fact, it seems to be the system that we need to save them from, oftentimes.
Therefore, A, there are enough of us to DEMAND CHANGE. Most mental health organizations that promote community care as an alternative to prisons omit the essential element for making community care work as a jail diversion - Enforced Treatment. Here is one that really understands. I urge you to contact Treatment Advocacy Center and help their work. TAC does not concentrate exclusively on incarcerated mentally ill persons like my org. does - Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill (AIMI), but I have experienced so much computer interference, actual in-person stalking, and threats to my person and my family because of my advocacy that my work is not as effective as it could be.
Blessings! Pray for me. I am virtually a prisoner in my own home. Read http://wrongfuldeathoflarryneal.com - That is where I started. Now that I understand the problem and who is behind it and why, I am followed, censored, accosted at neighborhood stores (when I used to leave home), etc. I tried to help deliver the mentally ill from prison and wound up a prisoner myself. Sometimes God works in mysterious ways. I certainly hope that it is not with some tragedy that the 20 million people who have this problem get a wake-up call and the millions more who have an interest in human rights but do not currently focus on mental health. That is why I just stay home. Read my articles and visit our group at http://www.Care2.com/c2c/group/AIMI - Take care. Bless you and your son. You are far from being alone. Far.
at 08:34 on July 29th, 2009
First, I am sorry to hear you had a family member with this dreaded disease, and thank you for the blessing for me and my son.
My son was in jail for a few months, but then he went to a mental hospital in Southern California. I had to drive six hours to see him, and then drive six hours home because I didnt have enough money to stay overnight. He was there for three months until I found out they were going to send him to another hospital even farther away. I went to the director and begged him to have my son sent to the facility that was only 3 miles from our town. Fortunately, he did. He was there for almost five years. We saw just about everything during the time he was there. We finally took him out against the social workers' advice because we could see he was becoming institutionalized. This is one of the best things we ever did, and he has been out for five years now. Although his father and I have been divorced for many years, we both take an active role in his life. He is an accomplished musician, and we do all we can to support him in this. He has been living with me since last October, and he is doing quite well.
Without going over the whole story, I have been stalked for nine years, and because of things that have been said and done to me I believe it is because of some perception that I caused my son's illness. This was even suggested to me by a "professional." He even made suggestive remarks also to my daughter. I am very sorry to hear you are stalked, but according to the gang stalking criteria because you have taken a stance against law enforcement, you are a target. I have been gang stalked for years by law enforcement, but I just found out a month ago that what has happened to me actually has a name and is in effect organized crime and is sanctioned by government entities. Every time I speak out about this, it results in some kind of increased harassment or stalking, but pretending nothing is happening is not an option for me anymore. The worse thing is when the harassment effects someone else in order to hurt me. My next door neighbor came to dinner Saturday night. She is 66 year old women with osteoporois and arthritis and can hardly walk. Someone unplugged her motion light outside of house, so she had to walk down an incline dirt driveway and her stairs in the dark at 11pm at night. She called me the next day to tell me this was the second time it had happened. This grieves me when things like this happen. My daughter has also been harassed.
In addition to following the money with regard to the prison system, I think it's also political. If all the abuses you state are well known by state and federal politicians, why haven't they done anything? Taking a stand against local, state, and even federal justice systems can be politically risky. Status quo means they just pretend they don't know about the problems, or try and shift the blame. Taking a stand, for example, for prisoners puts a politician on the side of individual human rights and in opposition to current standards used for incarceration. To their broader constituency, this makes them so-called "soft on crime" and not re-electable.
We don't have look very far back in American history to see the persecution of those favoring civil rights. It started with the Civil War and continued on to Women's Rights, then came the McCarthy Era, then school segreation and voting rights, civil rights for African-Americans, then abortion rights. You are part of an American spirit that refuses the status quo and is not afraid to speak up for what you feel is right. You are more American than those who hide behind their positions and kowtow to profits or social position.
Thank you for continuing the quest for human rights that so many chose to ignore. I will be punished one way or the other for these words, but I felt I needed to say them to you.
at 09:54 on July 29th, 2009
Thank you, A. I am amazed by the number of people who answer my articles and report that they are also being stalked and persecuted. I anticipated that when I told people about this, there would be denials and outrage. Instead, I am told that many people are suffering illegal stalking and persecution in America similar to what happened in Germany before and during WWII. In our case, there is no attempt on the part of the government to correct itself regarding its denial of investigation regarding Larry and helping end my censorship, cyberstalking, and in-person stalking.
I used to find it hard to lose my tail until one night I discovered a light on my cellphone doing a rapid blink. You may want to consider not carrying a cellphone that is connected with a pay plan. I now use the cellphones for which one buys calling cards, and I reserve one that I do not use to call relatives in case they trace the phone back to me that way. Buy one and keep it for an emergency. If you have the tracking system on your car, you may want to deactivate it. Apparently the same things that should add to our security like cellphones, tracking systems on automobiles, and police departments, are being used some against citizens.
At first, I did not write about being stalked, because I perceived that adversaries would try to use the stigma attached to mental illness and the fact that my brother was schizophrenic to discount my allegations. But one night a guard was with me and witnessed a man hiding in a vehicle parked next to mine on an otherwise empty parking lot. We followed the vehicle for miles at high speeds to get the license number. I then wrote about the incident because I had a credible eyewitness. Surprisingly, Cochran Firm attorney Angela Mason wrote a pleading in our case against that law firm and asked Judge Batten to make Mary Neal stop accusing The Cochran Firm attorneys of having a Caucasian man in a white vehicle follow me. Although I did not accuse any specific party of the stalking, and I NEVER told what color the vehicle was that followed me most often, she KNEW. A relative suggested that I call her and ask the man's name and address - she probably knows that, too.
Police won't investigate the stalking, and the USDOJ refuses to investigate my brother's MURDER in Memphis Shelby Co. Jail. The only thing that people are interested in stopping seems to be my telling about the kind of justice system we now have - one that is intent on killing Troy Davis for a murder that is not proved, but allows murders of Americans with disabilities in government custody. A justice system that spends 1,000 manhours investigating the deaths of Michael Vick's pit bulls, but refuses to investigate the secret arrest and death of a citizen. It is a sad state of affairs.
Thanks so much for your comments. I am sorry you are undergoing the stalking and that it spreads to people you care about. I will pray for you and ask that you also pray for my family and me. These are evil times.
at 10:12 on July 29th, 2009
I have learned more about gang stalking in the last month, and everything that I suspected is true. My car has a some kind of tracking device, my home has surveillance mechanisms inside and outside. My cell phone I am sure has what you are describing. Put all this together with individuals willing to gang stalk in the neighborhood and the community, and you know the situation. I would remove the gps placed on my car if I knew where it was. But with my phone conversations bugged and probably recorded, and all my activities monitored, what would be the sense. It's been so many years now that I honestly forget that everything I say and do is eavesdropped upon and given to various people to perform their gang stalking activities. Most of the time, I am more concerned with caring for my family that I cannot think about what these people who have chosen to make me their obssession think or do. Stalking cars drive up and down in front of my house daily or on que when I am watching tv or movies. Their favorite time to gun the engines in front of my house or have motor cycles start up is when someone dies in a movie, especially a woman...and on and on. But after nine years of this, I am impervious to most of it.
Your story about the law firm does not surprise me. Gang stalking is political, and people do not want to be thought of as a sympathizer because then they can become a target. In fact, anyone can become a target. Such is the insidious nature of it, which is why it is referred to by some as the perfect crime. If a person wants revenge or for whatever reason, all they have to do is accuse you of anything they chose, and let the gang stalkers do the rest. The original person never needs to be involved again unless they chose.
The cyberstalking goes without saying. Every computer I have had for nine years has been hacked and impeded in every way possible.
In the gang stalking criteria, using the mental illness label for those who claim to be harrassed is one of their methods to discredit the targets. Indeed, these are evil times. All we can do is continue to speak out, and hope that some day some one will listen.
I joined your website, so I will continue the conversation about wrongful incarceration of the mentally ill there.
at 11:26 on July 29th, 2009
We are very pleased to have you join our efforts to help decriminalize mental illness and replace imprisonment with AOT programs or hospitalization, depending on whether violent crime led to the arrest in a given case.
I am surprised that you have been stalked for nine years. Do you know why? Frankly, I believe my stalkers advanced beyond intimidation late summer 2008. I was followed and accosted at a neighborhood Chevron station with my 6-yr.-old grandson by four vehicles and a USDOT truck. The men did not seem to mind that people saw them and the store camera recorded them. I called 911, and police did not respond during the hour we waited there terrified. I made two videos about the experience that are available at YouTube under the title "Cochran Firm Fraud."
Since that horrible experience, I have lived mostly as a prisoner in my home. But that is ending soon. I feel that I am treated this way to contain the information about my brother's Guantanamo-style secret arrest and death, The Cochran Firm Fraud, and data in the article above about prison profiteering causing the criminalization of mental illness. Once all hope of containing the info is gone, maybe our endangerment will cease. Why people would prefer such drama rather than justice is something I will wonder about forever.
A few weeks after my horrible experience at the Chevron station, on November 9, another person who planned to sue Shelby County Jail for improper police conduct was murdered - shot execution style. Maybe you read about it. She was a transgender person named Duanna Johnson.
Thanks for your input. May God continue to bless and protect you and your son.
Mary
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anonymous comment (not verified)at 09:30 on July 29th, 2009
to a211423 and mary:
These group/gang stalkers are a menace to civil society. All we can do is keep trying to expose their crimes and pray that the truth will eventually come to light.
Thank you Mary for your continued efforts on behalf of some of the weakest and most vulnerable among us.
I still choose to believe that, in the end, good will triumph over the evil that walks among us.
at 09:42 on July 29th, 2009
Unless we stand for something, we will fall for anything. To be honest, I had no idea that we were getting into a James Bond movie plot by asking for accountability about Larry. My advocacy for other vulnerable people evolved as I found out why Larry's murder was treated differently by authorities - like something to be swept under the rug. Then I found out about criminalizing mental illness and many other things that are in my articles here. I share everything I learned with the public, civil rights groups and organizations, police, government officials, and the USDOJ itself. That is why I cannot understand there being no CHANGE.
at 11:20 on July 29th, 2009
You said: Unless we stand for something, we will fall for anything.
One of the reasons I have been able to get through the the last nine years is my belief that there are causes greater than our own, and people who have suffered far more than I. I have watched my son suffer with schizophrenia that has robbed him of a life that could have been much more than it is. People like you and those you described who have been mistreated and dealt with unjustly. I have never fought back because how do you fight ignorant, self-righteous and judgemental people who have their own prejudices and reasons for acting out aggressively with reckless regard without considering whom they hurt or malign? They profess to know everything, but in reality they know nothing and for them to presume they do is their folly.
The reason there is no change is because our laws do not protect everyone. They protect you if you are rich or if you are part of a group from whom politicians can gain esteem by supporting. Women, the poor, mentally ill or disabled, prisoners are the most vulnerable, and these populations have few brave advocates in the places where change can ocurr. You said you share everything with groups. The problem there is the groups you name are susceptible to political and economic pressure. If they are going to advocate for a person or a cause, they need to confirm that its not going to effect their status politically or economically. Change needs to come from people who care enough do like you say: Stand for Something.
at 11:59 on July 29th, 2009
God is a very present help in the time of trouble. I think He will do more about this once I give up cigarettes. Maybe I am being punished. I don't know what else to think.
Who knew we lived in a place where this type of thing is allowed? I had no idea. The amazing thing to me is that the same justice system marches people into death chambers and administers lethal injection. Many cases like the one you brought to our attention regarding the deaf mental patient being attacked by police officers appear to indicate we have a system wherein criminals are in charge of punishing criminal behavior, and they excuse their friends. Sometimes it seems hopeless to me to even try to say, "Please stop." They seem to have no concept of right and wrong and no respect for it if they do. If this lawlessness by those in charge is not put in check, I fear for the cohesion of our society. I am reminded of my grandson when he was two. If you asked him to stop doing something, he would look in your hand to see if you had anything to back up your command. If you had no little switch, he would ignore you. Apparently, our backup to enforce justice is gone.
Regarding the civil and human rights groups and orgs, I assume they already knew how far away from American ideals the country has strayed, and for whatever reason, they accept it. I figure either the leaders are a part of it or afraid of it because they are also victimized.
Why are you stalked? If you want to tell me off this discussion strand - but it certainly will not be in private, knowing that we are both monitored - write me at MaryLovesJustice@gmail.com
at 12:47 on July 29th, 2009
When there are no enforcable checks and balances or consequences for those in power, they become the oppressors. And that is what we are seeing happen in our society, and unfortunately unless you are one of the oppressed, you don't know its happening . I know I didnt. Until nine years ago, I never concieved of anything as evil as has happened to me. And until one month ago, I did not know it was methodical, organized, sanctioned and even advanced by people to whom we place our trust.
Leaders are afraid, but not with fear for their life or the life of their loved ones like I have been.
at 13:21 on July 29th, 2009
Well, what are the leaders afraid of, A? Why won't they enforce justice? You assert they are not afraid for their lives or the lives of loved ones as you are, so what scares them? The idea of missing their kickback checks? The possibility of stepping on toes and not advancing on the job? What scares leaders so badly that they watch the country go to hell? They need to all start drinking bottled water and stay away from the water fountain. It is like someone has turned them all into Stetford Wives.
at 16:00 on July 29th, 2009
American culture reveres success. We instill in our children the belief that being a good American means having a good job, nice house, car, taking those yearly vacations, and by all means working as hard as you can to make MONEY. After watching some documentaries about so-called primitive societies that have remained in tact today, I wonder how civilized we really are. Are we happier? Are we safer? Has chasing the dollar and success made us better people? When I see what is happening around me, I ask myself who the "primitive people" really are.
The magnitude of your question about why they wont enforce justice is more than we can exam here. But I think money and status have a lot to do with it, and how this evolved is complex. But remember where we came from: The Puritans. They persecuted just about anyone and everyone they defined as a threat to their community. It didn't matter if it was a lie. The important component was the cohesiveness and exclusivity of the group. Hester Prine didn't just have a baby out of wedlock, she challenged her accusers and never gave in to them.
at 18:56 on July 29th, 2009
Obviously decision makers' loyalty to the group is more important to them than their oaths of office or human decency. I call them the NWO gang, because they display a gang mentality. Even if their motivation is money more than a sense of group loyalty, that is still like a gang that engages in crime for illegal reward.
I think that a group of police officers like the eight that responded and were on the scene when the Idaho man was sodomized by taser and those who attacked the deaf mental patient in the link you posted are showing mob mentality. Mobs do things that the individual members likely would not do if they were not with the mob. The same thing seems to have happened with Professor Gate's harassment and arrest. It appeared that Sgt. Crawley was about to leave Gate's home without further ado after seeing the I.D. until more Cambridge police officers showed up. Then he took a tougher stance.
Not all of the people came from the Puritans. Many who are in positions of power, especially since the election, don't have that ancestry or cultural background. The same is true about police officers. Two officers who were involved in Sean Bell's death were black. Many of those involved in the Shelby County, Tennessee cover-up regarding my brother's secret arrest and wrongful death are black.
Nevertheless, I think what you allege about people protecting the cohesion of the group applies very well to Larry's case. I feel that if Memphis did not have a black mayor and so many black members of the County Commission and our wrongful death lawyers who facilitated the cover-up were not believed in error to be a black firm, then black civil rights orgs would show outrage at the secret arrest and murder of a black handicapped man like Larry and the cover-up conspiracy that continues today.
What it comes down to is criminality. People who get with a group and harm others or help cover up crimes rather than render assistance to victims or enforce justice are simply criminals, and a good many criminals are in place on our police forces and in positions of power in our government. The most blatant historical example of this is probably Hitler's Nazi government. After the war, those who were complicit in the murders of millions of Jewish people were rightly tried as war criminals. Saying that they were following orders did not excuse them, because despite their belonging to Hitler's army, they had a duty as human beings to fellow human beings, and they violated that duty. The same Nazi-like mindset was evident in the prisoner torture in War on Terror camps and is apparent now as so many Americans who are charged with no crime are reporting that they are stalked, monitored, and censored without any protection or remedy from the justice system. Some citizens are abused and/or killed by police officers who seem to have immunity at law which was illegally given. When it becomes obvious to the masses that we have rights on paper that are not actually recognized or enforced by those in power, where will it lead?
at 09:30 on July 30th, 2009
Hate groups seem to flourish when a society is in conflict or the balance of opportunity professionally and economically favors a few leaving a segment of the population without mobility in the system. The disenfranchised become angry, and they have no way of voicing their dissatification except to become aggressive and seek out others whom they can bring into their fold of hate. Gangstalkers according to the definitions I have read can include former convicts on parole and persons arrested for minor crimes. These people are engaged by police. In the case of minor crimes, the police let them go in exchange for their committment to stalk a targetted individual. The KKK and modern day Nazi groups are examples of this. When policing agencies evolve into groups like this, private citizens are at risk. Police know this, and they can exercise limitless power unless they engage a high profile person like Professor Gates. This becomes news, and news gets attention and sometimes results.
My reference to the Puritans was about how the sociology of punishment might have evolved in American Society, not so much about direct ancestry. It is not an accident that America imprisons more people than any country in the world. The founding fathers witnessed what happened in the French Revolution and in Russia, and our Democracy was born out of the Enlightenment with laws to protect citizens and a government of checks and balances. So I ask myself what happened? When rogue hate crimes are accepted, and people are either apathetic or afraid to do anything about it, who will care?
Where will it lead? Many believe we are on the road to Fascism. All we can do is continue as you have to become a voice for the incarcerated mentally ill and for those who have become victims of a system with no governing conscience.
at 10:42 on July 30th, 2009
A, I have learned so much from our discussions. That is an apt phrase - "no governing conscious." You used three simple words to say what it takes me paragraphs to describe. That is what we have, A - a system that has no governing conscious and apparently no conscience whatsoever. Only sociopaths have no conscience. The absence of a conscience used to be deviant, but now it seems to be the norm among many decision makers. It saddens me. We will continue to pray for those in leadership over us as the Bible admonishes. God is able.
at 10:33 on July 30th, 2009
http://www.ajc.com/news/dekalb/cops-suspended-for-obama-103821.html
This is exactly what we are discussing here. The abuses of power by the police, and this would have gone unnoticed if not intercepted by the federal government, and it involved the President of the United States. How many private citizens are subject to these illegal searches? So for all those people who want less governement, this is something to think about.
at 11:28 on July 30th, 2009
Oh, my goodness! These people have gall, don't they? Don't they know that everything that happens on a computer can be traced and stays in the computer memory someplace?
I don't think it matters, A, that the feds have this power to find criminal activity on the web. There is an agency that you can find on the web through the FBI - I forgot the name - that helps stop Internet crime. They did not respond to my request for assistance. I would wonder if they got my request if it had been via email, but they have a form to complete by giving detailed descriptions of what is happening. I completed the form and got back their acknowledgement of receipt. Probably unless you are a big perfume company who is having your trade secrets stolen or President Obama, they won't help you. They are set up to handle cyberstalking other Internet crime, but they were not interested in helping my family. I did not understand why at the time, but now I do. If you want their contact information, I can give it to you. Maybe they will help you.
The only consolation I have with all that I endure is that I do not think it is the actual Government doing it. If the Government wants you gone, you are out of here. If they want your computer to be monitored and controlled, they could do it less clumsily, I believe. Sometimes I think perhaps it is them and they would want to harm Larry's family, especially me, and make it appear accidental but never got a good opportunity. I just don't know. I just pray and trust God. I never read spy novels or much non-fiction - only romances, the classics, and best selling courtroom or who-done-it tales. I never even paid much attention to current events or local elections! This drama is way beyond my realm. Therefore, I just told all my neighbors about it, passed out flyers, I tell everyone I can via www, and stay home. I thought my life was a little boring before all of this happened with Larry, but imagine being essentially under house arrest for a year. At least I used to go to the mall!
I am thinking of taking a computer course. I need to know more about cyberstalking techniques so that I can be better prepared to present irrefutable accounts of the interference I endure. I don't hope to stop the cyberstalkers, but when I talk with computer technicians about it, they have to ask me to look at this or that and read them the numbers I see, etc. If I knew more about computer technology, I would be able to speak their language and make sure that what I film is the most important parts of what transpires. In other words, I am filming the results of what the cyberstalkers are doing. But they are only doing it through the system. I want to know how to capture the systemic changes they are making when they control my computer, as well as be able to use appropriate terminology to explain what is done at the websites. Do you know much about computers? I am just a user, although having used them since the first ones rolled off the assembly line helps.
at 11:18 on July 30th, 2009
This is really a case where the police acted stupidly. Background checks search state and federal registries, why these police did not consider this, I do not know.
Cyberstalking is the 21st century's perfect crime. Cyberstalkers are like the viruses they create: they mutate to accommodate themselves and their environment continually. Once you figure out one method, they are busily creating another hacking approach. I do not presume as a private citizen that I can combat them when government agencies and corporations are hacked regularly and cannot protect themselves.
Because I have had computer problems for the last nine years and have lost a lot of information due to hackers corruption, now I don't keep files on my computer that I can't afford to lose. I make hard copies of everything I want to save and file it. I lost all of my son's medication records that I had kept for years, and that finally convinced me to not even try to use the computer for archiving.
And even if we can capture examples of of cyberstalking, who are we going to give it to if no one cares? I am sorry if I sound pessimistic, but really once you gather the information, then what?
at 13:50 on July 30th, 2009
You're funny! I love it! Ha, ha, ha. I keep forgetting that there is NO ONE to go to when you are victimized. I should know that better than anyone, since I called 911 from the store that night and the police were a no-show. It takes getting used to - that is for sure. Frankly, A, I was saving proof for years. I BELIEVED that when the new administration came in office, they would need all of the data to trace the problem and investigate Larry's death and . . . oh, well. Man plans, but God decides. This is about to make me cry, A. I am so disappointed. Truly. I was like a prisoner marking my days to get paroled, and then I got time added instead. I will check this thread later today, OK? Thanks for all your good advice.
Incidentally, since I have to make a living at home, I now plan to just use the data to make a living. Of course, like you, I discovered that nothing is safe saved on the Internet or one's own hard drive. Not only that, but I used to get lots of threats about burning down our house. I send copies to a number of people and . . . well, I know what you mean.
I believe a few people will be interested in this enough to buy the book, see the films, etc. I tried to get into Ad-sense by Google. My MJJ article got over 30,000 hits. My website was hitting from 2,000 to 7,000 a month at last count - http://wrongfuldeathoflarryneal.com - and that is without an update in over a year. We don't update, because it seems cyberstalkers have more access when one is editing. I may never update it. I need to go ahead and sell the manuscript and also sell ad space on my writing. So, we will see how that works out. The cyberstalkers are busy, of course, but I'm doing a jail break first.
We made films that are like that guy crying over Brittany Spears - did you see it? His name is Clonkin, or something similar. It got almost 30 million hits. Believe me - the tears come easily when talking about this ordeal. How horrible is it to get ads with a family zipped in a sardine can and know they mean your family? How horrible do you think it is to be sent pictures of coffins on the Internet? What about pictures of dying dogs with messages about poisoning animals (you will note that my icon is dogs). This has been more scary than watching The Exerocist, and that was the most frightening thing that happened to me before this stalking on the Internet and in-person. I stopped watching horror films after The Exerocist, and that was in the 70's. A, it is a nightmare!
Honestly, it is like those people on movies who are surrounded by zombies. The heroines look into the eyes of the creatures, and there is no soul, no humanity left at all. That is what the people are like who do this. They are totally devoid of conscience, there is nothing in them to appeal to for decency. They even sent me an ad threatening the children in our family - holding a child's head down in a toilet until it drowned. They send kidnapping ads. I write to people and ask if they ever saw ads like this on the Internet, and they say no. I trace the ads sometimes, but I won't go into that - probably ever. I posted the coffin ad on the web. They used to take the picture of the lethal injection bed I use for advocating against the death penalty and they put my name beneath it. When I would open different pages at Care2, it would just pop up! One night they did it when a visitor was in the kitchen and she wrote an affidavit that I filed in USDC in our court case. Judge Batten did not say a word about the illegal acts. Nothing. Empty eyes.
When we publish that - just one of them, we should be able to emerge from our front door without as much concern. At least, that is the hope. The entire exercise has likely been to keep Larry's death and the subsequent cover-up secret. We believe that once we dash that hope, things will get more normal. We kept trying to work things out in court, but no go. I guess you know all about courts these days. But dinner must be provided.
If you have any ideas on any of this, let me know. Don't tell me to get more security on my computer. My nephew drove here from a long distance to load the best of the best on a computer I used. I suppose it was harder for them to get into. For a day or so, I had net freedom! So they somehow destroyed it.
Blessings!
at 12:21 on July 30th, 2009
Have you tried any independent film makers who might be interested in Larry's story? I don't know anything about that end of the industry, but it might be worth your investigating. You would need a screen play, so you need to get a screen writer to adapt your manuscript. His fee could be contingent on the sale of screen play. It's a gamble on their part, but if the story is credible, well researched and documented, they might do it.
No, I did not see anything about Brittany Spears. I don't follow celebrity news much, it takes enough time just trying to stay ahead of the domestic and international issues.
The stalkers are always busy whether in cyberspace or real space. We are their obssession, and to keep the enthusiasum going they can never rest. But like I have stated before, if they are stalking me perhaps they are leaving someone else alone.
You said "things will get more normal." After nine years, this is my normal. Some people who are gang stalked don't survive it. I have. Only because I know who I am, and no matter what they try to turn me into through manipulation to justify their criminal acts, my personal constitution remains in tact.
at 14:07 on July 30th, 2009
Here is one of the "Leave Brittany Spears Alone" videos. There are dozens. This is probably the original with 26,410,951 views.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHmvkRoEowc&NR=1
Thanks for the advice. Do you work in some area of the industry? I ask because you say you do not know about "that end of the industry."
I am very happy you survive and stay strong regardless of the stalking, A. Although I wish you were not going through this, you and other fellow sufferers make me feel better about my ordeal. There is even a Targeted Individuals group at Yahoo - I forgot the exact link.
at 09:30 on July 31st, 2009
I meant I was not familiar with the writing or publishing. I am retired administrative secretary. LOL. I like movies, and watch a lot of film. I have a BA in Health Services Administration, and worked in Public Health for seventeen years and four years in Emergency Services all for the same county. I am fortunate to have retirement and social security.
Indeed, I feel for those who are either falsely accused like me or like you. People for whom their beliefs and activism are stalked. I have read on some of the anti-gang stalking sites that the aim of stalkers is for their victims to kill themselves. This was a shocking revelation. Please know, I just found out about the organization of gang stalking a month ago. I thought I was the only one who was going through this. But as I read, everything that has happened to me right from the beginning nine years ago is gang-stalk scripted.
Yahoo has not been a good place for me in the past. I have not gone to any chat areas in three years. The cyberstalking usually begins whenever I frequent a site. It happened on schizophrenia.com and it will begin here as well. It's only a matter of time. In gang stalking there are what they call infiltrators who pretend to be gang stalked in order to gain the confidence of a victim, sometimes its even friends of the victim. Hence, I am leery of going to some websites particularly if there is chat. This is a news site, so it is not like most.
Talk to you soon.
at 13:28 on July 31st, 2009
Thanks for sharing more info on your experiences. I am not accused of anything, but stalked because I accuse others who are/were involved in my brother's wrongful death and subsequent cover-up. With your BA in health services admn., I know that you have a good background to help your son. Good for you. I am glad that he has you.
Someone advised that it is a good idea to get his power of attorney. That way, if ever a problem arises, you would have the right to act in his behalf. One person I advocate for is Jeremy Smith. His mom got his power of attorney, but the D.A. ignored it and tricked poor Jeremy into signing for EIGHT YEARS IN PRISON FOR MERELY HITTING SOMEONE. Jeremy was in solitary confinement the last time his mom and I communicated. I wrote about Jeremy Smith in our group and at this link http://www.care2.com/c2c/share/detail/1163440
He has been schizophrenic since childhood, and it is wrong for him and his family to suffer this way, but that is how acute mental patients are treated often. This petition is another example of interference. When the first Jeremy Smith petition had run out of time, I should have been able to renew it, but the button for that was missing! Therefore, I had to start a new one, and everyone who is referred to the old link will discover they cannot sign it. You would be amazed at the cyberstalking that is done to prevent my giving Assistance to the Incarcerated Mentally Ill. That is why I say often that the people who do this are werewolves who derive profit from the blood of human beings. It is a whole book in itself.
Here are Jeremy's peitions. Read the comments. You might find them interesting, since your son has schizophrenia like Jeremy and my brother.
Justice for Jeremy 2 Petition
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/111/Justice-for-Jeremy2
See Jeremy Smith's closed petition and read some of the responses at this link: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/JusticeForJeremy
I don't do chat. It is a cyberstalker's playground for some reason. I joined a number of Yahoo Groups - just Google that. There are plenty that deal with justice and other social issues and some that focus on mental health - all through emails, not chats. Lots of cyberstalking goes on there, but I suppose that applies over the entire Web, including news sites.
They must think people are very weak-minded to kill themselves over cyberstalking, if you are right in your assessment about that being the aim. I never heard of anything so ridiculous - not you - THEM. Seems it would be easier to just sell one's computer in a yard sale if cyberstalkers are driving them to suicide. That would make a good Twilight Zone plot. I hope it never really happened to anyone, because it seems so avoidable. I could see it if every computer did not have an "off" switch! If they get too naughty, one could do as I do -- keep a computer that is not connected to the Internet for typing things you don't want them to have access to read or destroy. Or one could change hard drives frequently and put the old hard drive in a safe deposit box. There are ways to counter their attacks. Changing hard drives also gets rid of all their spyware for a few.
This is a trip, A, because the computer people I have met and worked with are helpful and seem very HUMAN. Where do the pharaohs find these people who become their cyberstalkers?
The in-person stalking is a different matter. One needs a partner to help deal with that. Have someone hide in your backseat with a video camera. Please don't have them get in your car in the open - use a garage. Let the stalkers see you putting baskets of clothes or something in your backseat so your videographer will have some covering in case one of the cars come near. DO NOT SAY ONE WORD TO YOUR VIDEOGRAPHER. You never know if they have put a device on your car. One day when my son-in-law and I were followed, when we exited Wal-Mart, there was a man leaving from the direction of our car. We had parked near the end of the lot and there were many parking places closer, so we always wondered if he had put a tracking device or listening device on the car. Maybe.
In any case, when you are followed, have your partner film the car or cars that are following you. Do lots of diversionary driving that will leave no doubt that the vehicles are following you. Go in and out of parking lots, make turns, etc. Your videographer will capture the proof you need that you are being stalked. Try to get behind one of the cars, if you can, and film the license plates. Have a cell phone that they are used to you using turned on and make a call on it to make it easy for the stalkers to follow you.
Get an affidavit from your videographer that very day while the details are fresh in his/her mind, and put that and your original film in a safe deposit box. Make sure you get the videographer's signature notarized. The notary does not have to see the wording on the affidavit. All she/he is notarizing is the signature. Take or send a copy of your film to the police, and get a receipt. Even if they do nothing about it (like police did nothing about my stalking, despite affidavits from witnesses), at least you will have proof that it is happening. I think they try to make people seem sick who make these allegations, but everything that happens on the computer or off is very easy to prove. If you have not been collecting proof, then do so. You never know when folks will advance to actual physical harm, so you want to have evidence. It would be best if your videographer is over 18 and a non-relative. As a legal secretary with thousands of hours of reading and watching legal plots, I know the name of the game is prove it, prove it, prove it.
Many blessings. I am very happy you found your way to my article. I feel that I made a new friend. My regards to your son.
Mary
at 13:31 on July 31st, 2009
Yes, I have considered the DPA for my son, as they can be both for medical and economic issues. His would be medical because the money he gets from SSI is barely enough for him to get by.
Yes, I know what you mean by proof, but I have no one to help me. I havent even told my children about everything. Although, my daughter is aware of the vandalism and some police stalking as she has been stalked recently. I don't want to say too much here because we know the stalkers read all of this. And for me, whenever I mention the police, the harassment increases. My friends are not the support I needed. Right from the beginning they lied to me. I suspected it all along, but last December I found out for sure. My situation is I put my children before myself. My mentally ill son lives with me, and taking care of him is almost a full time job. I do my best to make his life meaningful and fulfilling, but the cost to me is more than you can imagine. I don't have the energy to do all the things you say, and frankly because it has been going on for so long, it doesnt bother me like it did years ago.
Both my son and I had our cars tampered with a local Big O Tire place last summer, and now we dont go there anymore. His car had the steering fluid either drained or contaminated resulting in difficult steering his car. My car had hoses disconnected and brake fluid contaminated. Two days after having the service I drove out of town, and my car started heating up. I made it to a Big O in another town, and they discovered everything that was done. The hoses to the cooling system were loosened and the brake fluid was contaminated and some other things I cant remember. It was over $500.00 of damage. The braking system is very important here because I live in the mountains, and to go anywhere requires a lot of braking. What would you surmise from this? Was someone trying to rig our cars in order to cause an accident and kill us? Is this attempted murder?
Gang stalkers, whether they are civil entities or private citizens, are dangerous people. I never underestimate the degree of danger. Instilling fear is their sole purpose, and perhaps for some even murder.
at 15:07 on July 31st, 2009
When things are too big for us to handle, they are just the right size for our BIG God.
HE CAN HANDLE IT!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yIfTAjQXP8
I prayed about all the stalkers who followed me home from work every night (I wrote in one of the posts above about Angela Mason, Cochran Firm attorney, telling Judge Batten the color of the main stalking vehicle). Guess what God did to answer my prayer? He had me laid off! I said, "OK, now how will I shop?" Well, what fun is shopping when folks are following you? None. So, oh well. Now I window shop online. LOL! I did not even get to go Christmas shopping last year. That has NEVER happened to me before. I used to go to the mall nearly every day for something - even if it was just for coffee and window shopping. It hurts me to talk about it. I have never taken my granddaughter to the mall. Can you believe that? I don't go to the park any more - it is awful. Truly. These are some terrible people, and God has a place for them. I just rest in knowing that.
There are some inexpensive things you can do that do not require great effort. Keep a small digital camera or a cell phone w/ video capability right beside you when you work online. When they delete your text or links within your text, or whatever tricks they do to you, film it. I usually know which of my posts they will attack - anything at all that is about prisoner abuse or Tasers, etc. I film before "submit," and after. "Boom! There it is," as the song goes. Here is one thing they do on your emails - they substitute the suffix - whatever comes after the @ . That way, they probably have your emails come to THEM, rather than your addressees. Film before you hit "send" and after. You will have the "after" in your sent file, so go there and film it.
Sure they will kill you. You are right to be cautious. Sociopaths will do anything. They enjoy hurting people and killing animals. That is their sickness. It is the most dangerous type of mental illness that there is, and it is not detectable like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, depression, or others. These people seem usual in every way. Bundy was one. Most mental illness is treatable, but I don't think sociopathic people can even be treated. What they need to be normal is completely MISSING. You cannot treat something that is not even there. I read that amputees sometimes have sensations of itching or pain in their missing body parts Of course, that is just their nerve endings. Treating a sociopath would probably be equal to the amputee going to the doctor about his missing leg itching. The doctor would have nothing to treat.
When I was followed to my neighborhood Chevron station on Sept. 27, I looked right into the eyes of the two stalkers who came inside the store, and there was nothing there. They have no souls - no humanity at all. It is hard to explain, but if you ever meet one of the people who follow you face to face, you will know what I mean. Not all sociopaths are violent. Some just enjoy inflicting pain and do it in other ways. Probably some of the cyberstalkers are sociopaths, but most are just mercenary, criminal dogs. I call them cyberdogs. The one who follows me to Care2 is likely a sociopath, on drugs, or juvenile, because he does such unnecessary things that have no purpose except to irritate me. I go there whenever I want more video proof, because he is entirely obvious.
Sister, never forget that we are never alone. God gave us full armor in the Spirit, but nothing to protect our backs. That is because He's got our backs!
Blessings