Neighbour with mental health problems - should we have been told and what can we do?

Sarah_Beth

Ok, we had the neighbour around last night who has been dealing with this for some time. My neighbour is a paranoid schizophrenic. The amount of things she had done is unbelievable and whilst I will say it again I am sympathetic for people with mental health problems I am not going to defend my post which is about finding out how this can be resolved.

I do not hold out any hope. She has been under the 'care' of the mental health team, been visited by environmental health, social workers, police on too many occasions and it appears that no one can do anything as its all about her rights. She has been discharged from mental health who say she has to get on with it herself.

And no this not about noise or dirt, it is about saftey for my family. She has threatened people, including her son who she threatened to slash his face with a knife, steals from peoples gardens, enters peoples houses and tries to get local children into her home.

I am a mother, I do not think it is right to have to live like this.

hethmar

The original query was surely - should you have been informed - YES and now should you inform - YES

Not sure what you can do now - perhaps contact your solicitor who handled the purchase and ask what the sellers said re any problems in the neighbourhood.

judygarland

Sarah_Beth wrote: »

Ok, we had the neighbour around last night who has been dealing with this for some time. My neighbour is a paranoid schizophrenic. The amount of things she had done is unbelievable and whilst I will say it again I am sympathetic for people with mental health problems I am not going to defend my post which is about finding out how this can be resolved.

I do not hold out any hope. She has been under the 'care' of the mental health team, been visited by environmental health, social workers, police on too many occasions and it appears that no one can do anything as its all about her rights. She has been discharged from mental health who say she has to get on with it herself.

And no this not about noise or dirt, it is about saftey for my family. She has threatened people, including her son who she threatened to slash his face with a knife, steals from peoples gardens, enters peoples houses and tries to get local children into her home.

I am a mother, I do not think it is right to have to live like this.

My next door neighbour has been having issues with his elderly neighbour and this has gone on since he built as extension. He has torn down the fence, threatened them with pick axes, destroyed parts of their garden with a lump hammer and verbally abuses them.

They have now got the local authority involved and from what I understand, it's an antisocial behaviour issue. They have had a couple of meetings with the daughter of the neighbour and the council (she is struggling to look after him herself). The house is privately owned so I was quite suprised that the council got involved. We are just waiting to find out what will happen next.

I also have a problem with my neighbour who has learning difficulties. If we make any noise (mow the lawn for instance), he shouts all sorts of abuse and threatens to kill us. I had the police round last year when he threw a garden tool at me over the garden.

I have young children too and worry that he could throw more items over the fence. It was a good job my husband was out as it is likely that he would have kicked the fence down and rammed the implement at him.

Give the local authority a call and see what they say. I tried to find out whether my neighbour was being monitored by a social worker or whatever, but you will not be able to find out as it's all about confidentiality, which is fair enough.

churchrat

I support my cousin, who has a learning disability and lives alone in his own house. He does not like change of anysort, and this includes cleaning and gardening that is not part of his routine. He also finds noise in his home very stressful, and the sound of a loud radio in the nextdoor garden, for example, will make him pace the floor, shouting at his neighbours.

I've tried for a very long time to get soc services, adult protection, gp, ANYONE in his community (we don't live near him) to offer some support. Nobody is interested.

I can sympathise to some extent with the OP, but to say that she should have been warned and then go on to say that she will not want her future buyers to be aware of the neighbour is VERY two-faced.

I am sure that if the OP phones the police often enough, maybe calls the local paper, then "something" will happen. However, it will mean that any potentail buyers will be aware of the situation and so less likly to buy.

OP--have you tried talking to child protection at your local council?? If she has been threatening a child with violence they may be able to help you

1echidna

The situation sounds bad enough that if someone complains effectively and in the right way something would be done. History or diagnosis are not particularly relevant as it is this ladies present state of mind and behaviour that counts. Schizophrenia affects one in a hundred people and is common. Try to be very objective and precisely factual and perhaps write to the chief executive of the local Primary Care Trust and local councillor.

sukieq

Contrary to popular belief there is actually very little that mental health services can do to enforce 'support' on unwilling clients.

The only way of enforcing assessment and/or treatment on mentally unwell people is via the Mental Health Act. There are a number of strict criteria that have to be met in terms of the nature and degree of mental disorder and evidence regarding certain categories of risk being met. Detention in hospital can only be considered if there are no viable alternatives and has to be with the agreement of 2 doctors and another approved professional (in practice usually a social worker).

I'm sorry you are having problems but I'm not sure its entirely accurate to assume she is receiving inadequate care. I routinely carry out Mental Health Act assessments as part of my job and professionals can be equally frustrated about the limitations on how far they are legally able to intervene.

If you do have serious concerns about her care contact the manager of the local mental health team or even your MP.

SouthCoast

Anti-social behaviour in housing:


http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/family_parent/housing/anti_social_behaviour_in_housing.htm

1echidna

sukieq wrote: »

Contrary to popular belief there is actually very little that mental health services can do to enforce 'support' on unwilling clients.

The only way of enforcing assessment and/or treatment on mentally unwell people is via the Mental Health Act. There are a number of strict criteria that have to be met in terms of the nature and degree of mental disorder and evidence regarding certain categories of risk being met. Detention in hospital can only be considered if there are no viable alternatives and has to be with the agreement of 2 doctors and another approved professional (in practice usually a social worker).

I'm sorry you are having problems but I'm not sure its entirely accurate to assume she is receiving inadequate care. I routinely carry out Mental Health Act assessments as part of my job and professionals can be equally frustrated about the limitations on how far they are legally able to intervene.

If you do have serious concerns about her care contact the manager of the local mental health team or even your MP.

From the extent of my knowledge sukieq is entirely right, this lady's state of mind and evidence of possible types of behaviour would have to be such that a period of compulsory detention, assessment and treatment was deemed appropriate to be followed by aftercare orders where she would be obliged to live in accommodation with the right kind of supervision and support. There may however be alternative civil routes, which totally ignore the mental health issues, ASBOs I guess would be the starting point.

wheretheresawill

I appreciate people are concerned about living near those who may behave oddly or shock horror have a diagnosis of schizophrenia, this is partly a result of media scaremongering and also the fear of the unknown. Years ago we locked these people away in asylums and the whole 'community' breathed a sigh of relief, I feel thats an option some people would like now - remove the problem so its not my problem anymore.
However 1 in 4 suffer from mental health problems - its likely to be higher as a lot of people fear seeking help due to the stigmatisation and discrimination that inevitably goes hand in hand with such problems. People with schizophrenia are more likely to be harmed by so called 'normal' people than the other way around FACT.
i appreciate there may be some concern by the poster but I fear the only concern is really for themselves and the price their 'castle' will sell for.

Mental health services are seriously underfunded, there are no hospital beds often for those who are sectioned under the mental health act - the most severely unwell. A person under section can be treated under a CTO which enforces the use of medication in the community if the person is deemed to be at risk of relapse.

I have several neighbours and I have a lady whose house is a mess, curtains drawn, rubbish everywhere - she goes to work and appears to have no mental health issues other than plain dirtyness - thats how some people choose to live - is she antisocial?

Maybe you could support your neighbour rather than just whispering about her diagnosis with the other neighbours. I think its sad that in this society we would choose not to live next to someone who had mental health problems and scary thought there are many of them in your midst that you know nothing about! quick lock up the kids theres a mental patient about......

hotpot1000

I think before you judge the OP - have you experienced bad neighbours? For whatever reason, noise, unsociability, etc. If you have good neighbours then count yourself lucky because we should all have the right to have peaceful enjoyment in our homes.

OP you will just have to keep contacting all services already mentioned , if the mental health team have washed their hands of her then you have quite a difficult job.

In my experience Ive found SS completely ineffective when I reported a vulnerable old lady who had dementia. She was not annoying neighbours but being locked in her home by her family so she couldnt wander off. I dont know what she ate as her son turned the gas cooker off so that she couldnt set fire to the kitchen by accident.
She was alone except for a quick visit from her caring son every couple of days.
I begged SS to confirm they would go and see the lady but they wouldnt, they spoke to her son by phone and he said the right things.

We also contacted the local councillor- total waste of effort. So you really have a hard job to try and get this woman cared for properly.

There are usually out of hours Social servs/mental health crisis teams available to talk to.....maybe you might get to speal to someone who really does care about people.