CatherineM Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 I know that we have had many discussions about stalkers of the creepy follow you around kind, but I may have gained a different kind. I talked to my former roommate on the phone yesterday for the first time in probably a year. She had seen my book on the Target store website, and I didn't even know it was on there. It was a link to Amazon, and my book has been on there about a month, so she has apparently been googling me recently. She wanted to know how much money I had made on my book, and lots of other nasty kinds of questions. She was never a paragon of mental health. When I took her in in 1990, she had been in the State Hospital, and had gotten kicked out of a group home. A year after that she regained custody of her oldest son, and a few years after that, her younger son. I originally took her in because a friend asked me to since I had the room, and she was going to be homeless. Catholic Charities had put her in a hotel for two days, but her time was up. I encouraged her to get custody of her sons because they were both in hinky living situations. You know how you do one thing, and it leads to another? She was in and out of the hospital, on and off drugs, on and off the wagon, all the years the boys lived with me. I tried to protect them from the worst of it. That meant I had to be the bad guy, the one that made them go to school and do their homework. I never wanted to usurp her position as their mom. It was like having all the responsibility of being a foster parent, but none of the authority, and none of the state financial help. She freaked out when I told her I was going to move and get married. About a month after we got married she called at 4am, and told my husband I was a bank embezzler, or something weird like that. It upset him pretty bad at first. I guess I'm afraid that now that she has access to a computer, that she's going to start stuff again. She fell apart after I left Florida. She finally moved to Arkansas to be by her folks. They got her into some government assisted housing, but she got kicked out of there because she kept digging up the flower beds looking for dinosaur bones and diamonds. Now she's living with some woman, but isn't sure what her name is. Everything she does can turn out to be so insane. We lived together a long time, and she knows more about me than my husband does probably. I guess I'm just afraid of what kind of damage she may be capable of. Being older, I'm not as comfortable with all this technology as some of you that are younger, so I guess I'm afraid of the kinds of things that she can do now that she has a computer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaeldra Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 I would try to keep most of my personal info off the internet. Although if you have a published book that might be tough!! Try using a pseudonym if you have facebook or are on any other social networking sites or such. Failing that, call the cops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InHisLove726 Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 Oy vey! And I thought my stalker was bad! I used to know this girl in high school who had bipolar disorder, and I just could not stand to be around her, but she clinged to me, so I felt bad. I endured senior year of high school as her friend, but afterward, I just conveniently "lost touch" with her. About 3 years later, she contacted me out of the blue on Facebook, and then on Yahoo! IM to "catch up." I remember being up with her for 3 hours one night on Yahoo! because I couldn't break up the conversation (which was a pretty somber one; all about what she had done). She told me how she had become involved in a bisexual affair, and that she had tried to commit suicide. I was going through my own things such as depression and anxiety, and this was WAY heaver stuff than I ever cared to hear about. After 3 months of enduring her again, I "broke up" our "friendship" and blocked her from my Facebook and IM. That was about 5 years ago. Now, she is divorced, living out of state. I pray to God that she never contacts me again.... She was always flaky and could be quite scary to be around when she was unstable (manic or depressive). I'll pray that you are safe. If you have Facebook, I would try to block your profile to only people you know so she can't find you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatherineM Posted August 6, 2009 Author Share Posted August 6, 2009 She is a ultra-rapid cycling bi-polar, mostly manic, paranoid, and definitely violent. She's 5'3", and it once took 6 OK highway patrolmen to take her down. Luckily, I'm not worried about her coming here physically. She has a felony record, and would get bounced at the border. I'm careful about who I let be friends on Facebook. I can't be completely anonymous because my husband and I are really high profile, and it wouldn't really work long. I think what freaked me out the most is that she had read my profile here. If she started posting nasty things about me, I'm not sure how I'd handle it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txdinghysailor Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 get a gun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InHisLove726 Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 (edited) [quote name='CatherineM' post='1941481' date='Aug 5 2009, 10:00 PM']She is a ultra-rapid cycling bi-polar, mostly manic, paranoid, and definitely violent. She's 5'3", and it once took 6 OK highway patrolmen to take her down. Luckily, I'm not worried about her coming here physically. She has a felony record, and would get bounced at the border. I'm careful about who I let be friends on Facebook. I can't be completely anonymous because my husband and I are really high profile, and it wouldn't really work long. I think what freaked me out the most is that she had read my profile here. If she started posting nasty things about me, I'm not sure how I'd handle it.[/quote] You can always put a multimedia/internet restraining order on her. If she writes bad things about you, go to the police and have the attorney general in her area contact her. You have a right to expect safety. Don't let her intimidate you. From an attorney's website: [quote][b]Can I obtain a restraining order if I am being stalked over the Internet?[/b] Yes! Internet harassment or cyber-stalking is the new wave of stalking and harassment. An able and experienced attorney in these matters may be able to obtain the identity of your internet stalker and eventually have him served and brought before a judge.[/quote] Edited August 6, 2009 by InHisLove726 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
picchick Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 [quote name='txdinghysailor' post='1941484' date='Aug 5 2009, 10:03 PM']get a gun.[/quote] YES! PS. I think we pretty much know you and wouldn't let someone tear you down Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuoteMan Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 My Mom, Dad, and cousin all passed their gun tests on sunday! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resurrexi Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 [quote name='CatherineM' post='1941481' date='Aug 5 2009, 09:00 PM']She is a ultra-rapid cycling bi-polar, mostly manic, paranoid, and definitely violent. She's 5'3", and it once took 6 OK highway patrolmen to take her down. Luckily, I'm not worried about her coming here physically. She has a felony record, and would get bounced at the border. I'm careful about who I let be friends on Facebook. I can't be completely anonymous because my husband and I are really high profile, and it wouldn't really work long. I think what freaked me out the most is that she had read my profile here. If she started posting nasty things about me, I'm not sure how I'd handle it.[/quote] The mods would probably handle it for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatherineM Posted August 6, 2009 Author Share Posted August 6, 2009 Can't get a gun here. My husband is afraid to have one in the house in case he has a psychotic episode. He's afraid he might hurt me. I know the mods would take care of it. I'd hate to have one of them after me, but my good name is important to me. I can't tell you how upsetting it was to have her tell my husband I was a criminal. I'm lucky that I had just passed both a FBI and Mountie background check, so he never had the opportunity to let her accusations sink in. We hadn't been married that long, and it would have been natural for him to be concerned about it otherwise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txdinghysailor Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 [quote name='CatherineM' post='1941507' date='Aug 5 2009, 11:18 PM']Can't get a gun here. My husband is afraid to have one in the house in case he has a psychotic episode. He's afraid he might hurt me. I know the mods would take care of it. I'd hate to have one of them after me, but my good name is important to me. I can't tell you how upsetting it was to have her tell my husband I was a criminal. I'm lucky that I had just passed both a FBI and Mountie background check, so he never had the opportunity to let her accusations sink in. We hadn't been married that long, and it would have been natural for him to be concerned about it otherwise.[/quote] Get a sword! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deus te Amat Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 [quote name='txdinghysailor' post='1941521' date='Aug 5 2009, 10:25 PM']Get a sword![/quote] Did you not read her last post? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txdinghysailor Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 [quote name='Deus_te_Amat' post='1941525' date='Aug 5 2009, 11:28 PM']Did you not read her last post?[/quote] Then she can put the sword in a biometrically locked safe! =D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InHisLove726 Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 (edited) [quote name='txdinghysailor' post='1941526' date='Aug 5 2009, 10:32 PM']Then she can put the sword in a biometrically locked safe! =D[/quote] What is this obsession with weapons? Edited August 6, 2009 by InHisLove726 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txdinghysailor Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 [quote name='InHisLove726' post='1941528' date='Aug 5 2009, 11:33 PM']What is this obsession with weapons? [/quote] I'm obsessed with safety. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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