No two humans are exactly alike. Everyone is weird in their own way. But that's not necessarily bad. In fact, the appeal of many artists, performers, and average folk is that they're delightfully odd and proudly non-conventional.
However, there's a fine line between quirky and creepy behavior. And media personality TahoeTV decided to find it. So he made a tweet asking people to describe the exact moment they noticed that someone was out of their mind.
Image credits: Tahoe_TV
Turns out, it's a topic many are interested in. Immediately, people started sending in their answers, sharing all the funny, strange, and downright scary experiences they went through. From cheating boyfriends to high school bullies, continue scrolling to meet their villains.
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But you might want to watch out for the word 'crazy'. For many of us, it has become such an integral part of our vocabulary, we even stop noticing it.
But there are good reasons why you might want to stop using that word. Brenda Curtis, PhD, MsPH, an assistant professor of Psychology in Psychiatry at Penn Medicine, who has done research on language thinks it might even have sexist undertones as there are gender-based stereotypes about women being irrational, hysterical, and disconnected from reality—all meanings that are associated with the word 'crazy'.
Hope she didn't stay around to get butchered because the voices told him things.
"One of the common stereotypes around mental health and substance use disorders is the idea of a moral failing," Curtis said.
"A lot of people will think, 'oh they're just sad, get over it,' or 'oh, if you don't want to use drugs, just stop, no one forced you to.'" She also highlighted that the thoughts about mental illness perpetuated by words like 'crazy' include the idea that people with mental illness are divorced and incapable of making decisions. These stereotypes and the sense of blame they place on a person with mental illness tend to cast people in a category of 'others' that few people want to claim as their identity.
Take them down and sell them. And change your locks. And get an intervention order.
"When you have a person who is having a hard time and needs to talk to someone and needs treatment, they're less likely to go to their physician or another person for help if they don't want that person to see them in a different light," Curtis explained.
In this way, attaching stigma to mental health conditions—by holding stereotypes, and creating social distance as a result of those stereotypes—can make it more difficult for people to seek help. "When stereotypes affect treatment, either initiation of treatment or treatment engagement, when it's isolating people, that's a problem."
He lost weight, so sending him back to his mommy is cheaper in postage.
But there's another problem with the word 'crazy.' It's ambiguous. It doesn't mean just one specific thing. Like many of us, Curtis has noticed how widely we use the word in casual conversation—in all kinds of different contexts, for all kinds of different reasons.
She thinks it reminds her of the way her parents taught her not to use curse words in casual conversation; when you use a curse word as an adjective or noun in a sentence instead of something more descriptive, it's not just rude, it's also a lazy way to avoid thinking of the more precise word you really mean.
At least she won't have to worry about him stalking her. He doesn't want a woman who takes too much time to do the shopping.
That's why I always find it so strange that people don't go after their partner when they cheated, but after the person they got cheated with. Those people most likely do not even know that they are in a relationship with a cheater.
Curtis noted there are three keys to using language about mental illness: use the correct words to describe something (the name of a diagnostic category if it's a mental illness, or a descriptive general word like 'outlandish' otherwise, not just 'crazy' for everything); acknowledge when stereotypes exist—and debunk them; and use language that acknowledges a person is separate from their illness.
Can we at least limit ourselves using that word? Do you think we have to? Let us know in the comments.
There still is something like the legal system where you sue them and get all of your costs reimbursed.
Changing your telephone number doesn't seem a bad idea at this point.
Been sexually assaulted twice in my sleep. Second time was by the woman I was dating and I just wanted to sleep. So she tied my hands in my sleep and sat on my chest holding a knife.
Yeah, one of my stalkers was caught with 47 cell phones in his car while he was trying to buy a gun to shoot me with. Thank you California gun laws and background checks.
The prosthetic leg just makes me think of Rocket from GotG. "Imma get that leg!"
Ah, yes, the old "you're not supposed to have any friends but ME!" kind of boyfriend.
They should have called the cops immediately for stalking and file for a restraining order.
I would've drove on home & left her there. The attention is all she wants.
I don’t know what to think about this one. Clearly wrong, but clean house and laundry at least. Idk if I’d eat the food tho
Another poster made a very good point though. Reverse the genders. It is now a guy who stole a woman's house key, stayed at her place without permission, went through her dirty laundry and washed it, cooked and then left before she returns. There would be NO DOUBT that people would call that creepy, wrong, crazy, etc...lets be consistent in our condemnation! If its wrong and creepy if a man does it to a woman, that same behavior is just as wrong and creepy when a woman does it to a man. Complete violation of space.
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Everyone in the comments skipping over the opening line "stole one of my spare keys". That changes the dynamic of the whole thing. At that point, it doesn't matter if she paid off the guy's whole mortgage, perfectly manicured his lawn, and built an addition on the house. She STOLE the key to get in!!
Very true. We grew up with this kind of behaviour normalised in romantic comedies, be it a woman or a man doing the stalking and hounding etc. Ti's why we ignore the theft bit. It's going to take a while longer before people qrow out of thinking there is anything funny about sexism, racism, ràpe etc. With all it's negative aspects, the social media brought many a people huge aha! moments.
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I think context matters. This could be really sweet or really creepy depending on the relationship.
"this chick stole my key" how could that be anything but creepy?
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Sounds like she was trying to prove what a great girlfriend she would be in the most disturbing way possible
An ex stole my house key off my keys while I was at pool league, so I ended up calling a locksmith that night. Of course I handed him an extra key in case I lost it again. Took me a while to realize that was his plan all along.
Heckles dude, that's gotta be my girl. Been a look'n a life time for her.
As a woman I feel creeped out by this. In no way possible is there any explanation or justification for this behaviour…
.......do....do you have a girlfriend and are just too afraid to acknowledge her existence? Cus this sounds like you have a girlfriend but you don't know it/don't want to admit it? Also sounds like a nice lady if she washed your skidmark underwear.
Maybe she was actually trying to do something nice? Context matters. I took my husband's car once to get it cleaned for him as a nice surprise since he desperately needed it washed and detailed but didn'thave the time. I wouldn't consider that "stealing" his car. But if my husband told the story like this guy did y'all would think i was a car thief and psycho
Are you sure it was just your fairy godmother and not some weird chick?
So many diffenent neighborhoods/cultures in the US, even the word 'stealing' is used differently in different parts. He doesn't say what next, but I think a thank you was in order...
This happened to me too. All because I said "I do" at some church now she feels like she gets to stay at my house?! And sleep in my bed?!
Was this “chick” his mum? If not, I’m afraid we’re in bunny boiler territory.
Don't get me wrong that's crazy, but it could have been worse. Just saying lol.
To be honest that's not that bad. At least she didn't steal your stuff and leave the place in a wreak
Weird, maybe, crazy..not so sure. Good Samaritan? At least you didn't have to clean or anything when you got back from wherever
She had a key. What was she supposed to do with it? Sounds like she just wanted to surprise him. It's not like she broke in. Same goes for a guy.
She did break in, according to the post. Stealing someone's house keys (sounds like she barely knew the guy) is absolutely breaking in.
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I just don't understand why some guys are like this. Is it fun scaring people? Do you get a hard off of it?
One of my friends woke up one night and her boyfriend was standing over her with a knife constantly whispering "Blood, blood, blood." She managed to get out of the bed and call the emergency number. They came and took him away. Doctors wouldn't allow her to see him again. They said it was better for her to remember him how he was. They also said she should be grateful she woke up in time.
Note: this post originally had 54 images. It’s been shortened to the top 40 images based on user votes.
Just remember that stalking and abusive behaviour is not a mental illness, and that people with mental illnesses are more likely to be the victim of violence and abuse, not the perpetrator.
It's true that it's not a mental illness in its own right, but it's not as simple as 'mad, sad or bad' and there are several diagnoses that might involve this kind of behaviour for very different reasons, such as psychopathy, sociopathy, narcissistic personality disorder, borderline personality disorder, psychosis, substance addictions etc.
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Yes my sweethearts all these examples are those of an abusive person in terms of DOMESTIC VIOLENCE. Not one is crazy, they are have poor boundaries and are not good romantic partners or people to work with. Please reframe the title, it is erroneous and misleading - as well as dismissive of those with mental health illness.
exactly the opposite. It would be dismissive to those with mental health illness to call THEM crazy but not this behaviour here.
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My ex. Told my husband he paid for my big ass wedding ring with the child support he sent me every month. He only paid 35$ a month. He also told my husband who was at my work at the time leaving me lunch....that I was at his house screwing him. Like dude. Its been 6 years gtfoi!!!!
Years ago, I dated a guy who was truly sweet & kind, but he just didn't get that as a single mom, I had responsibilities to my son & that I needed to stay home more than once a week to do housekeeping & laundry. I would get off work, pick up my 14 year old son from after-school activities, and when we got home, there he'd be in his car waiting. And he never wanted to stay home & cook dinner/watch tv, we always had to go out to a restaurant for every. single. meal. After 6 months of trying to get him to slow it down, I broke it off & told him it was over. He went & bought a large bouquet of flowers & drove 45 miles one way to my parent's house, gave the flowers to my mom & begged them to tell me to take him back. I was 43 years old at the time, he was 50. A full grown man, begging my retired parents to TELL me to take him back. It was really sad, but I still think I dodged a bullet, especially since he had 2 grown sons & 2 grandsons living with him, not paying rent or bills.
I had a guy stalk me when I was deployed to Iraq. He kissed me out of nowhere while we were hanging out with a group of friends (and the guy I was kinda seeing).. I started avoiding him but he would come to my smoke pit, scream my name while he was running down the sidewalk and I'd run into my dorm to hide from him because it was scary. I was playing pool with the person I was seeing in the rec center, the lights suddenly went out in the building and the stalker guy appeared out of nowhere and cornered me.. I had to tell him he was really freaking me out and to please leave me alone, which he did, surprisingly. We were the same job and he knew my bosses weren't going to put up with anymore of that.
My first serious boyfriend was awesome. Everyone loved him. He was a few years older, had 2 or 3 ex girlfriends, all normal girls, normal relationships. We dated for about a year and all of a sudden things changed. He created some sort of home gym (this was 20+ years ago), was only focused on training and eating certain things like peanut butter, and his behaviour was off. I broke up with him when he told me that the moon is blue and that's good, but if the moon turns red humanity will end and the earth will fade and the only one able to rescue me was him. He stalked me for a long time too. One time he even showed up at my house with a gun (we don't normally have guns here). Luckily I wasn't home and the police arrested him. A week later his ex girlfriend (my friend and neighbour) told me he tried to rape her when they were dating and she was only 16 years old. She was afraid to say anything before I had him arrested. Dodged a bullet there!
I dated this kid when I was a sophomore in high school. It wasn't a serious relationship by any means. We were hanging out with a friend, a freshman. He was a cutie and when I was talking to him, my boyfriend lunged and started strangling me. My freshman friend managed to pull him off of me by screaming, "GET OFF OF HER! YOU'RE GONNA KILL HER!!" My ex was thrown into a mental institution. His mother blamed me."
He would get so blacked out drunk, screaming and open the door while the car was in motion (usually on a highway) I almost crashed on numerous occasions trying to “save him”.
He tried to get me to start a cult with him. An actual f*****g c u l t
Ex boyfriend I was breaking up with told me in the same paragraph that he had cheated on me and he wanted to marry me, as he sobbed.
My ex got extremely jealous because a crow would bring sticks for me. He felt like the crow wanted to be my mate.
I lived with this a***hole for almost a year. I realized he was really crazy when a sewed a button on his shirt, but the threads weren't the same direction as the other buttons. I mean he threw a full on, jumping up and down screaming temper tantrum. I walked out & told him to find another place to live. Total immature baby.
I got a harassment restraining order against a guy. He disputed it, we had to go to court, and we ended up with a mediation agreement that he not contact me. He emails me that night and says, "You never looked as beautiful as you did in that courtroom." Then the next day, he emails with a single subject line, "Please don't tell on me [eom]".
Not nearly as bad as these, but just the thought process behind it baffles me.
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Dated an ex again once (re tread) I figured it didn't work as teens but we're adults now so things should be different right? Omg no. Once I got fed up with his lazy self, I drove him 45 minutes back into town and dropped him off at his step dads. Dude took a CAB back to my place then didn't have money to pay the bill ($80) I paid it so he wouldn't go to jail (that was a mistake) had his momma come get him. Have since found out he's been to jail multiple times, he stalks me every now and again and he still owes me that $80 what a loser. BTW he wasn't even a loser when we were kids, we only broke up because I was young and not ready for something super serious. But I do wonder what happened to the wonderful boy he once was. This guy he is now is just sad.
My dad realized that my stepmother was a really awful person when he found out that she has no qualms about emotionally abusing her children/stepchildren. Unfortunately, this doesn't mean he's broken up with her yet.
When she told me she was mad at me after I woke up. I asked why and she said she talked to me all night, while I was sleeping, but I wouldn't respond to her. After I dumped her if found empty drug baggies in my apartment.
One of my late sister's exes lied about going to work so he could sneak into the bar where she worked and check up on her. He found her being a good bartender and chatting to WW2 veteran - a man practically old enough to be my sister's great-grandfather - and started yelling at her, calling her a w***e and threatening the poor veteran for 'having an affair with his girl'. The guy had problems and I did feel bad for him, but I confess I did a literal happy dance when my sister told me they'd split up.
Just remember that stalking and abusive behaviour is not a mental illness, and that people with mental illnesses are more likely to be the victim of violence and abuse, not the perpetrator.
It's true that it's not a mental illness in its own right, but it's not as simple as 'mad, sad or bad' and there are several diagnoses that might involve this kind of behaviour for very different reasons, such as psychopathy, sociopathy, narcissistic personality disorder, borderline personality disorder, psychosis, substance addictions etc.
Load More Replies... Yes my sweethearts all these examples are those of an abusive person in terms of DOMESTIC VIOLENCE. Not one is crazy, they are have poor boundaries and are not good romantic partners or people to work with. Please reframe the title, it is erroneous and misleading - as well as dismissive of those with mental health illness.
exactly the opposite. It would be dismissive to those with mental health illness to call THEM crazy but not this behaviour here.
Load More Replies... My ex. Told my husband he paid for my big ass wedding ring with the child support he sent me every month. He only paid 35$ a month. He also told my husband who was at my work at the time leaving me lunch....that I was at his house screwing him. Like dude. Its been 6 years gtfoi!!!!
Years ago, I dated a guy who was truly sweet & kind, but he just didn't get that as a single mom, I had responsibilities to my son & that I needed to stay home more than once a week to do housekeeping & laundry. I would get off work, pick up my 14 year old son from after-school activities, and when we got home, there he'd be in his car waiting. And he never wanted to stay home & cook dinner/watch tv, we always had to go out to a restaurant for every. single. meal. After 6 months of trying to get him to slow it down, I broke it off & told him it was over. He went & bought a large bouquet of flowers & drove 45 miles one way to my parent's house, gave the flowers to my mom & begged them to tell me to take him back. I was 43 years old at the time, he was 50. A full grown man, begging my retired parents to TELL me to take him back. It was really sad, but I still think I dodged a bullet, especially since he had 2 grown sons & 2 grandsons living with him, not paying rent or bills.
I had a guy stalk me when I was deployed to Iraq. He kissed me out of nowhere while we were hanging out with a group of friends (and the guy I was kinda seeing).. I started avoiding him but he would come to my smoke pit, scream my name while he was running down the sidewalk and I'd run into my dorm to hide from him because it was scary. I was playing pool with the person I was seeing in the rec center, the lights suddenly went out in the building and the stalker guy appeared out of nowhere and cornered me.. I had to tell him he was really freaking me out and to please leave me alone, which he did, surprisingly. We were the same job and he knew my bosses weren't going to put up with anymore of that.
My first serious boyfriend was awesome. Everyone loved him. He was a few years older, had 2 or 3 ex girlfriends, all normal girls, normal relationships. We dated for about a year and all of a sudden things changed. He created some sort of home gym (this was 20+ years ago), was only focused on training and eating certain things like peanut butter, and his behaviour was off. I broke up with him when he told me that the moon is blue and that's good, but if the moon turns red humanity will end and the earth will fade and the only one able to rescue me was him. He stalked me for a long time too. One time he even showed up at my house with a gun (we don't normally have guns here). Luckily I wasn't home and the police arrested him. A week later his ex girlfriend (my friend and neighbour) told me he tried to rape her when they were dating and she was only 16 years old. She was afraid to say anything before I had him arrested. Dodged a bullet there!
I dated this kid when I was a sophomore in high school. It wasn't a serious relationship by any means. We were hanging out with a friend, a freshman. He was a cutie and when I was talking to him, my boyfriend lunged and started strangling me. My freshman friend managed to pull him off of me by screaming, "GET OFF OF HER! YOU'RE GONNA KILL HER!!" My ex was thrown into a mental institution. His mother blamed me."
He would get so blacked out drunk, screaming and open the door while the car was in motion (usually on a highway) I almost crashed on numerous occasions trying to “save him”.
He tried to get me to start a cult with him. An actual f*****g c u l t
Ex boyfriend I was breaking up with told me in the same paragraph that he had cheated on me and he wanted to marry me, as he sobbed.
My ex got extremely jealous because a crow would bring sticks for me. He felt like the crow wanted to be my mate.
I lived with this a***hole for almost a year. I realized he was really crazy when a sewed a button on his shirt, but the threads weren't the same direction as the other buttons. I mean he threw a full on, jumping up and down screaming temper tantrum. I walked out & told him to find another place to live. Total immature baby.
I got a harassment restraining order against a guy. He disputed it, we had to go to court, and we ended up with a mediation agreement that he not contact me. He emails me that night and says, "You never looked as beautiful as you did in that courtroom." Then the next day, he emails with a single subject line, "Please don't tell on me [eom]".
Not nearly as bad as these, but just the thought process behind it baffles me.
Load More Replies... Dated an ex again once (re tread) I figured it didn't work as teens but we're adults now so things should be different right? Omg no. Once I got fed up with his lazy self, I drove him 45 minutes back into town and dropped him off at his step dads. Dude took a CAB back to my place then didn't have money to pay the bill ($80) I paid it so he wouldn't go to jail (that was a mistake) had his momma come get him. Have since found out he's been to jail multiple times, he stalks me every now and again and he still owes me that $80 what a loser. BTW he wasn't even a loser when we were kids, we only broke up because I was young and not ready for something super serious. But I do wonder what happened to the wonderful boy he once was. This guy he is now is just sad.
My dad realized that my stepmother was a really awful person when he found out that she has no qualms about emotionally abusing her children/stepchildren. Unfortunately, this doesn't mean he's broken up with her yet.
When she told me she was mad at me after I woke up. I asked why and she said she talked to me all night, while I was sleeping, but I wouldn't respond to her. After I dumped her if found empty drug baggies in my apartment.
One of my late sister's exes lied about going to work so he could sneak into the bar where she worked and check up on her. He found her being a good bartender and chatting to WW2 veteran - a man practically old enough to be my sister's great-grandfather - and started yelling at her, calling her a w***e and threatening the poor veteran for 'having an affair with his girl'. The guy had problems and I did feel bad for him, but I confess I did a literal happy dance when my sister told me they'd split up.
