Neighbour with Nasty Habits

What horror stories you all have to tell! There was a time when health visitors used to call and check on people regularly. What happened to them? Now social services rely on neighbours informing them of a problem. So many people with problems are being neglected, including small children. It seems you have to be a criminal or drug addict these days to get the attention you need.

I was told many years ago now about a single woman in her 50s , with a very responsible job, very smart in her appearance, whose neighbours were getting increasingly worried about the smell coming from her house.
Long story short , her toilet has stopped working and for months she had been defacating into plastic bags as she wouldn't have anyone in the house. They were all neatly stored. She was taken away and never came back. It is often a sign of mental illness

Some quite horrible stories on here! A house a few doors up from me is a "half way house" for young offenders waiting to be rehoused...they make a LOT of noise, smoke weed and throw their empty drink cans and bottles which often end up in my garden - it is very annoying but I suppose marginally better than items with bodily fluids on!

To the OP, I wonder if a phone call or email to your local Council could help, they might be able to investigate the situation or at least advise you?

Within days of moving into one house we lived in with our two small children, one of my new neighbours warned me of the lady who lived opposite us. We were told never to accept her offers to baby sit and told that she might bombard us with silent calls.

The problem lady was in her late 50s and within a few months whenever she saw me out in the garden she would make a silent call, presumably for the pleasure of watching me run in to answer the phone so I quickly ignored the calls and within a week they stopped.

This lady also pelted the back of an elderly neighbour's house with eggs and threw rubbish in her garden. She also broke the mirror in our cars pavement side wing mirror. We heard it being broken. It was in the evening after dark and as we rushed out we saw and heard her front door close.

This continued for some years until we moved. I heard later her behaviour deteriorated further and she was admitted to hospital and went into care. She seemed happily married with grown-up children who were visited regularly.

My daughter had tissues and sometimes socks thrown into her garden it took her awhile to realise they were coming from her next door neighbour and then not so long to realise why !!!!! ( Young adolescent boy going through puberty ) Thankfully they moved .

I really appreciate all your replies. She has been doing this for 3 years or more, before her husband passed away. She has a son but he doesn't visit much but believe it or not she is actually on the local council and does seem to have some friends. We definitely believe she has a mental problem and don't want to be unkind but have never heard of behaviour like this before.

My first thought was that whilst unsavoury she may think the birds will use them for nesting material but if you've talked to her and she's not indicated that then it sounds like there is a wider problem.
The lady that lived in the flat above my friend used to throw all sorts of food out her window all still in it's wrapper. Sadly the first signs of her dementia.

Just put on rubber gloves and throw them back into her garden. Not a word needs to be said. My neighbour, though lovely, lets her dog drink out of the same cup as her, the dog then constantly tries to drink from mine, I dread being asked in for a cuppa, running out of excuses.

Yes years ago a poor soul and neighbour started throwing sweets as well as other unspeakable items out of her bedroom window. She had dememtia and has since died.

I would just drop them back in her garden, or, if you see her throwing them out, return them with a smile saying these are yours, we saw you throwing them out of your window.

I do, however agree that this behaviour is odd, to say the least and could be a sign of mental problems.

Throwing tissues out of a bedroom window is not normal behaviour - what ever normal is - she may have problems as mentioned in other posts

It certainly sounds like early onset of dementia as mentioned people start doing the strangest of things that they think is normal behaviour,does she live on her own if so maybe a quiet word with any visiting family re supported housing would be a good idea.

This could be a sign that she is developing dementia.

People start behaving in an inappropriate fashion sometimes.

Has she no family you could talk to to find out their thoughts on the matter.

If things escalate and there are no family members to talk to, contact social services.

Yuck, but why do they always land in your garden?