Network Rail/Local Council Caused My PND

[CornFlakesAt10PM]

Hello

I have pnd. I know it. It has been creeping up on me since the railworks begun - 10 weeks in total. I have also had to deal with constant traffic building up outside my house due to a contraflow that has been placed right outside my residence.

I have called both parties to complain. Network Rail needs to do more. I have made another complaint tonight. I have also contacted my local council to complain about the contraflow.

I have an appointment with the gp tomorrow. Fully expecting to be prescribed ad's.

Am I being unreasonable to blaim network rail and my local council for the onset of pnd? I was extremely happy before the work/noise started

It's been 24/7 from September and wull last until February 2014

*will

Is it mainly the noise that's the problem? If so I sympathise, I find continuous noise extremely difficult to deal with.

What have you asked Network Rail and the council to do, specifically? Does the noise from the work start and stop at a particular time each day? Are you able to get out of the house at all (I know you shouldn't have to leave your home to find peace, but sometimes it's the only way to have a couple of hours without the stress of it)?

Wouldn't that be general depression rather than pnd?

Semantics sorry.

But yanbu constant noise and an aggravating factor which you cannot escape can be so so wearing Write threatening to sue for it perhaps they will pull their finger out

Hi tinmug

Yes it's the noise. It's 24/7 non stop. Oversized machinery, loutish workers and revellers blasting music. I go out everyday for a few hours. The noise is just too much. I have asked the council to consider moving the contraflow so that it's position next to a bit of wasteland. I have asked network rail to speak to their workers. Nothing has changed.

Do you have a newborn?

Softlysoftly

It is presenting as pnd.

Yes tinmug.

2 1/2 month old.

PND stands for post natal depression. Do you have a young baby?

Sorry - cross post.

If the workers are playing music and making an excessive amount of noise 24/7 then I think you need to either contact Newtork Rail again and insist that a manager comes and spends some time in your home so that he/she can get an idea of how intrusive it is.

Have you considered contacting the noise control department at the council?

Contact the council environmental health as they can monitor noise levels.

I will contact environmental health tomorrow. Thanks

I need to move out of London pronto.

I blamed me not being able to sleep on the lad over the road from me, going into his car to smoke, with his friends, it wasn't, I had PND.

I blamed lots of things for my feelings of increased anxiety. Nothing was to blame, I was caught up in PND.

Your GP may refer you to CBT, as well as give you AD's.

You will start to feel better once you open up and get help.

Birds

Thanks but I was fine until the 24/7 noise started. This is a full on assualt of noise, not the gathering of a couple of blokes in a car.

Projection is unhelpful.

Sue for what exactly softly softly? Not sure that triggering someone's PND was reasonably foreseeable when they commenced rail works. Threatening to sue makes you look irrational and is unlikely to achieve what you intend which is to improve the situation.

Perhaps more constructive would be to right them a letter setting out your concerns, finding out their legal obligations in terms of noise levels and permitted start/ finish times and checking they are complying with those obligations. In the meantime, get advice and support from your GP.

I'm not sure you could blame the noise for "post natal" depression, but I agree the stress of it would hardly help. You may have found without the noise and disruption that you'd be feeling depressed anyway, or some other factor would have seemed to cause it.

Mine just happened seemingly without good cause because it is an illness and although I manage it I can't always tell when it will start. Sometimes there is no obvious reason. Even if there seems to be I think it's just coincidence sometimes and that having it makes me less likely to be able to cope well with stress, rather than the stress causing the illness IYSWIM.

I'd focus on speaking to the doctor and trying to get better rather than pursuing that particular avenue.

By all means keep complaining about the disruption in the mean time though!

I could have just trimmed that down to this :

How I cope with stress when I have depression is very different to how I cope when I don't :)

If you haven't had depression before it can be hard to recognise before it gets bad, but it gets easier to prevent once you can x

I'm so sorry to hear that you are having such a horrible time. I would echo the others - go and see your GP asap, complain to the council's noise team, make a formal complaint to Network Rail and insist that you speak to one of their management team. Focus your energies on getting better rather then suing NR.

Fwiw - Bird was just trying to help. Your response was uncalled for, but I imagine that it was not meant in the way it came across and that it was a symptom of how you are feeling at the moment.

I would have thought that having a baby is a much more likely cause of PND than noise is.

The noise might be a contributing factor towards why you are finding it hard to cope, but there is only so much the council and network rail can do.

Presumably if they move the traffic elsewhere it will just cause a problem for someone else. There will be reasons why they have decided to put it where they have, they have the general public to consider, not just one new mum.

I think you'd be better off trying to find ways to cope with it. They are not going to delay and change their entire plan just on your say so, and if you think they are likely to then you are just going to end up more frustrated when they don't.

Thanks for your responses. Apologies if I wad a bit acidic last night.

I fired off emails to all five relevant parties at 3 this morning. We are all going to meet onsite today to reposition the contraflow traffic light. There will also be an investigation regarding noise levels and the positioning of the traffic light. I am waiting for network rail's community relations team to get back to me.

Will update when i hear back.

No - there is a massive gap between the houses. The traffic light could have easily gone there. I will be suggesting this today.

Cornflakes- I was doing really well self-managing my post-natal anxiety until next door started a full refurb including damp proofing, wall demolishing, knocking out fireplaces etc. etc. in tiny terrace with v thin walls. They moved out for the duration, of course, and did not notify me of the work. I had nowhere to go in winter with teeny sickly baby DC2 who, of course, never slept during the day and therefore never slept at night. 18 month old was terrified of the noise and dropped naps. I was at breaking point and at started kicking the walls. Once or twice I went round there like a screaming harridan. Its a wonder no-one called social services. DH had no idea how bad it was as left for work at 7.30 and they started at 7.45.

I am so so sorry for you. The only thing that helped me was staying with friends/family for long periods of time so I got a break from the relentlessness of it. Also phoning DH/DM/the health visitor whilst they were doing the work so they could hear how bad it was and give me some proper bleeding sympathy.

DC1 still terrified of any form of noise. Hope they stop soon.

Noise and disruption 24/7 is bound to make anyone stressed, whether they are already coping with PND or not. You have my total sympathy OP.

My PND was caused by my MIL and made a lot worse by noisy neighbours. One or other would have been bad enough, but both together nearly tipped me over the edge.