Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Needy Neighbour - still - again

234 replies

LoveMyPiano · 23/04/2022 11:22

Disclosure - I have written about this situation before, and do try to keep out of it, but it keeps evolving as these things do. Note also, that I did agree to be her baby's Godmother [last minute request], but baby has now been adopted, and no more contact.

The very first time I wrote about this, I was told by some that I was over-invested and have a saviour-complex (I wish...), and as I have said above, I obviously did not succeed in creating, if not actual, at least figurative distance.

The young woman who lives next door (she in small apartments - 8 total; me in s/d house alongside) is someone I have known OF for quite a few years. I am old enough to be her mother (my own daughter is 5 years older than her); she has adoptive parents who live a little distance away (n/c with birth parents or family) but they are very very cold with her, although do help with lifts and things and (are supposed to) take care of her money (benefits are paid to them and they give hr an allowance - NOTE, I have just found out that they are not keping on top of her household bills, as agreed, as debt collectors have shown up for BG and a pre-paymet meter is going in to clear unpaid amounts).
She is relying on me very heavily and as other people cut her off, and cut her out, it is falling to me. She comes round to my friend's (where I am from about 8:45pm) apartment (he is in the same complex), usually in a distressed state over her "boyfriend" (babydaddy - he is a bit useless really) - and we are both too "nice" to turn her away ; then she justs sits or stands in the living room, going over and over the same things (she does not take advice on board, she just wants to be agreed with over this man and hear her own voice). She usually interrupts the late evening meal we might be about to eat, and does not care.

I cannot leave my house without her coming out to get me to help her with something. Or, she seems to appear when I return..... And I have been very snappish with her, but she is not deterred - and then anyway I feel terrible and cannot focus on what I was meant to be doing (which I realise is my own weakness and stupidity). I am now disproportionatey anxious over this (as, as I have tried to explain to her, her dramatics (and they CAN be - and she usually involved the Police herself....) can be on top of something else that I am trying to figure out in my own life at that time.

I cannot seem to get the balnce right - and I think I AM looking on here for someone to rant to myself (so in a way, like my neighbour....). It is just not easy to detach when there is no physical escape, and everything I think of that might help would actually result in further involevemnt, not less.
[And I do like to think that I am somewhat kind and (was) reasonably patient.]

Example, last night, we were just about tp eat - about 9:40 (very bad itself, and another issue of mine) and she appeared at the patio door (even though sheer curtains were drawn) waving her phone at me to speak to her Social Worker. She fell on the floor crying, and put her head on my knees, and was freezing cold, having been walking aroun the village (looking for the bf I think....) in her dressing gown. She didnt leave until 10:30 - and I believe she didn't settle at home even then, as her gate was open at minight (a bad sign).

For whatever advice I am seeking (and yes, I DO want to move/not easy - as this is very much a proximity issue, I don't think she respects me or my opionion or feelings at all....), please don't tell me to Get a Life, or that I am over-invested, because I do really try not to be.

But...... Heeeelp.....?
Please

OP posts:
LoveMyPiano · 24/04/2022 12:50

AchillesPoirot · 24/04/2022 12:42

Your snide little smiley when I have just disclosed what I have tells me all I need to know about you.

That was nasty. Not goady. Not open to misinterpretation. Just nasty.

Oh God.
It was not even a response to you. But IN MY OPINION, Goading is goading - and it was a wry smile.
Don't believe me if you don't want to. Or consider yourself goaded.

OP posts:
AchillesPoirot · 24/04/2022 12:51

I was not goading you.

You, however, have just admitted to goading me.

That is not a "wry" smilie that you used.

LoveMyPiano · 24/04/2022 12:58

AchillesPoirot · 24/04/2022 12:49

Your comment about me when I had disclosed what I had was uncalled for and nasty and not at all open to interpretation.

I don't know what that ramble about being vegetarian is supposed to be.

Eating 2 meals a week is unusual.

Oh, you've lost me now No more ED discussion with you, thank you.
I hope you are OK though.
I think I made my response to the post before I read your with your revelation. Sorry.

OP posts:
LoveMyPiano · 24/04/2022 12:59

AchillesPoirot · 24/04/2022 12:51

I was not goading you.

You, however, have just admitted to goading me.

That is not a "wry" smilie that you used.

Wrong emoji then. Sorry again.
Can you just leave it now. It's distracting

OP posts:
LoveMyPiano · 24/04/2022 13:08

@TerenceTrentLoughborough
Sorry, I can't include all the nested quotes....
But I do want to get it clear that I said, it is not always the case that people who threaten/talk about/mention suicide DON'T attempt it. That it's just for drama/attention.....
I didnt even mean that to infer that (or that I know...) people who are truly suicidal don't talk about it. I don't know why that is what you got from my comment, which is only my opinion - again - based on my own exeperince after two attempts on my own life, and knowing two people who have also killed themselves.
It is irritating and upsetting to hear my NDN shout about it, by and large for attention form just about Anybody but I would also never NOT take her seriously, to some extent.

OP posts:
LoveMyPiano · 24/04/2022 13:11

@zingally
Thanks for the insightful reply. I am not ignoring, or dismissing but cannot respond just yet.
But I will.

OP posts:
LoveMyPiano · 24/04/2022 13:16

AchillesPoirot · 24/04/2022 12:49

Your comment about me when I had disclosed what I had was uncalled for and nasty and not at all open to interpretation.

I don't know what that ramble about being vegetarian is supposed to be.

Eating 2 meals a week is unusual.

The "ramble" was just that, a Ramble.

I'm notorious for them, can't you tell?
😏

OP posts:
PonyPatter44 · 24/04/2022 13:19

Eating two meals a WEEK is seriously abnormal. Are you using all this over-involvement with your ill neighbours to stop you having to face up to the fact that you are getting unwell again?

LoveMyPiano · 24/04/2022 13:37

PonyPatter44 · 24/04/2022 13:19

Eating two meals a WEEK is seriously abnormal. Are you using all this over-involvement with your ill neighbours to stop you having to face up to the fact that you are getting unwell again?

I don't think the "over-involvement" is a deflection tool. I have been like this before, even when I didn't ahve those worries.

Sorry if it seemed that I didn't respond well to your suggestion of getting another horse. I think if it was something I hankered after, I would just be upetting myself further - and of course, as wondeful and fulfilling as they are, it is not right to have one's well-being be reliant on another living creature....

As I might have said - re the Eadting Problems, the GP is aware, and a re-referral to ED charity has happened, but THEY want to look at physical factors as well, which means back to the GP (sigh).

It is a struggle, and all a vicious circle.
Caring about (or, sometimes, for) other people stops me from being self-centred, so there's that, I am ashamed to say.
x

OP posts:
VodselForDinner · 24/04/2022 13:41

OP, would you describe yourself as an empath?

Lucywithout · 24/04/2022 13:46

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

LoveMyPiano · 24/04/2022 13:59

So, if I don't respond, I am rude/dismissive/unwilling to change;
if I do, I am "attention-seeking" and (ffs) "disturbed".

The ONLY reason there has been no action on the advice on this thread is because I started it --- yesterday.

If Achilles could keep on topic, or (as you suggest) not engage, it would be just fine with me either way. Same to you 🤗

OP posts:
LoveMyPiano · 24/04/2022 14:02

VodselForDinner · 24/04/2022 13:41

OP, would you describe yourself as an empath?

Not necessarily - but I AM very SYMpathetic..... I don't 100% think that Empathy leaves a lot of room for the person with the original feelings.
I am though very good at seeing other peoples' points of view, and can let them displace my own....
(or I like to think I am)

I am certainly no Deanna Troi 😏
(Star Trek fan)

OP posts:
PonyPatter44 · 24/04/2022 14:04

I'm getting the impression that you live alone, so why would it be a bad thing if you WERE a bit more self-centred? Why do you think that as an adult woman living alone, being self-centred is a"bsd" thing?

LoveMyPiano · 24/04/2022 14:19

PonyPatter44 · 24/04/2022 14:04

I'm getting the impression that you live alone, so why would it be a bad thing if you WERE a bit more self-centred? Why do you think that as an adult woman living alone, being self-centred is a"bsd" thing?

I have a lifetime of brainwashing that tells me that it is... which, as I think I said, almost becomes a belief that I only exist in the way other people see/"see" me.....[usually badly, blah blah]
I do live alone; the man I was married to would never let me be involved with anyone or anything else. Now I have the "freedom" to do that - and mess it up like this.
Hence this thread having a few comments that are not doing me much good.
But most are!
😏

OP posts:
PonyPatter44 · 24/04/2022 14:24

I think it would fo you good to embrace self-centredness (is that a word?). Live differently, allow yourself to do one thing every day that you would think of as self-indulgent or self-centred. Even if that thing is just putting a vase of flowers on the table and mindfully eating scrambled egg on toast.

PonyPatter44 · 24/04/2022 14:25

Fo? Do!

LoveMyPiano · 24/04/2022 14:34

PonyPatter44 · 24/04/2022 14:24

I think it would fo you good to embrace self-centredness (is that a word?). Live differently, allow yourself to do one thing every day that you would think of as self-indulgent or self-centred. Even if that thing is just putting a vase of flowers on the table and mindfully eating scrambled egg on toast.

I am sure it is word. I can try.... it's a long haul though.
Even though this thread itself must have seemed self-centred, it was not the intention at the start.
With an ingrained belief that I am literally Nothing (apart from my years with horses, and that was about them....), how I have ended up has resulted in feeling that I don't exist at all (ergo - don't need food etc etc).
I would only have to contact a parental unit (even just to see if they are OK), to have that reaffirmed.
Flowers and scrambled eggs (I did just sign up to have Modern Milkman deliver some) - a nice plan x

OP posts:
WhereWasThatFrom · 24/04/2022 15:06

OP, Why don't you you try stopping interacting with her immediately. When you see just keep repeating that you are busy, that you can't help and you have your own things to worry about. Say the same thing every single time and don't do anything for her. Absolutely nothing.
Don't make lists, don't call her social,worker just be completely unavailable.

Why don't you try it for a few weeks and see what happens.

If you catch yourself worrying about her then try and force the thought out of head.

MrsH1983 · 24/04/2022 15:09

When you feel responsible for other people, it is incredibly hard to just wash your hands of them. I used to be like you OP, I wanted to help everyone and that even included someone I married who had all sorts of issues. I felt guilty for not helping him, like I was a bad person. Is that how you feel if you stopped helping? You would feel like you were abandoning someone vulnerable and then if anything happened to them, you would think it was your fault?

I can tell from some of the wording in your posts that you blame yourself and have a critical view of yourself. What you state your mother said to you about issues in your life being all your own doing indicates that you perhaps did not have the best childhood and felt abandoned by your own mother - which will lead to abandonment issues in adult life. It is inevitable but not impossible to recover from.

I may be wrong but I feel that you think on some level that by not helping these people, you are abandoning them so to speak and you remember the pain of what that is like and don't want anyone else to feel that pain.

I may be wrong, my apologies if that is the case.

LoveMyPiano · 24/04/2022 15:27

MrsH1983 · 24/04/2022 15:09

When you feel responsible for other people, it is incredibly hard to just wash your hands of them. I used to be like you OP, I wanted to help everyone and that even included someone I married who had all sorts of issues. I felt guilty for not helping him, like I was a bad person. Is that how you feel if you stopped helping? You would feel like you were abandoning someone vulnerable and then if anything happened to them, you would think it was your fault?

I can tell from some of the wording in your posts that you blame yourself and have a critical view of yourself. What you state your mother said to you about issues in your life being all your own doing indicates that you perhaps did not have the best childhood and felt abandoned by your own mother - which will lead to abandonment issues in adult life. It is inevitable but not impossible to recover from.

I may be wrong but I feel that you think on some level that by not helping these people, you are abandoning them so to speak and you remember the pain of what that is like and don't want anyone else to feel that pain.

I may be wrong, my apologies if that is the case.

Yes, you understand..... x And it isn't easy (especially hard with a husband I bet) to just cut things off, cut HER off. This evolved gradually, from a mere aquaintance really, made bigger than it should be by her diagnosed disorders, and of course, living next door. This would not be the way it is were we not in close quarters....

It really is stupid - for example, I just heard her door bang (she had to have a new one through slamming and someone she upset damaging the other), even though she said wouldn't slam it ---- and off she goes along the road, seemingly fine (dramatics GENERALLY happen in the evening/at night), and what am I doing.....Writing on a forum about a situation involving her! I despair at myself sometimes😏

That said, it is because I am trying to find a clearer path forward and the help on here is so wonderful!

I know I have abandonment issues - but the worst of it is, both of my parents have pulled me back and spat me out repeatedly. I had no mother that I could recollect 9with her apparenly - until I was nearly 3), until I met her at her request when I was 16. I wish I hadn't. I "forgave" them both, but it didn't matter, because they were not sorry.

This does affect how I am in a situation like this, but I never really saw it as a bad thing..... The NDN is just SO extreme that it harder for someone like me to cope. I do just want to fix things, and yet I know it's impossible.

Thank you so much for seeing it clearly; you aren't wrong.

OP posts:
LoveMyPiano · 24/04/2022 15:32

WhereWasThatFrom · 24/04/2022 15:06

OP, Why don't you you try stopping interacting with her immediately. When you see just keep repeating that you are busy, that you can't help and you have your own things to worry about. Say the same thing every single time and don't do anything for her. Absolutely nothing.
Don't make lists, don't call her social,worker just be completely unavailable.

Why don't you try it for a few weeks and see what happens.

If you catch yourself worrying about her then try and force the thought out of head.

It is a great plan - just trying to put not into practice is difficult for me. I am physically incapable (even if it true) of saying to anyone, "Don't tell me your problems, I've got plenty of my own" (not that that's what you are advising me to say). Wrongly or rightly, I cannot say it - but I will seethe inwardly 😏

NOT doing anything just seems a bit passive; I feel that I want to take some steps to prevent it - and I am a list-maker, just to get the shit out of my head.

She is quite a presence, so even when I don't want to worry, or have her in my mind - there she is!!

[None of this is an excuse for inaction, I promise x]

OP posts:
MrsH1983 · 24/04/2022 15:47

It feels practically impossible to cut them off. In your head you know that you cannot carry on the way you have been because you feel so drained but on the other hand you feel too guilty and responsible for making sure they are ok. It's such a conflicting situation to be in and even having those conflicting feelings can be draining in itself. You feel like there is no answer, no option because either option is uncomfortable.

Please don't despair at yourself for writing on here about it. You clearly don't like the situation you are in but feel at a total loss what to do. You probably know in your head what you have to do but can't emotionally bring yourself to do it.

It's ok to have abandonment issues and it's not your fault either. These issues stem from childhood which you cannot be responsible for as you were only a child. The constant treatment by your parents, even in adult life will continue having an impact on you. You can only begin to heal when you remove the toxic people from your life. Think of it like drinking poison. If you keep drinking it, you will never get better and never recover. Those kinds of people are the poison, including your parents. They sound abusive.

Please don't think it is impossible to fix things, it isn't at all. I fixed it and I very much like you. I got rid of the husband and I now have no problem saying no to people and I don't let them make me feel guilty. It doesn't happen overnight though and takes a lot of work and time. Learning to love yourself and realise that you are allowed to say no and that doesn't make you a bad person.

You're welcome, I do feel for you.

LoveMyPiano · 24/04/2022 16:02

MrsH1983 · 24/04/2022 15:47

It feels practically impossible to cut them off. In your head you know that you cannot carry on the way you have been because you feel so drained but on the other hand you feel too guilty and responsible for making sure they are ok. It's such a conflicting situation to be in and even having those conflicting feelings can be draining in itself. You feel like there is no answer, no option because either option is uncomfortable.

Please don't despair at yourself for writing on here about it. You clearly don't like the situation you are in but feel at a total loss what to do. You probably know in your head what you have to do but can't emotionally bring yourself to do it.

It's ok to have abandonment issues and it's not your fault either. These issues stem from childhood which you cannot be responsible for as you were only a child. The constant treatment by your parents, even in adult life will continue having an impact on you. You can only begin to heal when you remove the toxic people from your life. Think of it like drinking poison. If you keep drinking it, you will never get better and never recover. Those kinds of people are the poison, including your parents. They sound abusive.

Please don't think it is impossible to fix things, it isn't at all. I fixed it and I very much like you. I got rid of the husband and I now have no problem saying no to people and I don't let them make me feel guilty. It doesn't happen overnight though and takes a lot of work and time. Learning to love yourself and realise that you are allowed to say no and that doesn't make you a bad person.

You're welcome, I do feel for you.

Thank you again, so understanding.

And unusual on here, sadly. If I hadn't had to keep explaining (and still getting it wrong), it may not have become as lengthy as it has.

But I still am not diminishing anyone else's input - and very thankful for what you have said. You have done so well, I am full of admiration x

(I do hope no-one interprets [if reading still] that as me only hearing what I want to hear....)

OP posts:
OakRowan · 24/04/2022 16:35

This reply has been deleted

Not in the spirit of Mumsnet

Swipe left for the next trending thread