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Old 08-19-2011, 07:58 AM
 
18,270 posts, read 14,396,687 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ecovlke View Post
I'd like to make a suggetion giving your decision to stop contact with this guy. I don't know your age, but age really doesn't matter. Do you have family that lives near? If so, you may want to confide in your family, so that someone knows what is going on. Maybe I'm being a little overboard here, since the guy has never made any threats to you or hurt you. Everything will probably be just fine, but it still might be a good idea if your family knows the history of your dating/relationship with this guy.

Am I wrong? I don't know, but I do think it's best to be as safe as possible. Stay safe, dear.

If you're ever around that dog again, you might try to interact with the dog. Pet him; talk to him; try to play with him. ???
Thanks for the suggestion. If I see the dog again, i'll make sure he gets a big hug from me.
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Old 08-19-2011, 08:14 AM
 
831 posts, read 1,961,012 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ecovlke View Post
Your post gave me chills. The hairs on my arms rose. I am a cat lover and just hate knowing there are so many sick people in this world.
Same here

OP - are you saying you don't (or didn't) feel something around that person? I have to say when I have the horrendous misfortune to find myself around people who are 1. intentionally cruel or 2. just callous towards animals my teeth jangle like I'm chewing on tin foil with a mouth full of lead fillings. It FEELS bad. The hair on the back of my neck stands up, I know I have a look of alarm and most often - disgust - on my face and I have no poker face to be found. What I am thinking clearly resonates on this mug.

People who are intentionally cruel to animals throughout their lives seem to show a marked difference from those who show a general lack of compassion for "dumb creatures" in my experience. However I avoid both - one is too crazy to be around, the other too soulless and stupid. The former I can't reconcile with anything except bad genes and a definite needing of a shock to the gene pool - the latter...if you're too stupid to know you're being cruel...well get the F away from me.
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Old 08-19-2011, 09:22 AM
 
Location: The 719
17,944 posts, read 27,373,653 times
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What a lot of people on here are failing to see is that evil can be healed in some people with love, and some folks do grow out of this and do NOT go on to be Jeffry Dahmer types.

In any case, you can chose the folks you befriend and interact with. That's a topic for the Relationships subforum, so I won't delve into that here.

As far as the mental health issue goes, it's an interesting topic. If a person cannot treat defenseless beings with respect, how are they going to react in relationships when things get rough? Some amend their ways and go on to be good and do good things. Others perhaps not.

As I type this, I see two well fed cats basking in the sun. Stand in judgement if you must, but I recommend you do so carefully. Nothing wrong with judging another, but make sure you remember to check your own house first. If it appears that a person is evil and will not recognize their own error or tries to hide it, the next issue becomes healing up those in proximity of the evil, getting away from it and heading towards goodness.

I understand the psychopath as someone who doesn't know right from wrong. That's bad. I understand the sociopath as someone who does know right from wrong, but doesn't care. This is worse. Evil is someone who would needlessly harm another in order to avoid a fear or suffering in ones' own life through lies and perhaps narcissism... or just evil for the sake of being evil. These folks are to be pitied as much as anything. They may be suffering from some genetic predisposition, a rough upbringing, who knows. But the evil person can sometimes be the person who seems very sane... but is evil. This is the worst.

But back to the relationship thing... I think this is why we date people before forming close bonds with them. We have the right to walk or run away if those people are not for us. This should be done as early as possible because if we don't show some discernment up front, it gets harder to judge as we go.

I have an older brother who is a very mentally ill paranoid schizophrenic. I was dating a gal who I met about 13 months after the divorce with my first wife. We jumped into a relationship way too fast and moved in together just 2 weeks after first dating. Everything went great for about four months. After that, we weren't doing so well. She seemed very controlling and just downright mean. I took her to my parents house one day and I was nervous because my older brother was there and she would meet him and I didn't know if she would understand his condition too well. He paced the floor a lot, stared into space and said strange things, went outside and smoked a cigarette in about 40 seconds, came back in and slugged down a Dr Pepper, stared at himself in the mirror for a bit, paced the floor and went and sat down. This is sort of his routine. She didn't seem to be bothered by that, but after a while, we got into a huge fight over some stupid thing and she called me some kind of a name. My brother got up, went to the closet, grabbed a broom, gave it to my girlfriend and said, "Here. Fly away."
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Old 08-19-2011, 09:37 AM
 
Location: Nebraska
4,531 posts, read 8,841,110 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dollydo View Post
Gunluver2,

Obviously, I was not talking about killing to put food on the table, that should have been simple to figure out.
Sorry if I misunderstood you DollyDo. I am a lifelong hunter. When I was growing up on a farm/ranch the money saved by hunting/fishing was money saved for other necessities. I still hunt when possible because I enjoy the time spent in the field. It isn't to save money now because my rifle alone could pay for a few hundred pounds of steaks.

I live in a University town and I am surrounded by large numbers of people sympathetic to the P.E.T.A mentality. Bird watching is one of my favorite activities. When hunting season is closed I have a camera with me and I spend as much time in the field as I can. Several years ago I gave permission for a small group of bird watchers to wander around my farm for their bird watching activities. On opening day of firearms deer season some of the members of that birding group took it upon themselves to go on to my property an hour before sunrise and start banging pots and pans to scare off deer. My nephew was in his tree stand when they showed up. He took their names and gave them to me. I wasn't very happy about it and when I confronted them about the situation instead of apologizing they lectured me on my cruelty to animals. I have decided that MOST of the supporters of P.E.T.A have a mental defect and are as crazy as loons. I despise people that abuse animals but I also despise people with the idea that animals have more rights than people.

GL2
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Old 08-19-2011, 09:38 AM
 
Location: Midwest
4,670 posts, read 5,075,549 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by temptation001 View Post
I'm dating a guy who used to kill animals when he was a kid. He says that there was all kinds of animals and that there were many. He also says that he stopped killing animals when he turned into an adult. What am I getting into here? Is this guy nuts? Should I ask him if he stopped killing animals in order to start killing humans? Why would a child kill animals? Please , if anyone knows why a child would kill an animal, or many, why?!
This isn't like petty theft or vandalism. I don't believe there is an on/off switch for this type of behavior. It evolves.

I wouldn't trust a person that habitually killed/kills animals.
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Old 08-19-2011, 09:59 AM
 
5,546 posts, read 9,981,762 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by temptation001 View Post
Thanks for the encouraging words.

I do feel for the dog if he is being abused, but I probably don't have enough evidence to call anyone. I don't even know who I could call. They might ask me if I have seen the dog being abused, and when I answer No, they probably won't do anything.
All you'd have to do is to anonymously call the Animal Humane Society. Call from a pay phone and you don't need to identify yourself. They will go check things out. Just describing the dog's behavior as you've done in this thread was enough to tip me off. This guy does not have to know it was you. It could have been anyone. Is the dog ever outside or where a neighbor might see him? Stay safe, please steer clear of that guy, and please at some point make that call. You could be saving the dog's life.

The one charity I do every month is the ASPCA (Amer Society of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals). I can't stand the thought of an animal being mistreated. They cannot defend themselves. We, OTOH, can remove ourself from dangerous situations before it's too late. I really do hope you cut off contact with this guy and just make it look good on your end so that he does not suspect it's you making the call. You could be in danger yourself at some point, so run away! Oh, or call the SPCA or ASPCA in your area. They will investigate. That is what their job is. That is where my contribution goes every month - to see that animals are gotten out of abusive situations.

Oh, and I've looked up this link for you:

http://www.aspca.org/fight-animal-cr...uelty-faq.aspx

Last edited by mistygrl092; 08-19-2011 at 10:09 AM..
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Old 08-19-2011, 10:46 AM
 
Location: Nebraska
4,176 posts, read 10,667,898 times
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I am a hunter and a farmer and I kill chickens, deer, turkeys, and cattle for food. I will also kill an animal that threatens me or my livestock, or gophers who tear up my pasture, or mice that invade my grain. I have no compunction or guilt about these things.

However, I will not torture an animal, nor kill it just because I can. I have in fact adopted many abused and unwanted animals, and kept them fed, healthy, and happy, even put them to work (as in the case of my current herd dog). IMHO, anyone who does horrible things to innocent animals is a sociopath; does not know and does not care what sort of torture or pain s/he inflicts, and has no respect for either animals or people. They cannot be "loved" into normal behavior; they take other peoples' proffered love and use it to manipulate them and even injure them, just as they will take a cat or dog's innocent loyalty and use it to destroy them. They enjoy causing pain for no other purpose than to empower themselves. These types do not change, cannot change, will not change. Run, don't walk, away. And keep your eyes open - when thwarted, these people can become very dangerous. They do not understand or recognize any emotions other than their own twisted ones of supremacy and self-gratification. They usually enjoy the fear and degradation that they heap upon animals and other humans. RUN.
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Old 08-19-2011, 10:55 AM
 
Location: Central Virginia
834 posts, read 2,273,868 times
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Someone who hunts would always say, "I hunt" or "I used to hunt."
You'd never hear a hunter say, "I used to kill animals."
So anyone saying, "I used to kill animals" just sounds like someone who has a few demons going on. He may be a kind and good person. Who we are as adults is very different from who we were and what we did as children. But it still sounds like this dude has some personal family issues at the very least. I say, proceed, but with caution.
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Old 08-19-2011, 11:12 AM
 
Location: The 719
17,944 posts, read 27,373,653 times
Reputation: 17257
Our municipalities have a hard enough convicting those who harm innocent people, let alone a defenseless animal... with some very convincing but perhaps circumstantial evidence.

Now here's another can of worms; Animal Hoarders.

What in the world is that about?

But love in the sense that one would show random and unconditional kindness to mankind merely because they view the people in the world as being of the same fabric... cosmically connected... I disagree that it can't heal.

I'm also a person of faith... and in that faith, the power of God is unlimited. To say nobody can ever reform is to limit this power. If you're an atheist, I can understand your skepticism. But to deny the force of nature and the immutible laws of nature alone would be to deny the capacity to heal. But... if that's the case, then so be it. Perhaps some cannot be healed. But I feel they are in the vast minority. The focus then becomes one of healing those affected by the evil doers, as I'd mentioned in a prior post.
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Old 08-19-2011, 01:59 PM
 
5,546 posts, read 9,981,762 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by McGowdog View Post
Our municipalities have a hard enough convicting those who harm innocent people, let alone a defenseless animal... with some very convincing but perhaps circumstantial evidence.
Well, that doesn't mean one should not try and that is what I send them money for every month. And they do help rescue abused animals and they do make a difference and I've even been on a conference call with the ASPCA in NY.

Quote:
Now here's another can of worms; Animal Hoarders.

What in the world is that about?
I'd say it's a form of mental illness.

Quote:
But love in the sense that one would show random and unconditional kindness to mankind merely because they view the people in the world as being of the same fabric... cosmically connected... I disagree that it can't heal.

I'm also a person of faith... and in that faith, the power of God is unlimited. To say nobody can ever reform is to limit this power. If you're an atheist, I can understand your skepticism. But to deny the force of nature and the immutible laws of nature alone would be to deny the capacity to heal. But... if that's the case, then so be it. Perhaps some cannot be healed. But I feel they are in the vast minority. The focus then becomes one of healing those affected by the evil doers, as I'd mentioned in a prior post.
Tell it to the victims of Ted Bundy or Jeffrey Dahmer. The facts are that those who hurt animals as children (and I'm only saying "hurt") often go one to become violent against humans in later life. And I'll confess, what you're saying here seems a bit OT and ethereal and not quite related to the OP's title of the thread. IOW, I don't even get it but that's ok.
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