Louis-RigollyContributor
Dog nuisance and the elderly
When I studied psychology back in the Stone Age of the 1980s we were taught that, in many cases, suicide is the option that is taken when there are no other options; we were taught to try to identify the options in counselling.
On the 14th of January 2013 I made a formal complaint to the local council about barking dogs at my neighbour's property, which operates as an occasional boarding kennel. Her own dog yaps consistently and the boarding dogs which are not cared for, whine, howl, and bark for long periods. I have spent the past three years contacting anyone who may be able to help push the council into acting on my complaint. I have written emails and surface letters to any member of local or state government, including the police, who may have some power to act. After three years nothing has been achieved and the situation is probably worse now.
This morning I was woken just after 4.30am by howling from one of the Australia Day boarders. This howling and whining went on for about 40 minutes and was followed by random barking and whining for a number of hours. I have spent the past nine hours making telephone calls and writing emails without any sign of acceptance of my complaint; I have worked intensely without identifying any options.
I don't find forums very productive because they seem to only apply to younger people but I desperately need to talk.
During the past two years or so I have seen a variety of social workers, psychologists, and psychiatrists. The common factor is that nothing can be done while the nuisance continues. In August 2014 a psychologist told me that I was “burned out,” this seemed a reasonable description of Complex Stress Disorder. Late last year I saw two psychiatrists a few weeks apart. The first one talked with me for the fifty minute hour and concluded that I am not depressed but need help to cope with the situation. A week or so later I was given an appointment with a different psychiatrist at the same centre. This one concluded after a few minutes that all my problems could be solved with anti depressants; she then got up and walked out of the room. I avoid anti depressants because of the usual weight gain which would be a major problem with diabetes. I currently control diabetes with careful diet. I also find mindfulness techniques to be very effective in helping mood and sleep.
The main thing that troubles me about all this is that some 2500 Australians die each year from suicide. The Victorian state government has a minister for family violence, but seems to have no interest in suicide at all. My experiences tend to suggest that “The System” encourages suicide by systematic isolation of those with mental difficulties. I use the word “difficulties” rather than “illness” because there was once a suggestion that mental problems can be a normal response to abnormal circumstances. I believe strongly that my mental difficulties are simply a response to circumstances; I function quite well in many other environments. In my own home I spend the days in my quiet room, away from the dogs. I can't work in my yard and pay to have the lawns mowed; this is a job that I could do myself if my yard was not a toxic environment because of th nuisance. I try to get away every second day. This is how I've lived for more than two years.
I often feel that I am living in a story by Franz Kafka.
