Music as Torture

Loud music played 24 hours a day can have a detrimental impact on a person’s mind and body.  Your body can’t rest – your mind is being bombarded.  It’s like being tortured.  Some torture does involve the captive being bombarded with loud music 24 hours a day.  This non stop music from the Neighbour from hell is the same thing. 

Music has been used in psychological operations. The term music torture is sometimes used by critics of the practice of playing loud music incessantly to prisoners or people besieged. Torture using Music

For US interrogators seeking to disorientate and break Iraqi prisoners it's 'torture lite' - rock music played at excruciating volumes. But while the song choices may sometimes verge on the unintentionally funny, this appropriation of music by the military is anything but a joke.
US using music as torture

Studies have shown that missing a night's sleep temporarily drains 10 points from a person's IQ. Consistent sleep deprivation, through harassment, exposure to bright lights, and exposure to loud, jarring music and recordings, can drastically impair judgment.
American torture methods

Added to that, is a lot of houses these days are not built to repel this kind of incessant loud noise.  Fibro walls, small yards, close houses, unit blocks – all this makes and causes problems

In our case, (because my partner suffers from a constant daily headache), in this situation (with the neighbours from hell), it became impossible.  We simply couldn’t continue to live in our house – the way it was.  We investigated many options, including moving, but in the end we decided on a number of changes we could make that might make a difference.

First, we soundproofed our house as much as possible.  In our case, we chose to do this downstairs as it was already partly brick, which is a good insulation against noise. 

 

After it was finished, we then basically moved downstairs.  We had a small kitchen, a toilet and a lounge.  This worked well for a while, but when summer came we found it was just too hot. 

We simply didn’t have the money to install another air conditioner downstairs, so we had no choice but to return upstairs.  We shut the house up and put the air conditioner on.  That blocked the noise, but caused another problem – money.  The cost of running the air conditioner 24 hours a day was too much for us.  We needed to find an alternative.

We then purchased a noisy air cooler to mask some of the noise.  We purchased headphones for our television.  We still had to shut windows and doors – which wasn’t ideal but it worked.   We had to leave the television on to use the headphones – but this was cheaper than leaving the air conditioner on.

 At night, we would shut the bedroom up and put the air conditioner on.  Sleep was hard to find, but we had to try somehow.   We lived like this every day for months –until the cooler weather came back.  Then we went back downstairs.

Emotional turmoil the neighbours from hell have caused.

Neighbours from Hell can cause severe emotional problems.  Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is one example.  The daily constant stress does take its toll.    Constant and unrelenting noise, worry and fear, all build up in our bodies.  We have to release them somehow or we will literally explode.

There have many cases over the years of neighbours ‘exploding’.  They simply reach a point where they simply can’t take it anymore.

Some headlines from newspapers are below:

·         “Cops move out, hoons move in”

·        “Father fires shots at neighbour”

·        “Suburbs living in terror of thugs”

·        “Far too loud for comfort”

·        “Judge scold neighbours”

·        “Man hits neighbour”

·        “Neighbour records his neighbours dog barking and plays it full blast at 3am”

·        “Police officer is the worst neighbour”

 

All this stress leads us to a point where we can’t cope anymore.  Many people choose to move.  This becomes all the more complicated when you own your own house.  First you have to sell your house, sometimes at a considerable loss.  Then you have to find somewhere else to live.  This is problematic.  First because you may have less money to buy another house, and second, once you have lived next door to the neighbours from hell – you will do anything to avoid this again.  So the next house has to be perfect.  This of course, is impossible. 

In my case, I lived next door to the neighbours from hell.  I decided to move.  I checked out the new house, and, the neighbourhood.  I moved in and for a few months it was perfect.  My stress levels fell.  I began to enjoy my life again.  I began to laugh – a strange sound at first.  Then, the neighbours moved out – on both sides.  And, the neighbours from hell moved in - on both sides.  I was now in a worse predicament than before.

 

The list of symptoms that can occur as a result of living next door to  the Neighbour from Hell  include:

·        Sleep disorders

·        Crying

·        Constant headaches

·        Lack of energy

·        Smoking

·        Alcohol

·        Drug taking

·        Weight gain or weight loss

·        Difficulty in concentrating

·        Being grumpy

·        Inability to make decisions

·        Negative thoughts

·        Pure white anger

·        Despairing of any hope

 

Is there any hope and what you can do about the problems

1.     Keep a diary – a daily diary.  Take down times, dates, details of what happened, who said what, registration numbers of cars.

2.     Start a file – Keep any notes received by the neighbours, photos, videos, names and information that you may be able to use as evidence.

3.     Seek help – search the internet for neighbour from hell forums.  Read others problems – it does help.  It makes you feel that you are not alone.

4.     Seek medical help.  A doctor will provide medication if needed to help you cope.  A doctor may also be a valuable witness to your state of mind.

5.     Call the police regularly.  Yes, there will be repercussions from this.  In our case, our house was targeted by gangs, we had our roof rocked, eggs thrown, threats made etc.  But it is important for the police to have a record of all goings on.  Be careful though, the neighbours will say that you are the problem.  Don’t give them any evidence to back their claim.

6.     The hardest of all to do.  Keep living your life.  Don’t let them win.  Go out to functions.  Keep gardening.  Keep washing your dog in the backyard.  Keep mowing your lawn.  Believe me,  I know this will be difficult.  But I have learnt over years of dealing with these people, they don’t like it if you go into your yard.  They want control of you, your family and your property.  If you don’t give in, if you keep going into your yard, they will begin to leave their house.  In our case, they couldn’t stand to see us enjoying our yard – it stopped their activities.  So they started going out.  It gave us a reprieve.  Don’t react to their taunts. Ignore them.  Go inside and write down the details of what happened.  Invite visitors over.  I found that when visitors arrived at our house, the noise died down – and sometimes the neighbours even went out.  They simply did not want any witnesses to what they were doing.  Talk frequently with your partner.  Remind each other what you need to do ie ignore the neighbours from hell, live your life, and record everything.  It does help.

The neighbours from hell are determined to wreck your life and sometimes the whole neighbourhood.  Don’t let them win.  Don’t fight them. You will not win.  What you have to do is ignore them when you can.  Call the police when you have to.  Record everything.  And, live your life. 

It is hard. It sometimes seems too much to bear.  But you can live through it and survive.  We did.  Good luck with your neighbours.  I hope you win.

 

Physical Damage

Apart from the emotional damage, the physical damage caused by a neighbour from hell also takes its toll.

Some of the damage caused includes:

• Eggs thrown at our house
• Door locks jammed
• Bits of steel in our yard caused by a slingshot
• Fence damage by pushing and climbing over a wire fence, and by kicking and cutting a timber fence (the cutting was done by a chainsaw)
• Damage caused to air conditioners - fumes from burnouts being sucked in
• Damage to our health by breathing in the fumes from burnouts - (in one instance the fumes could be smelt on our towels the next day)
• Damage to our animals - they are terrified now of any noise - and our dog wets on the floor.
• Plants damaged by people urinating on them and ripping them to shreds.
• Smashed bottles in our yard and on footpath.
• Damage to road - smashed bottles, painting sign on road and rubber left behind by burnouts.
• Damage to other neighbours property - slingshot damage to shed and house, smashed bottles, smashed fences.
• Damage to property values in the area.

Then there is the damage to their property:

• Damage caused by setting fire to grass in their backyard with a flamethrower.
• Damage caused by them smashing doors and walls including screen doors, windows and garage door
• Damage caused by car trying to drive sideways into their driveway - major damage to car and gate
• Damage to their sheds - caused by throwing timber and steel at them.
• Damage caused by parties - Parents are only concerned with what is damaged of theirs.

Then there is the possible damage that luckily never occurred.

Including the things we located in our yard:

• finding used condoms
• glass fragments from smashed bottles
• steel spikes from someones fence
• medicine bottles
• half eaten food including sandwiches and fruit
• old cat food

 These could've caused long term damage to our dog if she had found any of it before we did - especially if the food had been poisoned.

The cost financially to our property caused by the damage is not great.  We have had to:

•  replace door locks
• clean our house
• build a new fence
• clean out our air conditoners
• and replant plants

Emotionally though is another matter.  My next post will be on the emotional turmoil the neighbours from hell have caused.

Latest Party at Neighbours

Received a warning letter from our neighbours that there was to be a party at their house for a 16th Birthday party.  The party got out of control very fast.  Phoned the police.  Police attended - one car.  Once the police saw the numbers at the party - hundreds of people - they called for backup.  Five police cars arrived including 2 paddy wagons and 1 police dog.  I have included 4 videos of the party - a timeline of how it deteriorated.  The last video was when the police were trying to herd the guests out.

First Video

Second Video

Third Video

Fourth Video