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She even has thumbtacks all around the edges of the curtains. She thinks people can see in.

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Discuss her paranoia with the MD at the next office visit. Perhaps a mild anxiolytic med will help. He may want to get an MRI or CT of the brain.
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Petsilove, whenever I walked into my parent's house, I thought I needed to be wearing a miner's helmet with a light. Drapes always closed, blinds shut, etc.

There were two reasons for this, Mom was from the old school that the sun would bleach out the furniture and the rugs.... heaven forbid a touch of sunlight would show up on those old tables.

Another reason was my parent's eyesight. Bright light bothered them which is common for those who have had age related eye surgery.
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Thank you for your responses.
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You might want to see if your mom may have previously dealt with a peeping Tom. I know I have when I first moved in here because the property manager at the time was able to fully describe everything that was in one of my rooms, I got the message through another person who is helping me transition into independent living. From that time I kept my windows covered, I just felt that violated but I would have a peeping Tom violating my privacy. You might want to see if your mom may have dealt with something similar. If so, you might want to introduce her to privacy shears that you can use during the day. As soon as you need lights on in your home, that's when you want to use drapes and not regular curtains. Drapes not only help with energy efficiency, but they're also better for privacy. Peeping Tom's is about the only reason I can think of as to why someone would constantly keep their windows covered. Another thing related to that is if that peeping Tom also peeks through windows to see what you have with intent to break in and steal those items later. These particular reasons are very good reasons to keep your windows covered, especially if the peeping Tom also happens to be a rapist. I'm thinking your mom is probably keeping her windows covered for these reasons, and from my own experience with peeping Tom is exactly why I don't blame her. However, there are ways to still protect yourself, your privacy, and your belongings without living in a dungeon. That's what the various privacy products are for, and finding the right one will mean the difference between letting adequate lighting in and living in a dungeon like I did until I discovered products that would allow light in and still let me protect myself, my privacy, and my irreplaceable valuables. If your mom happens to have irreplaceable valuables herself, then I don't blame her for wanting to protect her home, many people who have had bad experiences at home will have a strong tendency to prevent the experience from happening again even if it means living in a dungeon as a result of a peeping Tom. This is why you want to find out some things and get your mom to talk. You can ask leading questions and just listen to her talk because the truth will come out sooner or later. If she has had a bad experience such as a peeping Tom or some other related situation, you will find out sooner or later. When you find out what happened in her past, you'll definitely want to help her by giving her all the support you possibly can while at the same time showing her alternatives to having to live in the dark. She can still protect herself, her privacy and her valuables without having to worry about a peeping Tom if her windows are properly protected against peeping toms. She can still guard against peeping Tom's and still allow proper lighting into her home.
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I enjoy my privacy so I always have my curtains and shades drawn at all times. I don't mind dungeons; they are some of the best places in the house to be
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There are serious downfalls to constantly leaving your home as dark as a dungeon. One of them will be a negative effect on your mood, this happened to me so I know what constant darkness actually does. I know from experience that constant darkness will turn you into something you're actually not as a result of the negative effect on your mood. You will find yourself eventually becoming very mean and hateful, this is just the nature of being in constant dungeon settings all the time. Furthermore, you'll eventually find yourself not even wanting to come home anymore because home to you will eventually feel very dreadful. Finally, your guests will eventually say something because they will notice when they come . Furthermore, you'll eventually find yourself not even wanting to come home anymore because home to you will eventually feel very dreadful. Finally, your guests will eventually say something because they will notice when they come visit enough times. Sooner or later someone will definitely say something because even they will know that living in a dungeon is very unhealthy and very depressing. When someone finally said something to me, I explained the situation with the peeping Tom. It wasn't until sometime shortly after that I realized there was a product on the market to allow natural light in and still keep peeping Tom's at bay. It wasn't until sometime shortly after that I realized there was a product on the market to allow natural light in and still keep peeping Tom's at bay. That product happens to be privacy shears that go under your drapes or regular curtains. There's a secret that I know about in how to properly use them, the more of the privacy curtains that you can put on the rod across the window, the better the privacy you'll have while still allowing natural light in. These will not interfere with your use of regular drapes or curtains because they go on a separate rod altogether. I noticed when I started using privacy shears, my overall mood started improving right away, but complete recovery from negativity took some time. Just having one peeping Tom can really send you into a tailspin and it can last for quite a long time afterwords. Peeping Tom's really do pose a very serious threat to our safety and well-being. This is why I'm very thankful for the helpful privacy products to help protect us in our homes. Home is really not home if it's not a very happy place to be from what I discovered and experienced for myself. When you get to the point you no longer want to go home for some reason, that's when you have to assess the situation and find out why you don't want to go home. For me, it was the fact that there were not only somethings going on in my neighborhood, but my place was also a dungeon to help protect myself. The reason why I kept my place so dark is so that no one would be able to see and should they decide to break in, and yes, I did have some break-ins many years ago. Fortunately back then I had nothing of value and didn't have that much because I was new to the area and had just moved here. Had anyone tried to break in during that time I kept my place dark, I would've had a weapon at very least. I was not a person that anyone wanted to mess with, which is why the violators went behind my back when I was away from home. I'm glad those people are long gone and my life has improved for the better. I'm safe now and I'm happier now than I've been in many years. It's up to me though to stay safe and to never let down my guard. I found from experience that I don't have to live in a dungeon, and that I can still keep my home safe and still keep A happy home go on for myself
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When mom used to get extremely depressed, windows, curtains, shades, blinds, ALL SHUT!
When mom is doing well (like right now), thank God, it´s all bright and cheery.
That is my comment, haha, and I am sticking to it.
M88
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Light sensitivity? The scene you're describing sounds like what i do when in the throes of a migraine. Migraines are also neurological. Sound, light, smells and even motion can either set them off or exacerbate the intensity. Does she complain of headaches or neck aches?
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I can understand if someone gets a passing headache, but having the house always dark all the time is definitely a red flag of some very serious underlying problem, because it's very unhealthy in the long run.
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