Most of the neighbors we were friends with have moved out of the neighborhood. We plan to stay a few more years.
While I agree this guy’s parents may be as nutty as he is, I do not think the judgment of their neighbors about their sociability is an indication of their mental stability. Our neighbors would probably say we are anti-social and religiously suspect. We are high church Anglican in a predominantly Baptist area. A couple of people have asked us about the chalk marks on our doorway. It’s an Epiphany blessing of the Three Kings, but unless one asks they probably would not know. Also Anglican is a foreign word here, we have been called angelicans and asked if we worship angels. I hate to see anyone rush to judge parents on the basis of their adult children’s mental status especially when I know how hard it is on the parents.
We have two friends who have schizophrenic sons. One family have battled fiercely to get their son treatment. It is very hard to do when the son is an adult, they have rights that parents can not override. Unless he is an immediate danger to himself or others they can not get him committed. Every day for them is a fear he will stop taking meds and disappear as he has occasionally in the past.
The other family are in denial. The son of the denying family is our godchild. I have tried to reason with the mother and have even spoken to adult services where they live. He’s 23 and I can see him doing something tragic. He has attempted suicide 3 times in the last 2 years. So far he has failed and I wonder if the attempts were pleas for help on his part. Then I worry that at some point he will succeed and I just hope he doesn’t harm anyone else when it happens.
Interesting geographic/demographic differences. Here in the Northwest, people have little to no interest in one’s religious affiliation — maybe too little. We are Catholic but the kids go to a Baptist Vacation Bible School most summers and have a good time. Never any comments about our faith one way or the other. The only time I ever heard a somewhat negative comment was when I went on a date with a Southern Baptist years ago — in hindsight it was surprising she agreed to go out with me! She was OK, though, and invited me to some things. Anglican is a rare word here also but most adults would probably associate it with the Episcopalian faith — for better or worse.
On the other topic, I was an Assistant Psychologist in an inpatient facility for a while and also knew a family with similar circumstances to what you describe. That one was successful at the attempt. Very tragic. In our state also involuntary commitment has a very high bar that must be surpassed for the order. Of course, we are glad the bar is not too low or the inside of the facility would be familiar to many of us.