Table 2.
Content analysis of self-defined gang stalking victims’ accounts of the sequelae of their experiences.
| Category/Code, Frequency (Percentage) of Victim Responses Exemplar Quotes |
|---|
| 1. Psychological damage: 21 (42%) |
| “I hate my life with such a passion that I am yet again depressed and sometimes the idea of death sounds inviting.” “From fear and confusion, self-doubt, anger, disbelief, shock, doubting my sanity, gloom, depression, isolation, bewilderment, and more.” “This issue, has brought a severe case of depression, that is starting to take a toll on my health, and my sleeping pattern is completely abnormal.” “I was stressed, drained emotionally, mentally and took off of work on a regular basis.” “Eventually I would crack and begin a death spiral into substance and alcohol abuse.” |
| 2. Isolation and loneliness: 17 (34%) |
| “The biggest and most hurtful thing with gang stalking, is loneliness.” “I am lonely, friendless, and have no woman. I don’t even have other TI friends.” “I choose to isolate and I trust virtually nobody. I don’t even attempt relationships anymore because they all turn out to be perps.” “They have made it so I am totally alone.” “I had so many friends and now I am a hermit.” |
| 3. Determination to fight back: 16 (32%) |
| “I’ve decided I can surrender, or I can fight, so I’m ready and prepared to have as big a mouth about this as I can.” “Well, after two years of work-place harassment and 1 year of being stalked by the police, I decided to fight back.” “So, they are losers from the outset, and will also be the losers if the theme “Targeted Individual” enters the public spotlight. That must be our goal as victims—these people and the issue to drag into the light, like it happened with Snowden.” “Please do let’s organize effectively. We can either go out on our feet or our knees and I plan to sell myself for as high a price as I can reap from them.” “Light up the darkness fight for the freedom that is our birth right and challenge the evil. We will not be broken.” “I don’t have much problem with the gang stalking anymore because I shot two of them with my wrist rocket and they are pretty cowardly anyway—won’t even come out and fight me in a secluded parking lot at night, though I’ve called them out dozens of times.” |
| 4. Resentment/distress at being treated as crazy or paranoid: 14 (28%) |
| “Dismissing what I have lived with as nonsense is quite frankly offensive.” “Of course, no one would listen, and I would simply be ignored as being ‘paranoid’ or ‘crazy’.” “And let’s face it….. gang stalking is hardly in public consciousness as yet, so they will have the perfect cover to deny it! Hence the ‘you must be crazy’ epithets some of ‘They want you to sound crazy and be treated badly’. “ “…telling me that I am crazy and I need help.” “Every person I know believes I am mad”. |
| 5. Found support from other gang-stalking victims through the Internet: 13 (26%) |
| “So, my only solace is visiting a few sites, this being one of them.” “First a thank you so very much for the presence of this website and community, the alleviation of stress, duress and despair by realising I am not alone has been of massive help, these past days.” “I remember I was desperately seeking some answers to my stalking experience. I was searching the net and then not getting any answers. I was searching everywhere. I was disturbed, alone and persecuted. It was perhaps in April 2008, I came across somebody having similar experiences to mine. I selected this site because of her.” “I suggest you go to the gang stalking website and read how you can help yourself.... NOW.” “I made my own support network and I talk with people around Australia and the world.” |
| 6. Changed lifestyle: 13 (26%) |
| “I have changed all my habits including going to the supermarket, since the stalkers have gone to all public places and tried to intimidate me.” “No way can I live my normal life now. So many things I cannot do anymore.” “I can no longer attend church or go see a movie or any of the normal things that non TIs can do.” “My life has completely changed and harassment continues ever since.” “It hurts to admit this, but my life is now so different as a result of gangstalkers and I no longer go out.” |
| 7. Financial losses: 12 (24%) |
| “These people will not leave and are there to help you reach financial ruin!” “The actual cost of time, money and damage to my good name.” “I have lost untold money amounts.” “Financial burden caused by bureaucrats that injured me emotionally, mentally and financially.” “They have enormous untold financial means and now I am in the position where I have no money because of it.” |
| 8. Physical ailments as a result of stress caused by gang-stalking: 10 (20%) |
| “When all these things happened, I got sick couples of times. I had back pain, lose motion, headaches, breathing problems, allergies, cough. I could not sleep well.” “It was negatively impacting me mentally, emotionally, psychically, spiritually and physically. I was getting physically sick at times.” “I get a lot of chest pain from the worry of it all.” “The stress of it all is so bad that I can’t go to work and suffer with nausea and headaches pretty much full time.” “The anger and the stress and all the other negative emotions make me physically disabled.” |
| 9. Development of hatred/violent tendencies: 8 (16%) |
| “I am to the point where I absolutely hate everyone and wish the worst death on all who gang-stalk me.” “I may have to kill them before they kill me.” “Sometimes I even imagine my stalkers being strongly tied, their mouths filled with socks and me beating the crap out of them by the heavy iron stick…I fantasize about killing them in many possible ways…and I’m a Christian…even though I know it is a sin to hate and kill, I can’t help these feelings…they simply come sometimes…very spontaneously…and I was never like that before….gang-stalking made me very aggressive…” “I am so full of hate now that I feel like I am going to combust.” “It makes me violent sometimes.” “I think the only way forward is to get some weapons and act.” |
| 10. Efforts to escape from gang-stalkers: 7 (14%) |
| “English is my second language. I ran away to Israel, but the criminal FBI followed me.” “How many times have I moved? Three. Interstate. There is hiatus, but they resurface.” “I have lost everything trying to get away from them, but their reach is endless and they always find me.” “I have given up trying to get away from them now. You cannot hide. So, don’t even waste time running.” “For a long time, I made efforts big, big efforts to leave them behind. I travelled so far.” |
| 11. Feelings of hopelessness: 7 (14%) |
| “I pray that my future will be different, but I have little hope that it will be.” “Learned helplessness has been their primary ongoing victory over me over these two years.” “Simply I feel like my life has no future at all….” “I really don’t think I have that much strength to put up with this that much longer.” “Every day I am more despairing, and they have broken me down.” |