Compassion can only go so far when someone no longer feels safe inside their own home.

One apartment resident has spent two years listening to frequent yelling from the neighbor upstairs.

She understands that the woman has serious mental health issues, so she has tried to remain patient.

However, past encounters have left her afraid to complain or approach the neighbor directly.

Now, the constant noise has pushed her to a breaking point.

Read on to check out her options.

Neighbor’s Ongoing Mental Health Crises Are Affecting My Ability to Live Here. Need advice.

I need advice because I’ve been struggling with this for years and honestly feel guilty even writing it.

My upstairs neighbor has severe mental health issues. I know for a fact that the yelling is related to her Schizophrenia, and that is part of why I’ve put up with it for so long.

I genuinely feel bad for her and I understand that she is dealing with challenges that are far beyond the typical “annoying neighbor” situation.A

At this point, the yelling has been going on for years.

The problem is that the yelling has been going on for at least two years and I am at my breaking point.

This isn’t occasional noise. There are frequent episodes of yelling and shouting that can be heard throughout the building and outside.

What makes this difficult is that I am genuinely afraid of her reaction if I complain.

The whole experience has left her feeling uneasy.

Over the years, there have been incidents involving police. I’ve personally had to speak with officers regarding situations involving her, and there was one incident where she was experiencing psychosis and ran up to me very frantic in the parking lot. It’s a long story, but it was honestly frightening.

Experiences like that have left me feeling very uncomfortable about any direct interaction.

Because of MANY of those experiences, I do not feel safe approaching her myself. I know many people will say, “Just talk to your neighbor,” but I do not feel that is a realistic option here.

Now, she’s worried that complaining will make things worse.

My fear is retaliation if I report the noise to management. We live in a large garden-style building but share very thin walls, and I worry she would assume it was me. I’m worried about confrontation, harassment, damage to property, or just making my living situation worse.

The part I’m struggling with is that I genuinely feel awful. I don’t hate this woman. I don’t want her punished. I understand that she is unwell and I have tried to be patient for years because of that. But at the same time, I feel like having compassion for someone’s situation doesn’t mean I have to accept constant yelling indefinitely.

Has anyone been in a situation where a neighbor’s mental health issues were clearly contributing to disruptive behavior, but you also felt unsafe or uncomfortable addressing it yourself? How did you handle it?

Wow! Those are really tough questions.

Let’s see how the readers over at Reddit responded to them.

This reader suggests talking to the landlord.

Here’s someone with a little insight about their brother.

Here’s a good suggestion.

That sounds terrible.

If you enjoyed this post, check out this story about a student who did the math and figured out he was better off skipping school than serving detention if he forgot his ID.
She can feel sorry for her neighbor and still admit that this situation has become too much.

After two years, she shouldn’t have to keep living with constant noise because she feels guilty about complaining.

Since she doesn’t feel safe approaching the woman herself, management needs to handle it carefully.

Ultimately, compassion matters, but so does feeling safe and comfortable inside your own home.