It's been reported by the BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/health/newsid_906000/906045.stm) that an Australian study has revealed 5 groups or types of stalkers:
- Rejected stalkers are usually an ex-partner but can also be a family member or a friend. They often claim to be seeking reconciliation but they are the most likely to become violent.
- Intimacy seekers are in love with their victims and are seeking to start a relationship. They are oblivious or indifferent to their victim's lack of interest and have high rates of major mental disorders.
- Incompetent suitors are seeking a first date but are not in love with their victims. They usually have social problems and are so narcissistic they cannot believe anyone wouldn't fall at their feet at the snap of their fingers.
- Resentful stalkers harass their victims with the sole intention of causing fear and apprehension. They are sometimes suffering from a paranoid illness and stalk people like lawyers or doctors who they perceive to have failed them in some way.
- Predatory stalkers follow their victims in preparation for an assault, usually sexual. They can stalk for weeks or months and they are sustained by a sense of power and control.
I've quoted a large part of the article above because I think that this kind of thing is important enough to bend the rules of E2 a little. Stalking, in my perception, is often not taken seriously until some physical harm comes to the victim. I'm greatly saddened by this "treat the symptoms, not the cause" attitude that pervades all levels of our society.
My Mother was stalked by an ex-lover for about 3 years. He would drive past slowly, get drunk and silently call us during the night and would sometimes knock on the door or windows alternately pleading and threatening. For my Mother, my Brother and myself, our entire lives were made miserable by the ever present worry of violence. Everything we did would have to take into account that there could be a mentally ill person waiting for us or following us. (Yes, I define anyone who is sick enough to stalk as mentally ill.)