# Has the SDMB community ever witnessed someone go insane? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 14, 2014, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-sdmb-community-ever-witnessed-someone-go-insane/686106 "2014-04-14T19:19:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Lucretia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@Lucretia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucretia)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2014, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-sdmb-community-ever-witnessed-someone-go-insane/686106/41 "2014-04-15T11:00:02Z")
Please, pleasePLEASE tell me someone else remembers BronzeLion, and the “doctors” in women’s workplaces. That, people, was insane comedy gold. [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=80750](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=80750) ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2014, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-sdmb-community-ever-witnessed-someone-go-insane/686106/42 "2014-04-15T11:07:00Z")
> [@Eliahna](#): > > Did he? I don’t remember that. I thought he went blind. You do know how to make a Venetian blind, don’t you? Poke him in the eyes. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2014, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-sdmb-community-ever-witnessed-someone-go-insane/686106/43 "2014-04-15T11:26:56Z")
I’m finding it really hard to believe that this was 14 years ago as I remember it so well. Poster called **FreakFreely** posts a pit thread. Starts to go wrong. Post #160 really kicks off the mental Post #228 is just crazy Or it’s all BS. It’s a good read though if you have the time and some old names that haven’t been seen for a while as well are all over the thread. > **[Just a bit cruel...](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=37697)** > > So, I’m walking home when I happen to notice this woman getting off the bus right across the street from my house. I’ve seen her downtown a few times before, we work right next to each other. I don’t even know her, but I don’t like her already. I’ve... ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2014, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-sdmb-community-ever-witnessed-someone-go-insane/686106/44 "2014-04-15T11:56:44Z")
> [@Inna\_Minnit](#): > > In the topic with that Freak Freely dude, someone named “Serlin” was mentioned. What’s the story there. I tried to search with no luck. Mark Serlin. He posted under a number of names, and I think at one point said that it was all an experiment. I suspect most of his threads and posts were disappeared. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2014, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-sdmb-community-ever-witnessed-someone-go-insane/686106/45 "2014-04-15T13:40:17Z")
Opps. Didn’t see someone mentioned the \*\*FreakFreely \*\* thing already. Serlin was a troll who just kept coming back under different names. The last one I remember was when he posted and said who he was and that he was basically obsessed with the SDMB and this obsession was keeping him going and he wasn’t going to stop. Can’t find that thread but I remember **tubadiva** posted in it early and closed it so it’s probably been deleted years ago. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2014, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-sdmb-community-ever-witnessed-someone-go-insane/686106/46 "2014-04-15T13:59:26Z")
> [@Eliahna](#): > > Did he? I don’t remember that. I thought he went blind. “He who would pun would pick a pocket.” -Dr. Samuel Johnson. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2014, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-sdmb-community-ever-witnessed-someone-go-insane/686106/47 "2014-04-15T15:49:56Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > You do know how to make a Venetian blind, don’t you? Poke him in the eyes. No ------ you cover his head with a Greek urn. What’s a Greek urn? About $4.25 an hour. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2014, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-sdmb-community-ever-witnessed-someone-go-insane/686106/48 "2014-04-15T15:55:04Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > \ > > Don’t forget the time Marley went crazy and banned everyone. Oh yeah, I remember that crazy bastard! Had some delusions of grandeur or something, muttering about how he made us all, and he could unmake us just as easily. ---
**Author:** ![bleach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bleach/32/3106_2.png) [@bleach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bleach)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2014, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-sdmb-community-ever-witnessed-someone-go-insane/686106/49 "2014-04-15T17:35:32Z")
I don’t think anyone has mentioned [KGS](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=524981) yet. KGS revealed that he was placed on involuntary psychiatric hold (i.e., [5150](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=11353461&postcount=17)) at least once in his life. [Here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=493099&page=10) is the thread in which KGS introduces us to Nathaniel. Nathaniel is foreshadowed in post #453 but characterized more explicitly beginning in post #460. Among other things, KGS claimed to dabble in magick. Nathaniel was evidently a poltergeist-type spirit that KGS sent after people he didn’t like. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2014, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-sdmb-community-ever-witnessed-someone-go-insane/686106/50 "2014-04-15T19:27:17Z")
“Go insane,” in the sense of watching an otherwise completely functional and well-adjusted person lose it, maybe not. But this board has seen quite a few marginal characters, people white-knuckling the wheel of sanity, go into full meltdown mode in front of everyone. In some cases, repeatedly. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2014, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-sdmb-community-ever-witnessed-someone-go-insane/686106/51 "2014-04-15T21:41:26Z")
Oh, shit, I \*remember \*KGS and Nathaniel! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2014, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-sdmb-community-ever-witnessed-someone-go-insane/686106/52 "2014-04-17T15:56:04Z")
I would say yes even if there hasn’t been a documented-in-real-time meltdown, which may be what the OP is thinking of. We’ve had a few people here and there who suffered very serious problems, and it’s been sad to watch each time. > [@teela\_brown](#): > > Wasn’t there a poster who was convinced that his neighbors in another apartment were “following him around” and talking about him in undiscernible voices? After it became clear that he was delusional, we all tried to convince him to see a doctor. Unsuccessfully, probably. I think that’s happened two different times, both with guests who joined just to post about their situations. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2014, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-sdmb-community-ever-witnessed-someone-go-insane/686106/53 "2014-04-17T16:00:35Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I would say yes even if there hasn’t been a documented-in-real-time meltdown, which may be what the OP is thinking of. We’ve had a few people here and there who suffered very serious problems, and it’s been sad to watch each time. > > I think that’s happened two different times, both with guests who joined just to post about their situations. Like the guy who was convinced that some kind of gas had been pumped into his hotel room to knock him out for some unknown reason. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2014, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-sdmb-community-ever-witnessed-someone-go-insane/686106/54 "2014-04-17T16:22:27Z")
That guy didn’t _go_ crazy on the board- he was like that when he got here. But yes, that was a really bizarre thread. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2014, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-sdmb-community-ever-witnessed-someone-go-insane/686106/55 "2014-04-17T17:06:15Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#): > > Have there been any long-time posters who started out rock-solid sane, but through their posts it was obvious that they were exhibiting signs of schizophrenia, paranoia (beyond the usual CT crap), etc? We would have no way of knowing whether they were actually sane at the beginning. I’m quite certain that many of us are more nuts than we appear from our postings because we don’t blurt out a lot of weird personal/internal stuff. The supposedly sane folks who melted down may have been insane all along, and we just didn’t know until something happened that made them crack. > [@PastTense](#): > > Basically any such individuals would probably get Banned before they reached the insane stage. I see that you are pretty new to the board. Remember that this board is over 15 years old, and there is a lot of history here. Things haven’t always been the same. Plenty of people have gone full-on nuts before they got banned, especially in the earlier years. Speaking as a casual observer only, moderation seems to have been a little bit different back then. I think that the years of experience have helped them better predict when someone is on the fast train to ban-land, so they’re quicker to pull the plug. > [@Guinastasia](#): > > I think she was just shitfaced that time, rather than bonkers. (IIRC, **TechChick** had a drinking problem) Techchick was always bonkers, but not really in a way that was disruptive to the board. But then she hit the perfect storm of bonkers, shitfaced, and upset about RL events, and…epic meltdown! ---
**Author:** ![Frazzled](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frazzled/32/3368_2.png) [@Frazzled](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frazzled)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2014, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-sdmb-community-ever-witnessed-someone-go-insane/686106/56 "2014-04-17T17:43:30Z")
Is TechChick the one who claimed she threatened Hillary Clinton and was detained briefly by the Secret Service? I remember one person who did that and then made additional threats before disappearing from the board for good. ---
**Author:** ![Wilson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@Wilson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wilson)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2014, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-sdmb-community-ever-witnessed-someone-go-insane/686106/57 "2014-04-17T17:54:49Z")
> [@yojimbo](#): > > Opps. Didn’t see someone mentioned the \*\*FreakFreely \*\* thing already. > > Serlin was a troll who just kept coming back under different names. The last one I remember was when he posted and said who he was and that he was basically obsessed with the SDMB and this obsession was keeping him going and he wasn’t going to stop. > > Can’t find that thread but I remember **tubadiva** posted in it early and closed it so it’s probably been deleted years ago. Nah, it’s still there… [I’m Not The Troll You Think I Am.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=44858) ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2014, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-sdmb-community-ever-witnessed-someone-go-insane/686106/58 "2014-04-17T18:20:54Z")
> [@Frazzled](#): > > Is TechChick the one who claimed she threatened Hillary Clinton and was detained briefly by the Secret Service? I remember one person who did that and then made additional threats before disappearing from the board for good. No, that was Tashabot, who was quickly and embarrassingly caught in a lie, tried to laugh it off, then disappeared in a puff of fail. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2014, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-sdmb-community-ever-witnessed-someone-go-insane/686106/59 "2014-04-17T18:55:39Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > If we ever had a member with DID (multiple personality disorder), would we be able to tell? Or would they get immediately banned for creating a sock? I think that would qualify as letting somebody else use your login, unless each personality created their own ID. ---
**Author:** ![jimbuff314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c57346/32.png) [@jimbuff314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimbuff314)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2014, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-sdmb-community-ever-witnessed-someone-go-insane/686106/60 "2014-04-17T18:56:34Z")
> [@Wilson](#): > > Nah, it’s still there… > [I’m Not The Troll You Think I Am.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=44858) Wow, **Wilson**. Reading that (and **Tuba** ’s reply) brought me to tears. I hope he’s doing well. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-sdmb-community-ever-witnessed-someone-go-insane/686106.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-sdmb-community-ever-witnessed-someone-go-insane/686106.md?page=4)