A stalker is one of the most feared terms today, and it is important to understand exactly what a stalker is. A stalker is a person who stealthily follows other individuals, whether physically or virtually, where the person who is being stalked is usually reduced to the position of a victim, whereas the person, who is the stalker, is usually predatory or threatening in nature. The moment you find out that you have a stalker, the first thing you need to do is find out how to get rid of a stalker, for the peace of your mind and the safety of your life.
Stalking does not always mean someone following you stealthily on the road. Stalking tendencies include a multitude of options such as stalking your cyber presence through various social media websites or sending you spam emails or sending lewd messages. This type of stalking behavior is known as cyber stalking. Another kind of stalking is digital stalking, where your stalker goes on calling you, messaging you, and does other things to harass you, in order to get your attention, through various digital devices. One of the most common forms of stalking is, however, physical stalking, where you are followed, and in extreme cases, attacked by your stalker, or sent threatening/indecent packages or messages via post.
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Before you can find out how to get rid of a stalker, you have to know whether the person you feel threatened by is actually a stalker or not. You must not take action against anyone and everyone who contacts you, outside your immediate social circle. You may have an old friend who is trying to get in touch. With the internet making contact information readily available and accessible, these things should not surprise you. A stalker is only someone who repeatedly follows you, virtually or otherwise, and harasses you to the point where you fear for your safety. When you see such things happening, here are 12 steps you can take to get rid of them.
1. Try your best to maintain a safe distance
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One of the surest signs of a stalker is someone who is seen hovering around you, and constantly looking in your direction while trying to maintain physical proximity. Before you do anything drastic, the first thing you should do is maintain a safe, physical distance from your stalker. You can do this by making sure that you do not give them too much attention. Make sure that you don’t give your stalker the satisfaction of knowing that you are worried, and more importantly, aware of their presence. If you see them near you, walk away or walk in an erratic manner, so that they cannot follow you without becoming obvious.
2. Do not share your personal information
It is always nice to be polite and friendly with people. However, your goodness and over-familiarity with complete strangers might be the reason your stalker is able to stalk you more effectively. No matter how friendly you are, when you know that you have a stalker on your hands, it is best to exercise caution and not share your personal information with such strangers. You never know how such information might get carried on to the ears of your stalker. Hence, in this case at least, prevention is more effective than any correctional method.
3. Change your existing contact information
This is especially important if your stalker is your ex, or someone you were acquainted with in the past. They may have a lot of vital information regarding your life, whether it is your cell phone number or your email ID. It is best if you change such information altogether, and restrict the distribution of this new information only to the closest of your family members and the friends you trust.
4. Ignore all their attempts at contact
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As mentioned in the introduction, one of the most trademark stalker behaviors is them trying their best to contact you. The best thing you can do is ignore all their attempts at contacting you. If they call, do not pick up. Do not even cut the call, which indicates that you are aware of them calling you. Do not even open the things that they send you, whether it is a letter, an email or a package. This might give them the impression that they are not being able to get through to you.
5. Avoid being alone at all costs
Being alone is dangerous as it is. When you have a stalker, it becomes ten times worse, because your solitude might give them the courage they need to actually walk up to you and harass you personally instead of doing it in an indirect manner. It is important that you do not give your stalker this opportunity, to walk up to you when they catch you alone, and for this, you should always go out with the people you trust the most. When you are outdoors with a large group of people, not only will your stalker feel intimidated by the numbers, but they might also disappear altogether if this keeps recurring. This is one of the most practical methods if you are looking for solutions on how to get rid of a stalker.
6. Change your routine, do not visit your regular places at fixed times
If you are being stalked, you should know that the person who is stalking you is able to do so because he knows your daily routine, your schedules, and the places which you visit regularly, very thoroughly, making it easier for him to follow you around. If you want to figure out how to get rid of a stalker, then you need to change all these things, avail different public transports, stop visiting your favorite coffee shop every day, buy your paper from a different stand, take a different route to work, etc., This way, your stalker, even if they are waiting for you in your regular spots, they will not be able to locate you, giving you an opportunity to lose them once and for all.
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7. If the stalker is a person you know, notify your friends and family
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Most of the time, the person who stalks you is someone in the capacity of an ex-lover or the like, where they are unable to let go of your role in their lives, or are unable to get closure because of which they stalk you to transfer some of the pain they feel to you in the form of stalking, inconvenience, and harassment. If you are aware of the identity of the stalker, then you should let your friends and family know immediately, not only so that they can identify them when they are near, but also so that they do not unwittingly give away important information about you, to them.
8. Make all your pictures and information private on social media sites
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Cyber stalking is one of the most popular sorts of stalking prevalent today. If you have a stalker who follows and threatens you physically, then there are quite a number of things that you can do. However, if you have a stalker who is engaging in cyber stalking and cyber bullying, then one of the fundamental steps you need to take is making all your social networking accounts private, to the extent that they are unable to see anything, unless access is approved by you. Blocking will not help because they can easily create a new account and stalk you. It is important to prevent all access from your side, which prevents them from getting their hands on your updates and information.
9. Make sure your house is well-protected
If your stalker is determined to stalk you (which most of them are), you need to make sure that you have done your best to ensure your own safety, whether it is online or in your house. Your stalker might follow you without your knowledge and find out where you live. Although the optimal solution is to move out temporarily, you need to ensure that the house in which you reside in now is secured, so that there is no chance that they can break and enter, or even turn up in front of your house.
10. Try your best to ignore their existence
At least, give off the impression that you are not in the least bit affected by their (unwanted) presence in your life. Even though stalkers might be seriously disturbed mentally, even they are humans, and when they see that everything they are doing is going to waste because you are not in the least bit perturbed by their activities, maybe, just maybe, they may decide to give up and leave you alone. The worst thing that you could do to a stalker is confront them, or do anything passive aggressive to harm them, which will only aggravate them further, and may even be manifested in the form of violence.
11. Keep records of their activities, pictures, texts, and anything else they send you
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This is a very important step that you need to take, if you plan to take some action about your stalker and their stalker behavior. Keeping a record of all their activities with relation to you, no matter what way, in which they try to contact you, whether it is pictures of emails they send you, or physical pictures of them, is very important, so that you have proof of their misdemeanors and activities. Even if they are aware of your keeping track of their attempts at contact, then it is good, because they may in turn feel threatened by the possibility of legal action.
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12. Considering filing for a restraining order
If all these initial steps fail in getting rid of your stalker, then the last, and most effective thing that you can do is file for a restraining order against them, where the law administrative forces will make sure that your stalker in unable to get in touch with you. They might even receive help from such authorities, so that they are assisted in case of psychological disorders and discouraged from engaging in stalking.
Stalking is not only physically dangerous to you, but it also takes a toll on your mental and emotional health. You are constantly worried about all your phone calls, strangers on the road, the safety of yourself and your loved ones, which essentially makes this an unpleasant experience which you would want to get rid of permanently. These 12 ways are the most practical and immediate solutions that you can put into effect, to put an end to your turmoil, once and for all.
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