Hi! Richard from Sweden here!

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Hello everyone and thank you for letting me become a member!

I am a man of almost 45 years, diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome. I have some odd interests, and it has gone a little too far sometimes.

I collected radioactive substances, such as radium, uranium, thorium, americium and tritium. I experimented with these and, among other things, boiled the substances in sulfuric acid, but it splashed all over the stove. That picture became world famous...

After a discussion about whether this was legal, the Swedish Radiation Protection Authority came together with the task force and the police. They sealed off the entire block and came in protective suits. They scanned me to see if I had gotten anything radioactive on me, and then I was arrested by the police.

They then went through my apartment carefully and confiscated all my radioactive things. Since I am also interested in chemistry, I had, out of pure curiosity, produced substances that were classified as both chemical and biological weapons. They were of course confiscated as well. They also took my computers and went through them too.

This story happened almost exactly when a right-wing extremist murdered 69 young people in neighboring Norway. He was wearing a police uniform when he committed his terrorist act. At the same time, several police uniforms were found at my home, so at first they did not rule out some form of preparation for terrorism...

After three years, it was time for trial. I was convicted of violating the Radiation Protection Act and environmental crimes, but was acquitted on the more serious counts regarding the toxic substances. I was sentenced to a fine of 13,600 SEK, which was about $2,000 at the time. I also got my police uniforms back, which I had collected for fun.

I can't post links as a new member, but there were articles in, among others, in BBC and CNN and it was written about in the media all over the world about my inventions. They came and interviewed me from Denmark, Great Britain, Germany and even Russia.

Then they certainly came and stormed my home in 2016, also sealed of the whole block and they had protection suits, after an ex-girlfriend got a little mad at me and went to the police and said I was dealing with those poisons again. But of course they didn't find anything illegal then!

I think this nerdy interest in radioactivity is due to my diagnosis, it is my special interest. If I hadn't gotten sick, I would have preferred to continue studying physics at a higher level. But I got sick already in high school, and I don't even have complete grades from there...

In addition, I have problems with severe depression, paranoia, anxiety and sometimes some delusions. I had to retire at the age of 23, after working in a factory for four years. And I trained as a security guard, but I haven't worked like that.

I live alone and enjoy it. Relationships are not for me, they end quickly, because I prioritize completely other things than spending time with her. Nowadays I'm also asexual and don't like any form of physical contact anymore.

I take the day as it comes, have a job that allows me to get out for a few hours a day, meet people and be a bit social. It's important, if I completely isolate myself, which I did 2008, I feel worse.

The most common thing I do is sit at the computer and read and write. I run, among other things, a Swedish discussion forum focused on mental illness. (Sorry, can't link...)

Welcome. I remember something on the news at the time.

I never forget going back some 15-20 years ago when I was working on the railways as a guard, when we reached the furthest point on the journey, we went to change ends so the driver could be at the front when we were to leave, and I would be working from the back as was my job, but when changing ends the train developed a fault. Another guard turned up to have a lift into work as he lived where the furthest station was, and as the driver went back to the other cab he was in, this other guard told him to get out the way and give him the drivers key, and he went through the checking procedure of that type of train that only drivers would know what to do. I asked "How do you know that?" He replied "I used to be a driver".
So I asked him why he wasn't a driver now.
He replied "Remember the trains in London back in the 1980's that hit the buffers? (There were a few back then as it was on the news at the time). He said "They were me!" He decided to move to the furthest point away from London on the other side of the country in Wales to live and as he already had railway experience he decided to become a guard instead. I thought it was amusing because I was a teenager at the time when watching the news as there were several accidents at the time. But before anyone judges, the trains around London are driven flat out or stop. They rarely ever see a green signal because of so many trains running in front of them. Drivers who came from that area told me that working in that area drivers had to be very accurate in their stopping distances, and as most were electrically driven over there, their acceleration out of stations is quick, so it is stop-go type of driving which is different from how it is in rural areas in Wales and elsewhere. Yes, one has to still work fast and it has challenges of its own. I had many stops that had a lot of request stops on my routes with a 15 second time to open the doors, let people off and on and close the doors which hardly gave anyone time to get on and off, so we had to work fast as a guard and also be on top of knowing where every passenger was going so one can hopefully keep to time. When another company took over they told us we would have to pay £100 a minute if we caused the delays, and some request stops had disabled people so one had a lot of extra work to do to get the ramp out to help them onto the train. I decided to leave the railway after having a burnout which may have been a breakdown. I knew I needed to leave as my mind and body needed a time to recover.

But it is interesting how I met many people who somehow ended up on the news. I have been on the news but it was almost live so I was not able to see it. Each time I found myself on TV was a time when I could not see it as it was live or nearly live though two times I did not want to see myself, as one time was embarissing! Actually both were, as the TV camera crew with a big camera came in so close to my face that my nose touched their camera lens when I moved while they filmed!

I don't want to be famous as I try and keep a low profile.

But back to interests. I have always been into trains and railways and things. I understand when hobbies become part of ones life, as one thinks about them and uses examples in ones hobby when discussing other things so one can relate to other things.

Welcome to Wrong Planet.

Richard80, Welcome to Wrong Planet

You wrote, "I collected radioactive substances, such as radium, uranium, thorium, americium and tritium. I experimented with these and, among other things, boiled the substances in sulfuric acid, but it splashed all over the stove."

That is an interesting hobby. I remember as a young child, I played with the metal mercury. It was a wonderful metal to play with. Later in college at UCLA, I worked in a cyclotron. When the cyclotron developed problems, we had to go deep inside and handled some radioactive substances. The threat from radiation is a little overblown.



You then went on to write, "I have problems with severe depression, paranoia, anxiety and sometimes some delusions."

What advice can I give you? First of all you were diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome. I have that condition and it provides me with an extremely high I.Q.

The next thing is you are experiencing many problems at the moment. To be at the top of your skill level, you require two things. One is sleep. You need deep sleep, REM and deep NREM sleep. At least a total of 2 hours of this type of sleep each night to restore yourself. I purchased a heated waterbed around 45 years ago and it provides ideal sleep. The other thing you need is exercise. You need to perform about one hour of strenuous exercise each day. In general, I walk up and down a steep hill for about an hour per day. That is how I get my exercise. But sometimes I go to the YMCA and swim a mile. I am 76 years old and I can swim a mile.

I believe this will help you unwrap your severe depression.

Also avoid narcotic drugs. They can destroy your mind.

Welcome to Wrong Planet!

Welcome to WP! I hope you like it here.

But your interests and mine are different so please do not bring me anything from your collection!

Welcome to Wrong Planet!

Hi, and welcome! That was an interesting introduction. Thank you for sharing. What about radiation do you find fascinating?

Hi Richard,
Good to see another phosphorescent member.
Welcome to the planet.

welcome!