Ever since Tuesday, not a day has gone by when I haven't seen someone talking to themselves. There was one guy singing at a train station as if he was in a concert. He was even interacting with an imaginary audience. Another guy was having an animated conversation with an invisible friend. I've also heard of a number of train track suicides within the same period.

Has enough else noticed an uptick in strange behavior out in the streets?

For ironic reasons, it's almost impossible to reply to your post...

I've not really noticed any change. There are people who are talking to themselves on the streets quite frequently - usually in suits, with bluetooth/cybermen ear pieces.

I've have to talk to myself sometimes. It's often the only way of having an intelligent, witty, urbane conversation.

Full Moon was March 11th.

Well, talking to oneself is one way of self psychoanalysis. It has helped me, although I try not to laugh too much in public, especially when I am on my own... don't knock it. My mother once said "there are places for people who talk to themselves" Not so, I completely disagree. If nothing else, it's amusing, so you smile. never a wasted day then eh?

It's a normal thing here...

I'm going craaaaazy! ♪ craaaazy !♪

Full Moon and Föhn (ish) type weather = additional "nutty flavoured" behaviour

I think I know what you are talking. That may be normal behavior for urban raised city folks when moving to Switzerland.

Were you by chance at the Oerlikon trainstation yesterday?

Loved the title of this thread! I once had a rash, that nearly drove me to insanity. Fortunately it was cleared up with a bit of blue unction

I sing in my vehical while driving, and was caught singing in the gym the other day while listening to my ipod got some funny looks i hadn`t realised i was singing out load and i can`t sing so maybe i should just

No, that wasn't me, but I have always has this urge to go to the Hbf and act as a complete wierdo for about 20 mins and have it filmed... Maybe I would need a couple of drinks before I do it, but I reckon I could. Oh Sutter, singing in the car is the BEST!! I do it all the time..

Perhaps they are talking to God ?

You know, that's a funny point. A lot of born again Christians, do say that god spoke to them. As in, they heard a voice in their head and that is considered to be normal? However, anyone else that hears voices in their head, is a nutter.

It's endemic in Zurich in particular and it is not a new occurrence. 20 years ago I used to commute from the Uni to the Badenerstrasse by tram. There would always be an older person in front of me chuntering to him/herself and giving a running commentary on the scenery from young punks ("huere Punks") to foreigners ("hueren uusländer") by way of the weather ("huere rege" or "huere schnee")....

Also known as "Selbstgespräch"....

There have always been "nutters" around. I grew up near a mental hospital where my mother worked for many years.
I know so much about it all I find it now rather amusing even though I am quite aware it isn't always easy for them nor for their families and friends nor for the people who cross them in the streets or wherever.

uh, have you been to bern? the nutter ratio there is at least 50% higher than in zurich. i have my own personal theory about this which i will spare everyone .. except that it involves a small gene pool.

No doubt its common in large metropolitans, but it hasn't been very noticeable here. I thought most of them were in institutions.

In the 80's in the US, we saw a massive surge of nutters and homeless on the streets. It took a while for people to piece together what was happening. It turns out Ronald Reagan had started cutting funds for mental institutions, and some of them had to close. So they would deposit their patients into the streets of the cities where they just wandered around as homeless people. Before that, it was less common to see them.

Perhaps some were prematurely released recently, or maybe they are on a sports week furlough.

Or they could simply be missing a part of their brain.

the same thing happened in the UK during the Reign of Margaret Thatcher, it was known eupemistically as "Care in the Community".