Struggling to cope after being burgled

[Tee22]

I have been lucky enough to have never been through anything quite o traumatic in my whole life. I am usually strong, outgoing, the backbone of our family. But now I feel like my whole life has been torn apart. Everything I do is mechanical, I'm just drifting through day to day, painting a smile on my face for my childrens' and husbands sake, when the reality is that inside I feel empty and broken. SO much has been taken, precious things that were given to me by my parents who've passed away. Day to day items that I just loved. It's not an easy fix, I can't go out and go shopping for new things, I want my things. How do I begin to get over this?

Contact victim support. They will help.

I'm so sorry.

We experienced a horrible burglary (not that there are any nice ones!) when my Mum (then in her 80's), DD (then 11) and I were alone at home. Five men broke down the door - I was on the phone to the police, so they quickly scouted round the house, took what they saw and went, as they were expecting the police to arrive.

What got me beyond it all was my absolute determination that DD was not going to suffer mentally for having been there. I encouraged her to shout at the burglars (sometimes using language that I would cringe at), and generally behaving in a feisty way, to show them that they were not going to affect my life. Sounds silly written down, but some years later, it seems to have worked.

Have you thought of counselling? I know I would have found it harder had special items been taken.

Others have mentioned counselling to me, but just such new territory to me that I just don’t know what it will solve?

You are experiencing a normal reaction to an abnormal event. Counselling or just talking will help you process what has happened so you can cope.