Lifestyle
By Bolaji Yusuf
THE MORNING AFTER:
I
PSHYCOLOGICAL
EFFECTS OF BUGLARY
t was a strange night and I can remember thinking to myself, why was the wind
standing still like it was scared, that was
my thought as I locked the doors and
went on to chatting the night away with
my earpiece drowning out all the ‘eeriness’ and saying a silent prayer to God
to touch the heart of NEPA sorry PHCN
to restore power, thinking back I don’t
think that should have been my prayer
point. Some moments later I thought I
heard a loud thud somewhere not far away
from our apartment, I listened for some minutes, hearing nothing else I proceeded to
sleep, almost at the same time I saw a flash
of light move across the window, that made
my heart skip and the ‘oddness’ I was so quick
to dismiss hit me with a nine ton sledge hammer which thirty minutes later slammed away
the ironic burglary proof that was so intently
placed on the windows.
Slam! Slam!! and the silence of the night was
shattered as the burglary proof came crashing
down on the living room floor and in came
three goons, who reveling in their obvious
criminality started to search the house, at this
moment I was with my family in the room and
even though this wasn’t my first encounter my
head went into an action freeze, I was totally
numb and had no idea what to do, they obviously had the electricity company on their
side because with the total darkness we were
backed into a corner, we had no idea what
they held as weapons and we had more kids
than adults in the house, we were forced to
make a choice of making a blind stand against
these goons or protecting the kids, we gave in
to the later, and that was how we got robbed
on that day.
What a story right? Believe me that night was
one when I desperately wished; I was a secret
007, unfortunately not. Nights after I formed
the habit of not sleeping till after 3 am, I really won’t want to admit that it was because I
was scared but let’s leave it at; I was angry,
really angry. I kept thinking back to that night
and a million and one possibilities of what I
could have done to change the outcome of
that night which included the untimely loss of
my Lumia phone. I began to think about the
effects it had on everyone, even my cousin became obsessiv ely security conscious. Well this
is months away and I still find it hard to sleep, I
thought probably sharing would help ease this
16 | Choice Options
psychological scar.
How to Move On
Burglary can be defined as illegal entry of a Now that you know the stages, the next step
building with intent to commit a crime, espe- is to conquer them. Here are some things you
cially theft, when someone burglarizes your can (and should) do to get over your burglary:
home; the worst consequence is not the loss of
your material possessions. After all, these can 1. Get Support
be replaced, and any monetary loss may be Support can be found through numerous avecovered by your insurance. Rather, the worst nues, including friends, family members, cleraftermath comes in the form of psychological gy members, or a therapist. Don’t be afraid
effects. If your home is broken into, you may to lean on others for emotional support and
find yourself victim to any of the
comfort.
following emotional repercussions;
2. Let Yourself Feel
Never Feeling Safe
Don’t let others minimize your feelings by sayAll the safeguards you had put in place and ing things like, “Good thing you weren’t hurt,”
trusted before– door and window locks, pos- or “You were lucky. At least they didn’t destroy
sibly burglary proof, or your dog– failed you your sofa.” Just because you weren’t hurt or
and let an intruder in. When might they fail all of your items weren’t set ablaze does not
again? You may find yourself unable to sleep mean that you shouldn’t feel anything. You
at night, fearful that someone will break in. have been victimized – it’s okay to be upset
You may find that every little noise, even what about it.
turns out to be your house creaking or spouse
getting up for a glass of water, awakens suspi- 3. Do Not Give in to Fear
cion. Post-traumatic stress disorder is a rather While it’s perfectly normal to feel afraid, don’t
extreme, debilitating mental illness defined let it control you. Take action to protect and
very specifically by psychologists and is only empower yourself. Consider installing a seculikely to occur after extremely stressful or life- rity alarm system in your home and enrolling
threatening situations (such as combat or hos- in self-defense classes.
tage situations).
4. Keep Your Routine
Nightmares- Especially with Children
Try to get back into a routine as soon as you
Children can be profoundly impacted by a can. The more normalcies you have in your
break-in. They already have a tendency to blur life, the easier it will be to move past this event.
reality and fiction; children fear monsters in the
closet, ghosts, and anything that scary. They 5. Take Care of Yourself
internalize fear presented to them and pick up Don’t give into self-pity. Continue to eat well
cues from adults about what to fear, but lack and exercise and don’t overindulge in food,
the maturity to properly assess risks. Therefore, drugs or alcohol. You are stronger than a
to a child who witnessed a home invasion, a break in. Don’t let a burglar rob you of your
burglar may become the monster in the closet. good health and mental well-being.
While it may not seem like it right now, you
Re-victimization
will be able to move past the negative feelings
According to a 2005 report issued by Victim associated with the burglary. Allow yourself
Support and Direct Line, one out of every four the freedom to move through these emotional
homes that have been burglarized is targeted stages and remind yourself that this, too, shall
for burglary again. This number doesn't ex- pass.
actly put burglary victims at ease, especially The most important aspect is investing in your
considering that burglars are people who may house and making sure you get a house in
have been in the home before or have some a safe and secure ENVIRONMENT, when
kind of connection with the home or home- searching for a house you need to take into
owners. Based on this report, it's common for consideration the level of security that can be
homeowners to not feel the same sense of se- provided, making sure that your neighborhood
curity within their home that they once did, for and its surroundings are made up of people
months, years or even the rest of their lives.
who have good reputation and well meaning.