It's been said that a man's (or woman's) home is his (or her) castle, and having unauthorized visitors enter your home can have lasting effects.
However, there are some common-sense solutions to deal with the longer-term effects of a break-in or other property crime.
Home is where we go to feel safe and secure.
The outside world contains numerous stressors - street crime, noise, pollution, and just people, whether they are coworkers, neighbors, or family members, that we just do not want to deal with.
Our home is where we can arrange things as we like them, where we can have a small corner of the world that is just ours.
Our homes often reflect the world as we want it to be.
People who have their homes broken into often report intense feelings of anguish.
If our home is where we can truly be ourselves, and this privacy has been violated, what does this mean? Does this mean that there is really nowhere in the world that is safe for us? Can we ever really feel safe in our own homes again? Is there not even one little corner of the world that we can make our own? And could a break-in happen again? These and other similar feelings are common among people who have been the victims of burglaries.
Luckily, there are several things a person can do to mitigate the effects of a break-in.
One of the best things to do is ensure that a break-in never happens.
This can be significantly helped through the purchase of a high quality home alarm system, with monitoring that is able to respond at any minor sign of trouble.
However, even people with home security systems, who have been the victims of burglaries that were attempted, or even foiled, often experience high levels of anxiety after the criminal event in question.
So, what can be done to mitigate feelings of anxiety after being a victim of a burglary or attempted burglary? There are some solutions that are purely common sense.
The first is to just talk about how you are feeling.
Trusted friends or family members can help in this regard, as can mental health professionals.
Even reaching out on various Internet sites where victims of crime congregate can be helpful.
Another helpful tip is not to beat yourself up over what happened.
Especially if you have a home alarm, was there really anything else you could have done to protect your home and your possessions? The important thing after being a victim of a property crime is to take stock of what you still have in your life - friends, family, the work and activities that matter most to you.
You can take steps in the future to prevent - as much as possible - being the victim of a crime, but aggravating negative feelings by looking back into the past does not help anything.