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Counting the emotional cost of a break in
Many victims of burglary say that the worst thing about a break in is not what they took but how they made them feel. It can be a very traumatic experience that can leave people feeling vulnerable, unsafe and uncomfortable in their own homes. Often, possessions can be replaced and will be covered by insurance but knowing that someone has been in your home, rifling through your personal things, can be much more difficult to recover from.
We think that if people really appreciated this emotional side of a break in, it might help them to be more vigilant about their home security.
Have you been a victim of burglary?
We want to hear from you
We’d like to hear from you and share how that burglary made you feel. Just let us know by e-mail, in the comments section below, on Facebook or on Twitter. If you’d rather not be named then let us know by e-mail and your comments will remain anonymous.
How do you get over a break in?
Strategies for dealing with a burglary will be different for different people, and may well also depend on the nature of the break in itself eg you may well feel worse if you were in the house at the time, if there was extensive damage or if they got into more personal areas of your home such as your bedroom or your child’s bedroom.
There are a few things you can consider:
Counselling and support
There are organisations out there that can give you support to get over traumatic experiences such as this. Victim Support is an excellent charity that can offer help (they were our chosen charity for National Home Security Month last year). Talking about it can be cathartic and they will have some tried and tested strategies to help you cope.
Restorative justice
Restorative justice works by bringing the victim of crime together with the person who perpetrated the crime against them. It is an opportunity to let that person know the impact their crime has had, find out why they did it and possibly debunk a few assumptions. Many have said that it was a relief to find out that they hadn’t been specifically targeted or that they weren’t the monster they had built up in their minds.
We have chosen a restorative justice facilitator as our nominated charity for this year’s National Home Security Month. You can read more about the work that Remedi UK does here.
Pimp your security
It’s often the case that people only take robust security measures AFTER a break in or attempted break in, as if the idea hadn’t occurred to them before. We’d obviously advocate preventative action but if you have experienced a break in then it can help you feel safer to know that you have protected your home against it happening again. Getting a burglar alarm, anti-snap locks and maybe even CCTV could give you peace of mind that you’ve taken sensible precautions to prevent it happening again.
If you are concerned about home security then keep checking our blog throughout October as we’ll be posting lots of tips and advice over National Home Security Month.
If you have experienced a break in then we’d really appreciate your comments on how it affected you, and you could well help someone else in the process.
E-mail us, comment below, Tweet us, Message us or write on our Facebook wall.