Victims of Crime

 In Depression


Many people become a victim of crime at some point in their lives.  It does not matter if the victim perceives it as a serious crime or not, they often describe having an emotional reaction to what has taken place.  Many people experience feelings of anger, fear and a sense of being powerless following becoming a victim of crime.  Some people go on to experience physical symptoms such as being unable to sleep, feeling sick and other signs of trauma.  Being a crime victim can also cause changes to the victim’s behavior or lead to anxiety and depression.  Whatever the reaction it is important to understand that telling the victims of crime to “get over it†is unhelpful.  It is also worth remembering that the effects of crime can have repercussions for the people around the victim too.

Everyone reacts differently to becoming a victim of crime.  It is therefore important to remember your family members may have very different reactions to your own.  There is no ‘right’ way to react, as it is a very personal thing.  Some people have extreme reactions to relatively minor crime while others can bounce back quickly from horrific crimes. Crime often feels personal, particularly violent or hate crime, where someone is singled out for abuse because of who and what they are. It is also hard if you know the person who committed the crime.  Following a crime, it is always a good idea to seek support for yourself and to offer support to those around you, if you are able.  There are professionals who can help individuals or whole families who have been the victims of crime and they can offer great insight and their own experience to help you deal with your feelings in a way that works for you.  Victim support agencies can be particularly useful if you have to go to court and re-live your experience.

Many people ask “Why me?†following a crime and question why bad things happen to good people.  However it is often not helpful to become preoccupied with why something happened, instead focus on how it made you feel, how you can manage those feelings in the future and how you can develop a sense of moving on from what has happened.  To help with the process of moving on it is useful to reach out, get help from others, lean on friends and family to provide support, counsel and a listening ear.

By finding a voice for your experience and talking about how you feel you can gain some clarity and insight into the impact of the crime and how deeply it has affected you.  This can help you to decide if you want professional help from a therapist or counselor to deal with the process of moving on.   Sometimes it takes time and distance to feel better about a situation in which you have been a victim.  However, keep in mind that time heals and your sense of wellbeing should return in time.  Some people are so deeply affected by their experience, it can have a more permanent impact.  If the sense of anxiety or physical symptoms experienced does not get better or get worse, it is worth seeing a doctor who can assess if you may be suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

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