Staying up at night worring about a break in?

Question

A lot of nights I'm in bed and I will hear a noise. I'll be terrified thinking my house is being broken into and he will kill me. I'll be up for hours just waiting and listening. I'll take my gun around downstairs and double check that all my doors are locked, and that no windows are broken and still be up for hours thinking I'm hearing things. I had an ex who was very abusive and I'm still terrified he'll get me since I left him and he went to prison for abusing me. It's been three years now since he got out of prison and I'm still scared. Is something wrong with me? Shouldn't I be over it by now?

Answer 1

I do the same thing.  Even though my husband lives with me.  I don't know why, Im horrified of home invasion.  More so since I had children even, now I stay awake thinking about how I could make it in to get each of them the fastest, before someone got upstairs

Answer 2

He is probably abusing someone else now, and would have found you by now, if he was looking, and had the capability and resources (very few do). If he doesn't know where you live, your fears are unrealistic, and probably result from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or you have developed/exacerbated an anxiety condition.

You could set movement alarms downstairs, or get a dog, and train it using a book, and the Pets > Dogs section at Y!A (or do the former, and have the dog in your bedroom [it would set off the motion detectors] at night). PTSD is addressed in sections 33 - 34, at http://www.ezy-build.net.nz/~shaneris and professional EMDR therapy is known to be effective. Anxiety: section 6 (view page N first).