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*Beth*
catches the flowers
 
Member Since Jul 2019
Location: Downtown Vibes, California
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Default Oct 22, 2020 at 12:33 PM
 
I went through a major life change in 2015. I was renting a cute little 3 bedroom house, which was in a ghetto in a city. I'd lived there for 7 years and one night there was a home invasion. It was terrifying. I was so extremely frightened that I felt numb. Checked out. Most of my possessions were stolen...my wedding dress, the precious hand-crafted dress my sister had sewn for me to bring my newborn babies home from the hospital in. Baby clothes I had saved.

I won't even take up a bunch of time and space to explain the horror of going through such an experience.

Much of my clothing, jewelry...the list is almost endless. Gone. That night I gathered my cats and pet rat (thankfully, they had not been hurt in any way). I dumped whatever I could gather in 1/2 hour in big garbage bags, grabbed a box of family photos and a load of books, put everybody and everything I could stuff into my little Honda, and moved to a different town. I stayed with a relative for 10 days until I found my own apartment for my cats and I.

The major life change was ultimately a good thing, but at the time I was severely affected, terrified, and pretty depressed.

What I did was find a pdoc and a therapist ASAP. I began using breathing techniques right away to calm myself. Readjusted meds. Rode a bicycle I bought (my fab vintage Raleigh had been stolen) and took walks. Read every book I could get my hands on- re-read Full Catastrophe Living and took it to heart. I immediately got involved at with my local NAMI chapter and eventually trained to facilitate my own NAMI group. I worked hard to look forward and not back.

About a year later, after the home invasion, I did go into the worse mania I had ever experienced. I eventually wound up handcuffed and dumped IP, which was horrible.

Nevertheless, I kept working on my state of mind, including staying on my medications and talking to my therapist twice/week.

I can honestly say that the terror and pain of that part of my life is behind me. Every day I remember some possession that was stolen or destroyed, but I've reframed it, for the most part, into "I'm fine with less 'stuff'."

So. I don't know if any of this translates into what you're looking for, Soupe, but that's my life-changing story.

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