You’re the first civilian who has recommended I seek ‘emotional therapy’. The detectives mentioned that counseling was available free from the State when they took my statement the day after the shooting. The Assistant State’s Attorney also mentioned it the first time I spoke with him. And just this past week, the woman in Tallahassee who heads up the Victims of Violent Crimes unit, told me that it’s typical for people like me to get through the physical healing part and then to fall into a depression. I’m not convinced I need to seek help, but I’ll seriously consider it.

Thanks.

I’m afraid that these thoughts/dreams will be “with” for some time. Studies in post-trama folks (think about soldiers coming back from war) show that emotional well-being also needs time to heal…and just like your physical therapy needs some facilitation, your emotional therapy likely does as well.

A few years ago - back in Boston - a friend’s house was broken into. He and his family were held at gunpoint while the intruders stole valuables from the house. It was traumatic for them. I purchased a home alarm system and we’ve been using one every night since then. It may not stop someone intent on braking in, but, my family does sleep more soundly knowing that at the least an alarm will sound.

Thanks. I think at first I was so focused on my physical health (and so tanked up on pain killers), I didn’t process the psychological. I guess this is the time for that, and I’ll work through it.

I’m no Dr. Freud, but I think that this dream and your reaction are likely to be expected after the violent events of this month. On the physical level, you have to heal and re-build strength. This is the same, in my opinion, on the psychological level. Things are not settled upstairs and this is only natural. You are in a different place mentally and worrying about different things than you did last month.
In actuality, almost nothing environmentally has changed in terms of your personal safety. Arguably, the same threats always existed. Fortunately, most of us never have to confront these fears as you have. We are not trained on how to deal with these fears and most of us are stumbling by through a mixture of good luck and serious denial that we are potentially subject to that level of random attack. My mother, on the other hand, spends most of her energies contemplating potential threats, yet has never actually been directly exposed to anything that she fears.
Bob, I bring this up because you are likely closer to the right balance of diligence and concern. You no longer can be as dismissive as the rest of us in our shared delusions and I think you are not frantically obsessed despite your high anxiety dreams. You have a heighten awareness and sensitivity that most of us elect not to have. You are safer for it and I think that these dreams will pass over time. I am hoping that you increased diligence will help foster psychological healing.