Mental Health and Psychology

Traumatic Memories of Home Invasion by Thieves in Australia

Psychology of privacy invasion and its implications for mental health

My wife and I worked five years full-time to save the cash needed to purchase our first home (the amount over what the banks would lend us). Living in our own home was a dream for us. After a year of tedious search, we found a house to purchase. Winning the auction was another highlight in our modest life that gave us self-confidence leading to harder work.

As we lacked the cash flow to improve the house due to the funds needed to make the monthly home loan payments, we did the painting and significant cleaning of this old house ourselves after hours and on weekends.

We had to purchase furniture from auctions or second-hand shops. We were not into luxury and had no intention and capability to show off with material purchases. All we wanted was to have our first dream home and enjoy the feeling.

We also achieved excitement over my being accepted into a master’s degree program in a field about which I felt immense passion. The first three months of my part-time study also coincided with purchasing our first home. I was hungry for knowledge; therefore, my research was intense.

I bought the best functioning personal computer to speed up my research using our home loan granted by the bank. I purchased several expensive software programs.

Everything was insured as our principal. I backed up my research daily on floppy disks as computers used to crash very frequently in those days, and recovering data was more difficult. As I could only foresee losing my data through a computer crash, I kept my backup on floppy disks on my study desk.

We moved to our new house on the weekend. It was the first house with a large backyard. We planned to create a vegetable garden and adopt a dog. Our first Sunday was enjoyable. It was a fantastic feeling to be in our dream home. However, the next day we had to go to work.

All day during the breaks, I talked about our new home changing the conversation as it dominated my psyche. In hindsight, I realize my co-workers did not enjoy hearing constant talk about our new house.

My wife and I worked in close suburbs. As we had only one old car, we used to pick up each other from work. That day it was my turn.

As soon as I parked the car, my wife jumped out of the car and wanted to enter the home with enthusiasm. She missed it during work hours. Unfortunately, she started screaming in less than a minute and ran back out of the house when I was still packing my bag from the car.

I thought she hurt herself. I asked what happened, but her cryptic words did not register in my mind. She was in shock. Finally, I heard her poignant voice saying, “they broke into our home.”

That one sentence profoundly affected my brain, and everything lost its meaning in my life. I felt like I was shot. My body froze, and the neo-cortex stopped working.

Even though my wife seemed to have suffered a bigger shock from the incident, she recovered quicker than I did. Until that time, I had never experienced a home being broken into.

Then, however, I heard a lot about it from friends. I knew it was terrible, but I never knew it would have such a massive effect on my psyche.

After a few minutes, my neocortex got back to functioning. I started soothing my wife’s strong emotions saying she shouldn’t worry as everything was insured. My concern was not stolen content, mainly electronics, including desktop computers.

Ironically, some emergency cash and my wife’s jewelry were not touched, to her relief. But, to my big concern, all my floppy disks storing three months of research as a backup was gone.

Even though losing my three-month research efforts hurt a lot, there was something beyond losing material. The primary emotions triggered by the incident were fear, anxiety, and disappointment.

I couldn’t find the word for the root causes of these intense emotions until the detective arrived after two hours. Even though we called the police department, dialing triple zero as we thought it was an emergency, they did not take it very seriously, telling us not to touch anything until a detective arrived.

They knew from our call that the thieves were not there anymore. Therefore, they did not consider it an emergency.

The detective, who used to be a former police officer for decades and worked as a consultant to insurance companies, was very knowledgeable, experienced, and compassionate.

His every sentence reflected wisdom. However, as soon as he used the term “invasion of privacy,” the penny dropped. It was the exact word I was looking for. Those intense emotions of fear, anxiety, and disappointment were caused by the invasion of our privacy, creating a traumatic situation in my brain.

The effect was so strong that I instantly felt fear and anxiety whenever I arrived home. We were hesitant to enter the house, perceiving that someone would pop up from the inside each time we opened the front door.

For weeks and months at work, I imagined someone breaking into our home. It was unbearable. The situation affected not only my mental health but also my physical health. Losing sleep and appetite exacerbated the deterioration of my health. Finally, I decided to see a psychotherapist to address the underlying issues. I knew it was emotional trauma.

The detective created an excellent report for the insurance company, and the company generously compensated us for all of the lost items within a month. They even paid more than the original value of software and hardware, enabling us to buy newer versions. So materially, we were in a better position.

A bright and caring friend helped me use the academic library to find digital traces of my research and recover all of the lost information within a few weeks.

The graduate school also extended my deadlines for another three months as they had compassion for my difficult situation. So, my thesis was on track. Nevertheless, the intense fear and anxiety persisted. This did not surprise my therapist.

After several long therapy sessions, I started feeling a little better. But the pain lingered. The most significant impact of trauma was on my sleep. My wife had no problem sleeping, but I did. I was up in the middle of the night checking from the windows whether anyone was in the front and backyard of our house.

When I told the therapist that I desired to have a gun to protect my family and home even though I was totally against the use of guns in our country, she confirmed that the desire came from my primitive brain conflicting with my thinking brain.

As a precautionary measure, we decided to purchase security shutters. It relieved my anxiety a bit. Then I remembered one of the recommendations from the detective who said thieves were afraid of dogs.

Even though my wife hesitated about the responsibility, I always loved the dogs. I promised her I would be accountable and walk the dog every day.

The therapist loved the idea. So, with enthusiasm, we adopted a beautiful dog who instantly connected with us. Sadly, our neighbors complained that she cried all day from loneliness, waiting impatiently for our arrival inside the iron door.

They offered her bones that she did not care for. When I asked my friends for advice, they recommended adopting another dog. It solved the problem of her loneliness and poignant cries. However, it increased my responsibility.

I had to wake up at 5 AM every morning to walk them. They also created a mess in the garden. I had to hire a dog trainer to reduce the chaos and damage they inflicted upon the garden. Fortunately, implementing shutters and having two dogs significantly reduced my anxiety. The fear almost disappeared.

Nevertheless, I was still having nightmares which caused me to lose sleep. The psychotherapist advised me to see an experienced hypnotist. I followed her advice. The hypnotist became a catalyst to remove entangled memories in my subconscious and reduce the effects of my penetrating emotions. After three sessions, the nightmares disappeared.

Years passed with no problem from the house invasion. Most of the bad memories faded away, relieving fear, anxiety, and disappointment. Sadly, the invasion of privacy as a concept remained a lifetime concern. It became an integral part of my life philosophy.

In later years, when my car and passport were stolen, this triggered the past trauma, and I again felt the impact of that privacy invasion. When my credit card information is stolen almost every year, I feel that my privacy is invaded. I also felt it when unscrupulous writers plagiarized my content, making my published books available on the darknet without my name.

I felt it deeply when plagiarisers cloned my publication. I also relived the trauma when my wife’s bag was stolen in Amsterdam.

Her tears in that city reminded me of the day when she discovered our home had been broken into. I also felt strongly about my privacy when I was stripped off in the Los Angeles airport by paranoid and biased security officers.

Some governments have stricter rules and penalties to deter thieves. However, Australia, where I live, is one of the most tolerant countries to them. I was stunned when the detective advised us to leave home if we saw a thief inside the house. When I asked him why, he said it was for our safety first, which made sense to me.

Disappointingly, I struggled to understand the second point. Unfathomably to me, in Australia, if homeowners attack and injure a thief when stealing their content inside their home, the homeowners are subject to punishment, including imprisonment.

Ironically, the detective and my friends said that thieves only got a few months in prison, as if they were encouraged by the government to continue stealing. Perhaps government authorities only focus on the material effects of stealing, overlooking the traumatic impacts of privacy invasion on citizens’ mental health.

I conclude this story with another observation. Throughout history, some poor humans survived by stealing from more affluent ones. With compassion and empathy, I understood this. Nevertheless, when I learned from the detective that our materials were stolen by professional thieves who make it a business, my views on the situation changed.

The detective knew the exact location where our electronic devices were sold, but he did not have the authority to intervene.

Our government’s tolerance of these types of thieves intensified my concern as they perform the crime not for survival but to thrive, causing innocent and hardworking citizens to become vulnerable. In addition to material loss, the privacy of invasion is a critical matter for citizens’ mental health.

Thank you for reading my perspectives. I wish you a healthy and happy life.

Sample Health Improvement Articles for New Readers

One of my goals as a writer is to raise awareness about the causes and risk factors of prevalent diseases that can lead to suffering and death for a large portion of the population. I aim to educate, create awareness, and empower individuals to take control of their health and well-being.

To accomplish my goal of raising awareness about health issues, I have written several articles that present my holistic health findings from research, personal observations, and unique experiences. Below are links to these articles for easy access.

Metabolic Syndrome, Type II Diabetes, Fatty Liver Disease, Heart Disease, Strokes, Obesity, Liver Cancer, Autoimmune Disorders, Homocysteine, Lungs Health, Pancreas Health, Kidneys Health, NCDs, Infectious Diseases, Brain Health, Dementia, Depression, Brain Atrophy, Neonatal Disorders, Skin Health, Dental Health, Bone Health, Leaky Gut, Leaky Brain, Brain Fog, Chronic Inflammation, Insulin Resistance, Elevated Cortisol, Leptin Resistance, Anabolic Resistance, Cholesterol, High Triglycerides, Metabolic Disorders, Gastrointestinal Disorders, and Major Diseases.

I also wrote about valuable nutrients. Here are the links for easy access:

Boron, Urolithin, taurine, citrulline malate, biotin, lithium orotate, alpha-lipoic acid, n-acetyl-cysteine, acetyl-l-carnitine, CoQ10, PQQ, NADH, TMG, creatine, choline, digestive enzymes, magnesium, zinc, hydrolyzed collagen, nootropics, pure nicotine, activated charcoal, Vitamin B12, Vitamin B1, Vitamin D, Vitamin K2, Omega-3 Fatty Acids, N-Acetyl L-Tyrosine, and other nutrients to improve metabolism and mental health.

Disclaimer: Please note that my posts do not include professional or health advice. I document my reviews, observations, experience, and perspectives only to provide information and create awareness.

I publish my lifestyle, health, and well-being stories on EUPHORIA. My focus is on metabolic, cellular, mitochondrial, and mental health. Here is my collection of Insightful Life Lessons from Personal Stories.

You might join my six publications on Medium as a writer by sending a request via this link. 17K+ writers contribute to my publications. You might find more information about my professional background.

You may join Medium with my referral link.