Victim
Assistance home
Coping
with Crime Victimization
Anyone can become a victim of a crime. If it happens
to you or someone you love, here are some important
points to remember:
Being a victim of a crime can be a very difficult
and stressful experience. While most people are
naturally resilient and over time will find ways
to cope and adjust, there can be a wide range of
after effects to a trauma. One person may experience
many of the effects, a few, or none at all. Not
everyone has the same reaction. In some people
the reaction may be delayed days, weeks, or even
months. Some victims may think they are “going
crazy,” when they are having a normal reaction
to an abnormal event.
Getting back to normal can be a difficult process
after a personal experience of this kind, especially
for victims of violent crime and families of murder
victims. Learning to understand and feel more at
ease with the intense feelings can help victims
better cope with what happened.
Victims may need to seek help from friends, family,
a member of the clergy, a counselor, or a victim
assistance professional.
Potential effects of trauma
Some people who have been victims of crime
may experience some of these symptoms.
Seek medical
advice if the symptoms persist.
Physical
Nausea
Tremors
Chills or sweating
Lack of coordination
Heart palpitations or chest pains
High blood pressure
Headaches
Sleep disturbances
Stomach upset
Dizziness
Loss of appetite
Startled responses
Emotional
Anxiety
Fear
Guilt
Grief
Depression
Sadness
Anger
Irritability
Numbness
Feeling lost, abandoned, and isolated
Wanting to withdraw or hide
Mental
Slowed thinking
Confusion
Disorientation
Memory problems
Intrusive memories or flashbacks
Nightmares
Inability to concentrate
Difficulty in making decisions
Tips for coping
These are some ideas that may help you
cope with the trauma or loss:
-
Find someone to
talk with about how you feel and what you are
going through. Keep the phone
number
of a good friend nearby to call when you feel
overwhelmed or feel panicked.
-
Allow yourself
to feel the pain. It will not last forever.
-
Keep
a journal.
-
Spend time with others, but make
time to spend time alone.
-
Take care of your
mind and body. Rest, sleep, and eat regular,
healthy meals.
-
Re-establish a normal routine
as soon as possible, but don’t over-do.
-
Make
daily decisions, which will help to bring
back a feeling of control
over your
life.
-
Exercise, though not excessively
and alternate with periods
of relaxation.
-
Undertake daily tasks with
care. Accidents are more
likely to happen
after severe
stress.
-
Recall the things
that helped you cope during
trying times
and loss in
the past
and think
about the
things
that give you hope.
Turn to them on bad days.
These
are things to avoid:
-
Be careful about using alcohol
or drugs to relieve emotional pain.
Becoming
addicted not only postpones healing, but also creates
new problems.
-
Make daily decisions, but avoid
making life changing decisions in the immediate
aftermath,
since judgment
may be temporarily impaired.
-
Don’t
blame yourself—it wasn’t
your fault.
-
Your emotions need to
be expressed. Try not to bottle
them up.
For some victims and families of victims,
life is forever changed. Life may feel empty and
hollow.
Life doesn’t “mean” what it used
to. Part of coping and adjusting is redefining
the future. What seemed important before may not
be important now. Many victims find new meaning
in their lives as a result of their experience.
It is important to remember that emotional pain
is not endless and that it will eventually ease.
It is impossible to undo what has happened but
life can be good again in time.
For family and friends of a victim of crime
-
Listen carefully.
-
Spend time
with the victim.
-
Offer your assistance, even
if they haven’t
asked for help.
-
Help with everyday
tasks like cleaning, cooking, caring for
the family, minding
the children.
-
Give them private
time.
-
Don’t take their anger
or other feelings personally.
-
Don’t tell
them they are “lucky it
wasn’t worse”—traumatized
people are not consoled by
such
statements.
-
Tell them that you are sorry
such an event has occurred
to them and
you want
to understand and
help them.
Additional Resources
The FBI has a number of brochures and pamphlets
for victims of crime.
Help
for Victims of crime (pdf) (html)
Children
Affected by Crime (pdf) (html)
Help
for Victims of Trafficking in Persons and Forced
Labor (pdf)
(html), and
Financial
Crime and You. (pdf) (html)
National resources and hotlines for crime victims
The website for the Office for Victims of Crime
in the Department of Justice includes an on-line
directory
of victim assistance programs.
Anti-Defamation League
www.adl.org
Battered Women’s Justice Project
(800) 903-0111
www.bwjp.org
Bureau of Indian Affairs
Indian Country Child Abuse Hotline
(800) 633-5155
Childhelp USA/Forrester National Child Abuse Hotline
(800) 422-4453
(800) 222-4453, TDD
www.childhelpusa.org
Family Violence Prevention Fund/Health Resource
Center
(800) 313-1310
http://endabuse.org
Mothers Against Drunk Driving
(800) 438-6233
www.madd.org
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
(800) 843-5678
(800) 826-7653, TDD
www.missingkids.com
National Center for Victims of Crime
(800) 394-2255
www.ncvc.org
National Children’s Alliance
(800) 239-9950
www.nca-online.org
National Fraud Information Hotline
(800) 876-7060
www.fraud.org
National Organization for Victim Assistance
(800) 879-6682
www.trynova.org
National Resource Center on Domestic Violence
(800) 537-2238
(800) 553-2508, TDD
www.nrcdv.org
National Organization of Parents of Murdered Children
(888) 818-7662
www.pomc.com
Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network
(800) 656-4673
www.rainn.org
Stalking Resource Center
www.ncvc.org/src
|
