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Is this PTSD? How do I get over my fears?
my name is Rachel and i am 23 year old female and on Saturday there was a shooting in front of my house and ever since i have not been able to sleep and when I do go to sleep I have night mares about the shooting because they still have not found the killer and he looked at me before he ran off and my 2 niece's and my nephew was outside on the porch with me when it happened they saw it to. I also wake up in the middle of the night screaming. I am afraid that he is going to come back and kill me and my niece's and nephew because we saw him shoot the guy and my nieces are only 11 years old and my nephew is only 9 years old we are all scared to even go outside during the die every where i turn i am paranoid because i am scared and afraid for my life. I am never home anymore because i am scared to go home especially at night when i am home i sleep with my mom because i am scared if i am by myself i will next even writing about it scares me. Is this PTSD? how do I get over my fears? please help me. I want to be able to live a normal life.
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Want to answer more questions in the Health & Fitness category?
Maybe give some free advice about: Mental health?
This is a really scary situation to be in. Have they named the killer yet or is he still an unknown assailant? If it's the latter, I can see how you would be so fearful.
I assume that you filed a police report about what you witnessed That means that if anything happens to you the first person the cops will go after will be the assailant if he is a known individual. Unfortunately, the police tend not to be very helpful in cases like this as far as providing protection for you goes.
As for the way you reacted to the trauma you suffered, it's actually a normal reaction. This is why, for example, that soldiers often times have mental issues after coming home from combat duty. They see a lot of what you observed. Thus, what you need to do is get counseling to help sort your fears out.
If there is any comfort in this, unless the killing involved a premeditated act (first degree murder), the assailant will likely be charged with second degree murder, which carries lesser charges (somewhere north of 20 years most likely). However, if he then kills you or any other witness, that would be a provable first degree death penalty case. Therefore, it wouldn't behoove him to kill you from a sentencing perspective.
Good luck. I hope everything works out for you.
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I am not so sure this is PTSD as much as I am sure it is a real fear of what reality is today. Have you spoken with the Police? Did you tell them what you saw? Did you give them a description of the killer? If you did you can ask them for protection which they should supply as you would be a material witness. If you haven't told the Police what you know then they cannot protect you even though your fears are real.
PTSD is; Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, which is part of what you may be suffering. In reality though you are suffering the real fear that the killer will want to eliminate any witnesses to his crime. There are to my mind only two ways to handle this problem; A)You either move with no forwarding address and have no contact, ever again, with those you leave behind; or B) you go to the Police and tell them what you know in exchange for protection for you and your nieces and nephew.
If you are suffering from PTSD you first have to put and end to the cause of the suffering. In your case that cause is a real fear of harm that could befall you. You can't fix one without taking care of the other.
If you have told the police what you know and they have refused you protection, call the prosecutors office and ask for witness protection. As I said as a witness to the crime I believe you are a material witness and the prosecutor will want you protected and available for trial. You tell the prosecutor without protection for you and the children you have little choice but to move and go where no one, including them, can find you.
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I am not a psychologist or a psychiatrist so I can't diagnose you here, but I do have PTSD. You should go see a psychiatrist so you can be properly diagnosed and get the right help.
To help calm you at night is to maybe try out some relaxation techniques. Google has some helpful ones.
Also, think about how likely it is that this will happen again. Remind yourself you have a phone so if any of this happened again you could call 911 easily. Also remind yourself that you don't live there alone, you have your mom there.
Remind yourself that he probably won't come back there because he knows it's a populated area. In all honesty, it might have been gang related or a domestic dispute or something along those lines. I really doubt it was just a random shooting.
But like I said, I'm not a psychologist or psychiatrist, and I strongly suggest you see one.
If you ever need to talk to anyone or have any other questions, message me!
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