S/O--For those afraid of being home alone at night

[OnTheBrink]

What are you afraid of? Serious question. It's never occurred to me to be fearful of being home alone at night. What do you think is going to happen to you? Is your fear based on watching too many creepy movies at night? Is it based on past experience (someone breaking in, etc). Do you live in a bad neighborhood?

 

I've lived in bad areas; even had my house broken into 3 times in 2 months, but I never felt unsafe alone in my house at night. I do bolt the doors, lock my car, make sure lights are on, but I can't say it's ever bothered me to be alone at night.

[Renee in NC]

Well, in my case, I had a bunch of different irrational fears - I was reading a book of Stephen King's short stories, so I got new fears every night!:lol:

 

Really, though, I was very nervous in our last neighborhood because it *was* a bad neighborhood and known for the drug activity. Drug addicts will do crazy things at times.

 

I am not afraid where I live now - at the end of a very quiet cul-de-sac. My only fear here is that the armadillo who lives under our trailer is going to come in the doggy door!:tongue_smilie:

[OnTheBrink]

OK, I can see where reading Stephen King would be creepy at night! And lots of junkies would be scary; they do tend to be unpredictable.

[Crissy]

For me it was a bad experience.

My brother was murdered just a few feet outside his front door. The case remains unsolved 18 years later.

 

I do realize the fear that the same thing could happen at my home is completely irrational, but...I'm still a coward.

[Margo out of lurking]

What are you afraid of?

 

Because even when I was six years old (and very safe), I was terrified someone would steal me at night.

 

Because I used to read every true crime book imaginable.

 

Because a guy DID try to break into a friend's house--while she was home--when another friend and I left for a quick trip to the drugstore.

 

Because I was a legal secretary for three years in the felony division of a District Attorney's office, and I would close my eyes at night and see crime scene photos of young women with their throats cut.

 

Because I recently discovered my 65 lb. dog IS truly worthless as a guard dog.

 

Because even though I honestly DO believe I'm safe, I always imagine the worst.

 

:eek:

[Cindyg]

It's not really a rational fear. I don't think anything is really going to happen. And if something really horrible happened and my husband were home (I'm thinking about a crime here), he wouldn't be able to save us anyway.

 

However, having said that -- the one time our house nearly flooded and the other time that an electrical fire nearly started, my husband did save the day by acting quickly. I wouldn't have known what to do. So, there is that practical side of having a guy around.

[newlifemom]

As pp have said, it is more of an irrational fear. My guess is that you don't deal with 'em. KWIM? I also am so afraid of spiders that I check my room for them, nightly. That is not normal. My imagination runs wild at times of where they might pop up. That fact that it has only happened a couple of times and they were probably harmless does not matter. I also used to fear, [in no particular order] tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanoe, nuclear war and the bogeyman. Some people are more prone to them. When dh is away, my mind goes to all sorts of realllllly stupid places.

 

Be glad that yours doesn't.:D

[Joanne]

Is your fear based on watching too many creepy movies at night?

 

Remember when I was cleaning the office building? Well, I've seen too many horror movies to have that job comfortably. I was there in a place meant for people and activity, alone with offices, bathrooms, etc. I was often there at night/early morning and, after DH got employed again, alone.

 

My oldest son would occassionally work with me. He's watched too many horror movies, too. We'd joke that we expected "Michael Meyers" or "Jason" around each corner. Scream never seemed to bother us. ;)

 

One night, he told me he'd "go first" around a corner. I asked why and he said "Well, because you know the formula. Virgins always survive horror movies. You'd be the first one to go due to the sin factor." :lol::lol::lol:

[nd293]

What am I afraid of? Waking up and hearing someone in the house and knowing I have kids to keep safe....

 

I grew up in South Africa, so I had lots to be afraid of! Crime rates are high. Everyone knows someone who was involved in a serious "incident", although mercifully no-one I know personally was seriously injured. I think I'm a very realistic person, so I don't get to play the "it won't happen to me" card. I can recognise when behavior or location was a precipitating factor in crime, and I can see that many crimes are random - that's what terrifies me.

 

When my sister was in her early teens a male classmate climbed into her bedroom one night (1st floor, he climbed up a drain pipe - she knew who he was, but there was no way to prove it). That definitely played a role in my sense that we're all vulnerable, but having kids, and being responsible for them made my fears much more primal. I am not really afraid when someone else is in the house. When I'm alone, I worry about protecting the kids. I cannot sleep at all if they are in a different room to me. Even when dh is home I'm not really comfortable with it.

 

We lived in Oman in the Middle East for 5yrs, and I felt much, much safer there. Australia feels much less safe, but I do recognise that the media plays a large role. In Oman the media is state controlled, and bad news doesn't get printed. So for me, that's another factor. I spend way, way to much time reading scary news stories.

[IsabelC]

One night, he told me he'd "go first" around a corner. I asked why and he said "Well, because you know the formula. Virgins always survive horror movies. You'd be the first one to go due to the sin factor." :lol::lol::lol:

:D:lol:

 

I don't need to be afraid because all the good horror flicks are American, so therefore all the scary people must live in the US. What? Hannibal Lector emigrated? Nooooooooooo:001_huh:

[Jean in Newcastle]

Mean dorm-mates who used to sneak into my room after I was asleep (I was 11) and put me out on the fire escape. . .

 

An assault in my apartment in college. . .

 

a house-mate who had a psychotic episode in the middle of the night and assaulted me for 3 hours before I was able to get my other housemates to stop cowering in the basement and to call the police. . .

 

Night time has not been my friend.

[myfunnybunch]

I'm not really afraid of anything specific. It's more of a monsters under the bed kind of fear.

 

I am afraid of the dark, too.

 

Cat

[keptwoman]

I'm not really afraid of anything specific. It's more of a monsters under the bed kind of fear.

 

I am afraid of the dark, too.

 

Cat

Yes me too.

[lgm]

The lack of real consequences for people who attack those who are elderly, mentally incapable, or otherwise unable to defend themselves against a physically powerful predator.

 

The mentally ill..they attach for unknown and known reasons to people and perpetrate their crimes. Stalking is a warning.

 

The irrational revenge seekers. Thanks to the internet, they know who you are and where you live. Stalking is a warning.

 

All categories are fully aware that in NY, the homeowner may not defend themselves with deadly force. This makes homeowners easy prey - you find that out your first jury term - and you learn to own an attack dog.

Edited December 7, 2009 by lgm

[angela in ohio]

Because dh is an excellent marksman, but I am unsure of my accuracy if I was really stressed. :001_smile:

[smrtmama]

What are you afraid of? Serious question. It's never occurred to me to be fearful of being home alone at night. What do you think is going to happen to you? Is your fear based on watching too many creepy movies at night? Is it based on past experience (someone breaking in, etc). Do you live in a bad neighborhood?

 

I've lived in bad areas; even had my house broken into 3 times in 2 months, but I never felt unsafe alone in my house at night. I do bolt the doors, lock my car, make sure lights are on, but I can't say it's ever bothered me to be alone at night.

 

I've always had a lot of anxiety about it, but now a lot of it is based on being a cop's wife. The awareness of crime has made me more fearful and I'm a little afraid of targeting/vendetta crimes -- my husband works in a gang-heavy area and he's been involved in a few arrests. Since the Lakewood shooting, I'm even more worried about that. I used to want to put an "I Love A Cop" or "Cop's Wife" bumper sticker on my car (thought it would mix nicely with the liberal, hippie stickers), but now I don't think I could do that and feel safe.

[aggieamy]

I'm not really afraid of anything specific. It's more of a monsters under the bed kind of fear.

 

I am afraid of the dark, too.

 

Cat

 

Me too. Luckily monsters can't get you if you are under the covers. :001_smile:

[OhM]

Well, in my case, I had a bunch of different irrational fears - I was reading a book of Stephen King's short stories, so I got new fears every night!:lol:

 

 

 

This is me, too! :lol:

 

I feel perfectly safe from corporeal dangers - it's the unknown and unexplainable that freak me out!

[OhM]

Me too. Luckily monsters can't get you if you are under the covers. :001_smile:

 

Yes! Yes, yes, yes. I always knew this was the case - thanks for confirming.

[Tree House Academy]

I think that staying alone is a fear that can be overcome. I am not sure what it takes for each individual, but I can say that it used to be a big fear for me. Now, not so much.

[OnTheBrink]

Ok, so some have admittedly irrational fears, some have personal experiences. I see.

 

I talk myself out of irrational fears (and other stuff--anxiety mostly) and I guess I've done it for so long, that I don't really have them much anymore. I don't read scary books at night and I don't watch horror movies (and if I did, I'd be creeped out at night, too!), so I guess for my own sanity, I've cut out some things I used to do when I was (much) younger.

[mrsrevmeg]

We had a psycho boy come to our youth group meetings for a while. He was wearing satanic symbols on his clothing. People started asking my husband and me to stop him from wearing that stuff. This kid wrote a paper about killing two of his teachers; he has told some friends that he wants to kill his parents. He has called here on the phone and called me several obscenities. He knows that my husband sometimes works nights. So, maybe it is irrational, maybe not. You never know with psychotic teenagers. Couple that with we live in the country, by a church. Churches are easy prey, mainly because people do not prosecute the perpetrators if they ask forgiveness of the church. Crazy kid mentioned earlier and some friends broke into a another church and graffitied it. They apologized, so no charges were made.

[Joanne]

Ok, so some have admittedly irrational fears, some have personal experiences. I see.

 

I talk myself out of irrational fears (and other stuff--anxiety mostly) and I guess I've done it for so long, that I don't really have them much anymore. I don't read scary books at night and I don't watch horror movies (and if I did, I'd be creeped out at night, too!), so I guess for my own sanity, I've cut out some things I used to do when I was (much) younger.

 

My xh was gone a lot, in fact most of the time. I was not more scared when he was gone.

 

One thing I am more scared about now than before is driving to new places or areas of town. I lived in a NJ suburb growing up; driving to NYC as a road trip was common. Today, I get intimidated going to downtown Houston!

 

I'm trying to think if I get scared on the rare occassions when DH is not here.......I don't think so.

 

There was one night I as single, followed home from work.......and he sat in front of my house for 40 minutes while I waited for the policie (who took that long!)

[Joanne]

We had a psycho boy come to our youth group meetings for a while. He was wearing satanic symbols on his clothing. People started asking my husband and me to stop him from wearing that stuff. This kid wrote a paper about killing two of his teachers; he has told some friends that he wants to kill his parents. He has called here on the phone and called me several obscenities. He knows that my husband sometimes works nights. So, maybe it is irrational, maybe not. You never know with psychotic teenagers. Couple that with we live in the country, by a church. Churches are easy prey, mainly because people do not prosecute the perpetrators if they ask forgiveness of the church. Crazy kid mentioned earlier and some friends broke into a another church and graffitied it. They apologized, so no charges were made.

 

Wow. I'd say you have abundant reasons to be terrorfied of this person. Scary indeed. I hope he gets help and/or imprisoned before something happens to someone.

[Haiku]

I'm not usually afraid to be home alone at night, but when I am, it's usually because some episode of Law and Order SVU is running through my mind.

 

Tara

[Daisy]

1. I'm most afraid of my own memories.

 

2. We had a drug house down the street from us for over a year and it makes me nervous when I hear cars gunning it down the street. Even though those folks are long gone.

 

3. Our neighbors fight and scream at each other right outside my bedroom window. The wife and her sister have come to blows not 10 feet from where I sleep. It freaks me out.

 

4. The police helicopter flying circles and circles around the neighborhood. They have a different quadrant each night but it seems they are frequently in our quadrant when Dh is gone.

 

5. We've had a peeping Tom before.

 

6. I've interrupted a burglary at my house before. Walked right in on them. Got shoved around and was completely upset about my children having entered the house first.

 

7. Mostly just general anxiety though. Did I lock the doors? I thought I did. Get up to check AGAIN. Did I lock the car? I think so. Get up to check again. UUGH.

[stripe]

I'm not usually afraid to be home alone at night, but when I am, it's usually because some episode of Law and Order SVU is running through my mind.

Ditto. I was a fan of "Murder, She Wrote" when I was a kid/teen, and I always imagined someone was lurking by the laundry machine.

[joannqn]

As a kid, I used to get really scared at night. But then, I was a kid (age 12+) who was left babysitting my mentally disabled brother until very late at night on a regular basis. I also read Stephen King and watched horror movies.

 

Now, I don't read horror and I don't watch horror, nor do I keep up with the news (except those really big stories that you can't miss). I deal with being home alone better now. I have to quiet, empty feeling of the house, though, day or night. It goes against my very extroverted nature.

 

My biggest worry is being killed (by a break in, in a car accident, whatever) and leaving my kids injured, in pain, scared, alone until someone finds them.