Poll Do You Sleep With A Gun Under Your Pillow?

[Whitneys story]

I would if I could find mine! Bad and scarry as I hid it a couple years ago. I am afraid to find it. With all the criminal activity around and the anxiety I am not afraid to use it. I bought it after being robbed in the 80's. To many cases where the criminals walk, too many liberals. My money is on the wasp spray! I seriously hope those with knives and guns take courses. Never let a big ego be in contol of something you have no control over!

 

[Bubba]

Used to....during my first divorce. I was married to a Navy SEAL that was dropped from the SEAL teams due to being too cocky. He used to stalk me so I kept one under my pillow just in case. Made me feel safer.

 

[Whitneys story]

Made me feel safer.

Glad it makes you feel safer as long as you know how to use it when needed. Sorry for your experience! Hugs Whitney

 

[A.J.]

Sometimes.

 

[Bubba]

Glad it makes you feel safer as long as you know how to use it when needed. Sorry for your experience! Hugs Whitney

That was the one good thing about being married to a SEAL - they make sure you know how to use weapons :-)

 

[jibber]

Hashi--

I agree with all that you've said actually. I remember after my attack a very well meaning friend of mine suggested that I should train in kick-boxing or martial arts so to be better able to defend myself. Without getting too into it, I told her that any such training would be completely ineffective in a situation like that unless it's become such an ingrained action for you it's almost instinctual. One of the only things going through my mind while it was happening was "just keep screaming and don't let him take you further from the highway." I'd heard that from a self defense course and it was the thing that immediately popped into my head, so there's definitely merit to the sort of training you'd described.

 

[want2cope]

No, but I use to sleep with a knife under my pillow. Now, I have a German shepherd. Don't worry to much. It takes alot of time for scares like that to even start to heal...

 

[Adrin]

Hashi--

This is entirely dependent on the person involved. It is the same in war. Some people are naturally born to be able to quickly react to a life threatening situation. Others aren't. In war some soldiers react just fine under fire for the first time. Others freeze up.

I personally know for a fact that I was born with the ability to react to life threatening situations with a split second reaction with no hesitation. It was this ability which ultimately saved my life; but which also led to PTSD.

This is my first time posting here and reading the comments on this thread almost brought tears to my eyes. Although I've read that paranoia and fear are symptoms of PTSD I have never actually talked to or heard of anyone other than myself who constantly felt the need to keep some sort of weapon nearby due to constant fear of attack.

Since my traumatic experience I hate going out at night. I get near panic attacks when walking by someone even 20 yards away from me at night. It has almost become an obsession for me to keep every window and door locked. The paranoia and fear I have felt for the past 2 years I have never talked to anyone about. I have shared it only with myself. There have been times when I thought I was starting to lose my mind. People who haven't gone through a severely traumatic life threatening experience simply don't understand the symptoms of PTSD.

I don't know how to recover from this. I don't even remember what life was like before this....

 

[DharmaGirl]

No, but I do have a pair of English Mastiffs that sleep on my bed.

 

[Ruckster]

Not under the pillow, but in a safe nearby, several of them.

 

[Loner]

Nope. Under the pillow is a really bad spot. I used to sleep with a pistol in the table next to me till one night I woke up with it in my hand after a nightmare. Now its a step away in a case, although I seriously doubt I'll ever need it, and hardly ever even think about it being there any more.

 

[p-no]

When I was about 13-15, I had a knife very close to me when my mother's then boyfriend was in our apartment. He often was since he was living one floor up in his. He had threatened to kill me and started to threaten even my friends. Sometimes I am grateful that in my country you can not get a gun easily.