Undiagnosed Armed Robbery (18)

[Janie Parker]

Hello Everyone!
I just discovered this site searching for ways to deal with some issues I have been having. I'm 18 years old and was involved in an armed robbery last October.

Me and the other assistant manager of the store I work at were closing. We let our last employee out as he went back to the office to count one drawer, I was getting the other one from up front register. I got my drawer and was heading back to the office when I thought I seen something move out of the corner of my eye in our back room of the store where everyone bales the clothing. I brushed it off because I thought it was one of the guys playing a joke or something.
I got back to office and sat down as I continued to count along the side of my coworker. It was about three minutes until I then heard our blue double doors hit that leads back to our office and I knew right then and there something was wrong due to the fact me and him were alone...
In the matter of two or three seconds I heard a man scream, I turned around, and a gun was pointing at me and my coworker. There was woman with a bag, collecting all the money. We were trapped inside our office.. there was nowhere to go. He threw the drawer he was counting across the floor and told him to take it all as I stood there and shook. We told him to take everything he wanted. He questioned us, "did we have our phones?" I said no, and my coworker said yes. He then gave him his phone and I was asked to get up and get the rest of the money from the filing cabinets.
I got up as the gun was pointed towards my head, and grabbed the key barley hanging on to it because I was shaking so hard. It took me so long to open that drawer... I finally got the drawer open and backed away. She collected everything he wanted then took us to the back and locked us in the employee bathroom.

I have been experiencing some awful things since then. I will not sleep at night unless someone is awake around me. My mind will drift while I'm taking a shower or I'm alone and it will get to the point where I can't breathe unless someone will talk to me... or talk me down. I am constantly scared at work whenever I am closing, I freak out and can't breathe and will catch myself leaving the office so I'm not alone and enclosed. I have many problems and I was wondering if anyone else has similar experiences?
Before anyone asks, I did not get counseling. I pulled a 12 hour shift at work the day after the incident. I have tried and no one will see me for months.
Thank you for listening and reading this. ♥

 

[Deleted member 28403]

Well, as you are quite new to this, welcome to the forums, and I really hope this place helps you, as there are plenty of resourceful and compassionate people around here.

I went through a multiple of assaults, being threathened and similar, though never with guns, just knives, or saws, or similar cold weapons, but I can understand.

Can you get some sort of a vacation from work at least, it's not always healthy to work while unstable, though it can help delay emotion onset a bit, they will still come.

I recommend you try to learn some grounding techniques, and work on managing to recognize when such a surge of bad feelings is going to come, to be able to plan them.

As the traumatic event was very recent, you are going to have anxiety problems for some time, but it will probably fade out within few months, so I hope this site can help you deal with it. After that you will hopefully be able to continue living quite normally, though with an aditional later useful experience.

I'm really sorry you went through that, but try to remember, it's not gonna last forever, even if it feels like it is, and good luck in recovery, as you reaching out here, is a guess you are willing to start.

Sending hugs if you accept :hug:

 

[Janie Parker]

They did offer me some time off once I finally accepted it. HR really worked with me an my coworker! I am not three months past and I feel as if I am only getting worse. I'm sure things will heal with time.
Thank you again! :)

 

[Deleted member 28403]

You know, the healing curve isn't linear, it's more like some crazy crazy mathemathical curve, it gets worse before it gets better is an important thing to keep in your mind, as symptoms will rise, will feel worse, but then with time, it will get better, as you will be healing, and becoming more resilient, and better at dealing with such stuff. And there are good sides in the end, you might even look at the whole thing with some good thoughts in mind in a few years, you know.

 

[Janie Parker]

Yes, he ended up killing himself afterwards which messes with me as well. Lot of psychological things to it all. But thank you for everything you've said! Anything helps.

 

[Friday]

Welcome to the forums :)

As this is still quite new, if you haven't read it yet, the article on Traumatic Resilience / factors that can go into whether one develops ASD vs PTSD, on the homepage is a really good read!

 

[hodge]

Welcome, Janie. I hope you find this forum useful for dealing the awful hand you were dealt. I'm just glad you weren't alone in the store. I hope your manager backs you up on that. No one should be working alone late at night.

 

[stillstanding2]

Yes, he ended up killing himself afterwards which messes with me as well. Lot of psychological thin...

It really can get better in time, and you are young enough to endure this period of readjustment. You've had your confidence and security shaken, and that is no small thing. For now, do you have anyone to talk with when you are anxious? Somebody to just be there, and maybe listen if you feel like talking?

Welcome to the forum. We are all around the globe, so there's somebody here all the time. It sounds as if you are having a very normal reaction to the fear you felt during the robbery. Take care, be careful and let us know how you are feeling. We are all friends.

 

[stillstanding2]

It really can get better in time, and you are young enough to endure this period of readjustment....

I'm sorry I failed to add that it seems you handled yourself very well during the incident. Though you were rightfully terrified, you kept your cool in the crisis. Congratulations. And I'm glad you were not physically hurt.

Now you are reacting to your fear in a healthy way. Just be careful and talk with somebody. Firefighters, cops and emergency workers all have reactions like yours and are required to "debrief" or talk with someone following a critical incident. It's the healthy thing to do. Do it here if there is no one handy where you are.

 

[intothelight]

@Janie Parker Welcome to the forum! :)

Because the robbery occurred while you were at work, any "injuries" you suffered fall under your employer's workers compensation coverage. Crisis counseling should be provided fairly immediately after the accident and no commercial insurance company should allow months to pass before treatment is initiated. Although your HR was willing to allow time off, have they filed claim and had an adjuster contact you? If a claim has not been filed they need to so you can get the help you need quickly and at no cost to you.

 

[stillstanding2]

Yes, he ended up killing himself afterwards which messes with me as well. Lot of psychological thin...

How you doing, Kiddo? (Hope you don't mind my saying it that way. My daughter loves it when I say that.) It's been a couple more days, and I wonder if you are feeling any better. All of us here have had trauma and fear interrupt our lives, so if you are not feeling steadily better over time, please at least write to say that. Sometimes you may just need to talk. There is always somebody here. Take care of yourself.

 

[Janie Parker]

Thank you all for replying to me. It truly helped... I still have my triggers but I'm doing much better.