First Instinctive Reaction: Denial

Hi Fernando,
Our homes are getting broken into more and more. These are homes 1.5 million to 2 million us dollar range. I belong to neighborhood watch and do a lot of work I find that a certain percent wants NOTHING to do with it and denies everything
Could you consider writing about denial of crime in your blog?
I am amazed as we are having 6 breakins a day in our small neighborhood and a small percent wants to pretend it's not there like a disney movie-- I am ok as long as i live in my fantasy movie!
Not me! is what they say!
thanks
Mary

Hello Mary. Denial is a common and natural reaction to extreme circumstances. It is often said by survivor that they couldn’t believe it was actually happening. “It was like being in a movie”, “I couldn’t believe this was real”, ”I told myself this cant be happening”. These are classic reactions to overwhelming circumstances. Denial is a powerful defence mechanism, its the way in which the brain keeps people form going nuts.
It is important to also understand that denial eventually leads to acceptance. Again, denial is the tool that helps in this transition into accepting as ordinary what which was previously considered extraordinary.
I’ve seen people deny crime, even if they literally had a corpse in their sidewalk right in front of them. They would tell a reporter ”No, but this is actually a safe neighbourhood”, right in front of their neighbours corpse! No lady, if there’s a dead person less than six feet away from you your neighbourhood is certainly NOT safe.
Once the stage of denial is passed, what you have is acceptance. “Oh, but this happens everywhere” is the classic response when asked about crime to the average person Argentina. That way you come to accept and be ok with that which you previously believed intolerable.
The trick is staying aware and never losing perspective. My advice would be to stay busy and on top of the problem. Improve your home and personal security. Keep working with your neighbourhood watch. Keep talking with people willing to help, while doing so in a moderate, approachable manner. Dialogue, discussion and a strong critical approach to the problem will help towards keeping a healthy perspective.
FerFAL
Fernando “FerFAL” Aguirre is the author of “The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse” and “Bugging Out and Relocating: When Staying is not an Option”.