It’s going to be harder than perhaps any of us can imagine.
Not only does she have to deal with her own trauma, but there are children involved now.
We’ve only heard about a fraction of the horrible things that happened to her in the last 18 years. How is she going to earn a living and provide for the children? How can she have a normal relationship after this?
There are so many things she’s gone through that 99% of the population will never come close to experiencing.

I don’t think she’s ever going to be able fully function in today’s society as she normally would have if this horrible situation hadn’t happened. I hope her kids can go on to lead a normal life style, at least.

I think that this like all things can be overcome. It will take a lot of hard work and lots of help, but I don’t think it’s impossible for her to learn to live a normal life, whatever that means.

I don’t know. It’s one of those things that’s too insane to even think about; I have trouble even fathoming it. She was in captivity for 18 years. I’ve only been alive 18 years. It’s insane. I agree with @tinyfaery that I think it is possible for her to overcome it, but it’s not like she’s not going to be forever changed by it. I think that what she experienced probably put a damper on some of her development, some of the normal development that people not in captivity undergo, including social and emotional development. Not to sound grim, but she will always be different in that matter.

I saw the picture of the street she was kidnapped from, I know that street, I’m familiar with Meyers, California. You look on the satellite picture of Garrido’s house and you can see the whole compound and tents and everything. It was right there under everyone’s noses.

Wow. I hadn’t even heard about this until I read your question. Some quick googling filled me in on her story. My youngest daughter is 11, so of course this whole thing just breaks my heart. My girl may be in middle school, on her way to becoming a young woman, but she is still very much an innocent child. I can’t imagine that her life up to this point would at all prepare her for the life Jaycee has had for all these years, or an easy return to normality afterward. That woman and her children are going to need a lot of help and support to overcome this. My immediate thought is that she’ll be living with her family for a long, long time.

Unfortunately, the family that she knew before the kidnapping is long gone. The stress caused the breakup of the marriage. However, both her mother and her former step-father I am sure will do their best to help her. I suspect she will need therapy for a long time.

From the little I’ve read, it seems like she’s reintegrating with her family pretty well, all things considered. It looks like she has a good support system, which I think will help her overcome a lot (maybe even all!) of her lasting issues. I’m hopeful for her!

I believe it will all work out for the best. Many people from worse backgrounds have learned to thrive.