This blog post talks about one of many aspects of trauma that is often forgotten: the context of our lives and how that impacts our experience of trauma. Trauma is at the heart of much of what we think of as ‘mental illness’ I write a lot about trauma on this blog. That’s because one of the most important things I learned during my healing was that none of the psychiatric labels, medications or ECT I was given dealt with the fundamental issue at the heart of my distress: trauma. Yes, I heard voices, I had unusual beliefs. Yes, I self-harmed and attempted suicide. But while psychiatry sees those experiences as signs of illness, for me they were something much more human. They were a normal response to some very extreme, traumatic experiences. In my early childhood I experienced neglect and physical violence from my primary caregiver. And at the […]
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What happened when compassion replaced clinical objectivity, and creativity replaced compliance.
This post is about the time I was supported to create a new voice, to ‘job-share’ with my scary critical voice. It changed everything.
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Trauma gave me shame, and shame sent me mad. This post explores how unravelling my own shame in a ‘mock trial’ helped me to heal.
Trigger warning: This post explores detailed impacts of child sexual abuse and may be distressing for some people.
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It’s hard to avoid stories about trauma and abuse in the Australian media right now. Between the royal commission into institutional child sexual abuse and the royal commission into family violence, a stream of stories are being reported every day. I want to share my own feelings about this, and connect with others who may be feeling similarly. I am heartbroken to hear so many stories of pain – and worse, how often people have had their stories denied and ignored. I am heartened that these stories are coming into the light, and hopeful that we will start to see real, systemic change as a result. I feel validated to realise how many of us have experienced trauma and silencing of that trauma – I feel less alone. I feel triggered as almost every story reminds me of my own pain and all of its consequences over the years. My […]
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Asking someone to disclose trauma can be really hard. It’s even harder to be the person disclosing. This post explores challenges and ideas to help all of us speak more easily about the things that most need to be said, and heard.
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This is my first blog post, and I think it’s my most important one. It explains why I started writing about trauma, madness and recovery, and why I continue to do so.
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