Trauma Awareness Day falls on June 27, and in Ireland, it couldn’t be more relevant.

One in four Irish people will struggle with their mental health at some point in their life, with one in eight having PTSD or CPTSD.

There is also a well-documented connection between trauma and addiction, as people often turn to substances or behaviours to numb or escape overwhelming psychological pain.

And while the word ‘traumatising’ is often used casually to describe something shocking or uncomfortable, in clinical and emotional terms, trauma goes much deeper than that.

What Trauma Really Is

Trauma comes in many shapes and sizes and can have many different causes. It can be caused by a single, overwhelming event such as a car crash, a medical emergency, or a natural disaster. Or it could be complex trauma, which stems from repeated, ongoing experiences such as domestic abuse, childhood neglect, bullying, or the often-overlooked trauma of being disabled in an ableist society.

Then there’s also intergenerational trauma, which is passed down through families. Children of parents or grandparents who endured deep emotional wounds may carry those wounds unknowingly, through inherited behaviours, beliefs, and stress responses.

An Irish Lens on Trauma

Even just looking at recent Irish........

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