An effect of trauma

Psychosis or losing touch with what is real

For some people trauma does not just dysregulate the nervous system, it fractures the relationship with shared reality entirely. Hearing things. Seeing things. Beliefs that feel absolutely certain but that others cannot share. Episodes where the boundary between what is happening and what is not becomes impossible to locate. This is not weakness or craziness. It is what severe or sustained trauma can do to a brain that was doing everything it could to survive.

It can sound like

“I hear things others do not.” “I see things that are not there.” “I have beliefs I cannot fully explain.” “Reality feels unstable to me.”

If any of those sentences live in your head too, you are in good company here.

Experiences this often follows

Effects do not come from nowhere. These are some of the experiences that people who carry this one often describe. You do not need to have been through any of them for what you feel to be real.

Nothing on this page is a diagnosis, and nothing here decides what is wrong with you, because nothing is wrong with you. Something happened to you. This page exists so that when you are ready, you can find people who understand it from the inside.

You do not have to carry this alone.

Bridge of Hope Recovery is a free, anonymous, peer-led fellowship for trauma survivors. Meetings run throughout the week by phone, by video, and in person. No cost, no waitlist, no one asking for your real name.

Find a meeting Join the fellowship

Need support right now?

See everything we cover