Learn5 min
How trauma and grief intersect
Why traumatic experiences often carry grief within them.
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Trauma often involves loss, even when no one has died. It can mean the loss of safety, of trust, of a relationship as it used to be, of time that can't be lived again, or of a version of yourself that existed before something happened.
Ways grief and trauma can overlap
- Grieving a person while also carrying traumatic memories connected to their death
- Grieving safety or trust after an experience of harm
- Grieving the relationship you wish you'd had with someone who is still alive
- Grieving time lost to illness, addiction, caregiving or survival
- Grieving a childhood, or version of yourself, that circumstances didn't allow
If a loss also involved frightening or overwhelming events, grief can be complicated by trauma responses like hypervigilance, flashbacks or numbness. This is common, and it doesn't mean you are grieving “wrong”.