Betrayal Trauma

Treachery on a personal scale

Photo by Sydney Sims on Unsplash

Betrayal trauma describes what happens when someone, your parents, an institution, or a lover acts treacherously towards us.

Betrayal is an excellent word to describe how most survivors feel when they discover they have dissociative identity disorder (DID), especially when they learn the cause. Betrayal trauma describes the treachery our caregivers showed us when survivors of intense child abuse were children.

This article will take a closer look at betrayal trauma and how to overcome its effects on your life.

What is Betrayal Trauma?

First coined by psychologist Jennifer Freyd in the 1990s, betrayal trauma happens when caregivers we rely on for support, such as shelter, emotional needs, or food, violate our trust. Children depend entirely on their caregivers for life and are born with a need to connect to them. If the child’s needs are not met, or their personal boundaries are violated (their bodies in very early childhood), the child loses hope in their caregivers and experiences betrayal.

Betrayal trauma has long-reaching effects, as many people who experience it find themselves in sour relationships that closely mirror the abuse they endured as a child.