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The World Must Become Trauma-Informed

Shirley J. Davis
5 min readMar 22, 2022
Photo by Karthikeyan Perumal on Unsplash

Many people are ill-informed or know nothing about mental health disorders, including complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD) and how it affects those around them. There are hundreds if not thousands of mental health challenges, and unfortunately, lots of stigmata surround them.

This article will explore trauma and how the public and medical professionals must learn more so that informed actions can be taken.

The Stigma That Holds Us Back

Early in the 18th century, people living with a brain disorder such as a reaction to trauma were shut away in their family home in a secluded bedroom, prison, or an almshouse. The treatment they received was inferior, with the main two being bloodletting or substances to cause vomiting. People didn’t try to understand the trauma-formed mental health disorder their loved ones had; they just hid them away and treated them as outcasts.

That stigma (discrimination) against people with trauma didn’t end with the 19th century, as in the 1920s and 1930s, the use of asylums increased as more were built. The problem with these asylums is that they lacked hygiene, were overcrowded and were places of abuse of patients. There was no actual treatment for trauma.

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Shirley J. Davis
Shirley J. Davis

Written by Shirley J. Davis

I am an author/speaker/grant writer in the U.S. My passion is authoring information about mental health disorders, especially dissociative identity disorder..

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