Trauma, Social Denial, and the Process of Recovery: Rebuilding Trust

Trauma is an experience that deeply affects an individual's life and can leave lasting imprints on physical, psychological, and social well-being. It is generally associated with life-threatening events such as accidents, natural disasters, or violence. However, trauma can also stem from seemingly less dangerous but equally devastating experiences, such as ongoing emotional abuse, being held hostage and helpless in threatening situations, bullying and harassment, or witnessing traumatic events. Someone subjected to continuous threat, bullying, or harassment constantly experiences fear, pressure, and emotional pain. Being in a perpetual state of alertness and fear can lead to helplessness, a sense of entrapment, and a loss of control, creating traumatic effects just like physical violence.

Trauma can lead to numerous psychological consequences, including anxiety, depression, difficulty in emotional regulation, and a constant sense of insecurity. A person being in continuous fear and anxiety can cause a state of hypervigilance, making it difficult for them to feel comfortable and relax in their environment. Furthermore, trauma damages the ability to trust people, making it harder to establish secure attachments and maintain healthy relationships.

In her work Trauma and Recovery, Judith Herman emphasizes that trauma studies have historically been subject to periods of oblivion and rediscovery, a situation related to the core beliefs brought to light by trauma rather than intellectual shifts (Herman, 1992). According to her, this is not merely a matter of shifting intellectual fashions but a result of the intense controversies and fundamental challenges to belief systems that the subject evokes. Herman examines how trauma is facilitated by social dynamics and how it hinders recovery, stating that studying trauma forces us to confront both human vulnerability and "the capacity for evil in human nature."

Compared to natural disasters or accidents, human-inflicted traumas raise more complex questions about the concepts of responsibility, morality, and reality. As Herman (1992) states, “In human-inflicted traumatic events, witnesses are caught in the conflict between the victim and the perpetrator. In this conflict, it is morally impossible to remain neutral. The witness is forced to take a side.” (p. 7). Siding with the victim requires acknowledging the reality of the trauma, sharing the burden of the pain, and demanding accountability, which shatters our assumptions about safety and justice. This type of defense mechanism can lead to the denial and minimization of trauma. This is because it is easier to side with the perpetrator and maintain the illusion of a "safe and just world."

The human mind tends to reject evils that are beyond its comprehension. This rejection creates an environment of disbelief and resistance in which horrifying events thrive. Operating as a defense mechanism on both a social and individual level, this denial stems from the desire to avoid confronting an unacceptable reality. The Holocaust is one of the most striking examples of this phenomenon in history. When the horrors of the Holocaust came to light, the world, for a long time, could not believe the reality of such atrocities. The difficulty experienced in believing the reality of such a systematic atrocity demonstrates how vulnerable humanity is in the face of evil. Since horrifying events mostly take place in secrecy and are ignored by a society that prefers not to believe, evil gains strength in this darkness. The perpetrator relies on this denial to continue their actions. Until people confront the reality of such events, they may unknowingly open space for these terrible occurrences within their own optimism or naivety. The denial and minimization of trauma allow individuals and societies to take refuge in the illusion that "bad things do not really happen." However, this denial feeds the negative cycle created by trauma and causes victims to feel isolated and helpless.

Social responses cause a further erosion of trust by silencing victims and damaging their credibility. As Herman emphasizes, perpetrators use secrecy and silence to evade responsibility for their crimes. They seek to ensure impunity by promoting forgetting (Herman, 1992). If secrecy fails, the perpetrator typically attacks the victim's credibility and reputation, using a series of arguments to deny, rationalize, or justify the abuse. “After every atrocity, the predictable words are heard: the event never happened; the victim is lying; the victim is exaggerating; the victim brought it upon themselves; and in any case, it is now time to forget the past and move on.” (p. 8).

When a victim describes an experience that is difficult to believe, what they say may be evaluated as a delusion or hallucination and associated with a psychotic disorder. Power dynamics specific to trauma often allow the perpetrator's version of events to prevail, especially if the victim is in a weaker position. As Herman states, “The more powerful the perpetrator, the greater their privilege to define reality and the more valid their arguments become.” (Herman, 1992, p. 8). This situation can lead the victim to feel abandoned and unheard, rendering their experiences unspeakable and invalidating their pain. As Herman observes, “Without a supportive social environment, the witness typically succumbs to the temptation to look away… If the victim is already devalued (a woman or a child), the most traumatic events of their life may remain outside the realm of socially validated reality. What they have experienced becomes unspeakable.” (p. 8).

The tendency to discredit and silence trauma victims is a recurring theme in trauma studies. Pointing to the ongoing debate over the credibility of trauma victims and the reality of their experiences, Herman emphasizes that overcoming society's resistance to acknowledging the reality of trauma is a persistent challenge (Herman, 1992). This demonstrates how crucial it is to create a social environment that supports and validates trauma victims, allowing them to break their silence, reclaim their experiences, and begin the recovery process.

Rebuilding trust is one of the most critical steps in the recovery process. Trauma can shatter an individual's trust in others, themselves, and the world. Creating safe spaces where survivors feel validated and empowered is vital to providing an environment that fosters healing and growth. This requires not only providing individual support but also implementing systemic changes that promote trauma-informed approaches in areas such as healthcare, education, social services, and the justice system.

Herman, J. L. (1992). Trauma and recovery: The aftermath of violence—from domestic abuse to political terror. Basic Books.