The System Wasn’t Built for Trauma
And Survivors Pay the Price
The system isn’t trauma-informed.
It wasn’t built with survivors in mind.
The systems and institutions we rely on are rarely trauma-informed. They are built around bureaucracy, efficiency, and standard procedures.
Not around the lived realities of survivors.
Living with trauma is not just about “bad memories.” It affects how we relate to everyday tasks. Making a phone call, sitting in a waiting room, or filling out paperwork can be overwhelming when the nervous system is constantly on high alert. Triggers — which may look invisible to outsiders — can destabilise someone in seconds.
Yet survivors are often asked to “prove” their trauma. They’re told to repeat their story multiple times to different professionals. They must meet rigid deadlines, show up on time, and navigate complicated systems while already managing the weight of hypervigilance, insomnia, triggers, and anxiety. What might be a minor inconvenience for an administrator can be a breaking point for a survivor.
In practice, the system ends up re-traumatising the very people it’s meant to support. Survivors often walk away feeling blamed, disbelieved, or punished for not being “functional enough” to fit the process.
A trauma-informed system would look very different.
It would prioritise safety, trust, and choice.
It would allow flexibility in deadlines.
It would train staff to recognise trauma responses not as “non-compliance” but as signs of overwhelm.
It would reduce the need for survivors to repeat their stories unnecessarily.
And it would build processes that minimise, rather than increase, stress.
Until these shifts happen, we have to be clear:
Survivors are not failing the system.
The system is failing survivors.
How strongly I feel these words. How much I wish for that reality, were I don't have to justify everything because my scars are not visible. Were I don't have to retell and relive the reason why I cannot function, why the "simple" act of trying to put on a washing machine can cause hours of frustration, tears and self judgement for not being able to press 1 button.
I wish.......
This is so true, Marta.
Especially about how the system is designed to bring up trauma over and over.
A few years ago, I realized how important my dog was to me for calming anxiety and stress. I have been diagnosed with complex ptsd. With support from my therapist, I applied to have her with me as a Psychiatric Support Animal. There were lots of hoops and training to jump through, but I persevered and have had her with me the last 3 years. It helps!
Still, every year I am required to apply to renew this license. There are many questions I must answer in detail each time about the circumstances that have me requiring her and each time to some degree or another I am thrown back into the traumatic incidents. I just can’t understand why I must repeat this yearly. The reasons haven’t changed!
At any rate this is a small complaint, but impactful to me.
Thank you for pointing out this missing awareness around trauma🙏