Trauma can cause a lifetime of damage to health and wellbeing—for both those suffering from it, and the people around them. Additionally, children growing up in an environment with toxic stress are more likely to have difficulty in their adult relationships. Often, unresolved trauma results in many life challenges such as overworking, anxiety, overeating, difficulty sleeping, and physical pain. And, sadly, unintentionally passing along trauma to others including our children.

Sara Church, author of the new book Mending My Mind and an advocate for mental health, says that this damage can easily be transmitted from one person to the next. And it can lead those affected to hurt others, causing more pain and more trauma.

Then, in a vicious cycle, just like Covid, it spreads…

Sara has experienced this. While suffering unknowingly from C-PTSD, a condition caused by a series of events that occurred repeatedly over an extended period of time, Sara found herself sabotaging relationships that hurt those she loved—including her wife. She writes about this in her book.

Today Sara’s mission is to help stop the spread. Doing so could help heal many of the problems in our world.

The first step, she says, is to talk about it. Share your story about what happened, whether it was abuse, oppression or—as was Sara’s case—poverty and parental addiction and abandonment.