Trauma and Alienation Matter Later in Life

Key points

Maltreatment and exploitation are common in older adults.

Alienation after trauma describes feeling disconnected from others and oneself.

Feelings of alienation are linked with posttraumatic stress symptoms in people of all ages.

A recent study confirmed that this effect persists in adults older than 60.

Humans need relationships and connections to survive and thrive. After all, we are social creatures. When one human victimizes another, that betrayal can leave survivors feeling alienated —disconnected and unmoored from themselves and other people. In turn, alienation has been linked to more psychological distress, including depression and posttraumatic symptom severity , for example.

What’s been striking to me as a researcher and clinical psychologist is how consist