Trauma Industrial Complex by Darren McGarvey

Author:Darren McGarvey [McGarvey, Darren]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Random House UK
Published: 2025-08-14T00:00:00+00:00

Part 3

* * *

RELEASING

‘Trauma shapes how we see the world, not because it’s accurate, but because it was once necessary for our survival.’

Gabor Maté, The Myth of Normal (2022)

CHAPTER 10

Turning the Page

Where do we begin when rewriting our story?

By now, if I’ve done my job, facilitators, consumers and storytellers alike should feel a bit uncomfortable about their entanglement with the Trauma Industrial Complex. Many of your sacred cows lay slain in my abattoir: not every feeling we have is valid, not every concern we express is authentic, and not every story we tell ourselves or others is true. Often, the stories we cling to are just another way to avoid the hard work of healing – fantasies we retreat into where everything makes sense, and our versions of ourselves and our lives are beyond reproach. You’ve spent the last few chapters in a narrative trance I deliberately induced. Now it’s time to gently awaken you from your hypnosis and remind you that you are in fact reading a book. A book written by a storyteller who knows this terrain intimately. Someone who understands the craft of storytelling, is humble enough to admit he doesn’t have all the answers, yet grandiose enough to refer to himself in the third person. Not everyone who started this book will have made it this far. Many likely bowed out a few chapters ago, unable to sit with the discomfort of my perspective – let alone the notion that the parts of it that irritated or upset them might hit closer to home than they’re ready to admit. That’s fine, though, because this book was never meant to be for everyone. Just as there is no one-size-fits-all treatment for trauma or a stable, cohesive definition of the term, there are countless ways to navigate it. Healing – by which I mean learning to live and thrive as trauma walks alongside us – requires us to explore various options available before choosing one we can make an honest go of. This book should act as a companion whatever choice you make and is written for those who sense that the stories they’ve been telling themselves may be incomplete – and that now may be time to perform a page-one rewrite. Those stuck in incomplete narratives about trauma often approach the Trauma Industrial Complex like fad diets during a health kick. The buffet of options is so vast that the labels we assign ourselves can feel liberating at first but may quickly morph into dangerous new controlling ideas. These stories can temporarily quiet the unease of being unmoored, offering a fleeting sense of purpose or meaning. Often, we gravitate towards what feels good, and what feels good is usually what seems easiest. Someone with ADHD might pursue a mental health diagnosis to avoid grappling with the unsettling implications of neurodivergence. An alcoholic might seek a neurodivergence label to sidestep the more confronting reality of their drinking. Likewise, those who sense they carry trauma may shop around for

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