Sally Shanahan

Being excluded, unwanted or rejected by the people who were supposed to love and protect you can leave a wound that does not simply disappear with age. Sometimes distance between siblings does not happen naturally. It can be shaped by comparison, favouritism, withheld information, divided loyalties or different versions of the same story. Even years later, those divisions may continue to be encouraged. You can tell yourself you are better off without the relationship. You can build a full...

Emotional neglect isn’t always obvious. It can happen in families that looked ‘normal’ from the outside. You might look back and realise how isolated you became from wider family, leaving very few people who could see what life was really like for you. To everyone else, it may have looked like everything was fine. You might have learned to cope on your own, become the one who never caused a fuss, seemed to appear shy, became quiet, put everyone else’s needs before your own, learned that your...

You tell yourself you’re overreacting or feel embarrassed by how intense things can feel. Wondering why small things feel so big and hit so deeply. Or you just shut down and find it really hard to get back. What if your reactions actually make sense? This is often what living with Complex PTSD (CPTSD) can feel like. It’s not just about one traumatic event. It’s about repeated experiences where you may not have felt safe, seen, or supported , and often over time. CPTSD can show up in ways you...