1: What Is Trauma?

The central part of this book of Stories of Mental Health and Resilience is the seven stories that form the backbone of the book. The stories are from interviews conducted by Amanda. All identifying details have been altered, including names, to protect confidentiality and to preserve anonymity. In Chapter 1, Amanda provides the background to an understanding of trauma. In Chapter 2, Jerome provides an autoethnographic account of his involvement in the mental health recovery movement. Chapters 3–9 are the interviews Amanda conducted with the seven contributors. In Chapter 10, Jerome summarises lessons arising from the book. Let’s start though by trying to define trauma.