Magazine article
Trauma can trigger psychosis – and talk therapy can help treat both
The Conversation, Vol.14 August 2026
2026
Appears in The Conversation
Abstract
If you hear “psychosis”, what do you think of?
Many people believe psychosis is a brain disorder and only hear about it on the news in relation to a violent or traumatic crime.
In fact, psychosis is not a diagnosis. It’s a collection of symptoms that affect your mind and how you interpret the world. People experiencing psychosis are more likely to be a risk to themselves than others.
And we now know trauma can increase your risk of developing psychosis. A growing body of research shows using “talk therapy” to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) – a psychiatric condition some people develop after experiencing trauma – can also effectively treat psychosis.
But we still don’t routinely assess and treat trauma in people with psychosis. Here’s why we should.
Details
- Title
- Trauma can trigger psychosis – and talk therapy can help treat both
- Authors
- Leila Jameel - Swinburne University of TechnologyNgoc Anh Do - Swinburne University of TechnologyRachel M Brand - University of the Sunshine Coast
- Publication details
- The Conversation, Vol.14 August 2026
- Publisher
- Conversation Media Group
- Date published
- 2026
- DOI
- 10.64628/AA.mnk77aegu
- ISSN
- 2201-5639
- Copyright note
- © The Conversation Media Group. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
- Organisation Unit
- School of Health - Psychology
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991255195402621
- Output Type
- Magazine article
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