Still Here: How Not to Die from the Damage Caused by Trauma

By Lucian Deighton

What if the struggles you have carried for years are not signs that something is wrong with you, but evidence of what happened to you?

I wrote this book because, for most of my life, I did not understand why everything felt so difficult. I lived with anxiety, shame, exhaustion, chronic illness, broken relationships, and a constant feeling that I was simply surviving. Like many people, I believed there was something wrong with me. It took decades for me to discover that I was living with the effects of trauma.

In Still Here: How Not to Die from the Damage Caused by Trauma, I share my journey from a childhood shaped by abuse, abandonment, harmful cultural practices, war, and loss, to an adulthood marked by complex trauma, chronic illness, workplace adversity, grief, and the search to understand why my life had unfolded the way it had.

This is not a clinical textbook, nor is it a step by step guide to healing. It is my story, alongside the knowledge I gained while trying to understand trauma and its lasting effects on the mind, body, relationships, and sense of self. My hope is that, through my experiences, you may begin to recognise parts of your own story and realise that you are not alone.

Throughout this book, I explain how trauma can shape the way we think, feel, relate to others, and move through the world, often without us recognising its influence. I also explore why so many survivors spend years blaming themselves for behaviours and struggles that were, in reality, adaptations that helped them survive.

I do not promise easy answers or perfect healing because I do not believe either exists. What I can offer is honesty, understanding, compassion, and solidarity. I wrote this book for anyone who has ever wondered why life feels harder than it seems for everyone else, who carries wounds that cannot be seen, or who has spent years searching for words to explain what they have lived through.

Above all, I want this book to remind you of one thing: you are not broken. Your story matters. Your experiences matter. And if you are reading these words, despite everything you have lived through, you are still here. Sometimes, that is the greatest act of resilience of all.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0H7CBYNBK
• ISBN13: 9798184982915
• Release Date: May 2025
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 218 Pages
• Weight: 0.66 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.0" x 9.0"