What Is Trauma Dumping? Why It Can Be Harmful

Trauma dumping is when one person shares a story about a traumatic situation they went through, without consideration for how the story makes the listener feel or whether it’s an appropriate time.

Essentially someone who trauma dumps shares this intense and personal story with someone else without their consent, sometimes repeatedly. This can make the listener feel uncomfortable, can trigger or upset some people, and even cause secondary trauma.

There’s not much research on trauma dumping, maybe because the term is relatively new, but here’s what we found.

• Trauma dumping may also be called: Emotional dumping, intense oversharing.
• Why do people trauma dump?: Some people may do it to become closer emotionally with the other person, or to manipulate them. Others may need to talk about their unprocessed trauma but not have an appropriate person to do it with, like a therapist.
• Who trauma dumps? Anyone can trauma dump, but people who experienced childhood trauma can sometimes do it because they lack boundaries and may overshare personal information.
• Is trauma dumping harmful or helpful?: Sharing stories about your trauma may be helpful in some situations but harmful in others, but more research is needed. One study found that students felt worse anxiety and depression after they vented to people who were extremely supportive. But those who vented to people who were unsupportive to supportive (but not very supportive) had improved symptoms. However, experts point out that venting is a bit different than trauma dumping.
• Examples of trauma dumping: Sharing an intense story of your childhood trauma while you’re on a first date would be an example of trauma dumping. A parent sharing stories of their own childhood trauma with their children is another example — cases of trauma dumping like this can be one way generational trauma is transmitted from parents to their children. That’s because listening to other people’s stories of trauma can cause secondary trauma.
• What is not trauma dumping: Talking about traumatic experiences with a therapist or with a person you know well in a situation where they are willing and mentally prepared to listen is not trauma dumping. 

For a deeper dive on trauma and topics related to what we touched on here, check out these Relationship Smart articles:

• 7 Ways Childhood Trauma Can Affect Your Relationships
• How to Break the Cycle of Generational Trauma: Expert Q&A
• How to Stop Overexplaining Yourself: 5 Things to Do Instead
• What Is Emotional Safety and How to Create It in Your Relationships