How Early-Life Trauma Shapes End-of-Life Experiences

Traumatic events—whether in childhood or adulthood—can have profound effects on a person’s physical and emotional wellbeing, extending all the way to their final months. These experiences, such as parental abuse, repeating a school year, or involvement in armed combat, are linked to increased pain, loneliness, and depression at the end of life. For palliative care vo…