Each year in Australia, more than 119,000 women and children seek refuge from domestic and family violence—including over 31,000 children under the age of 10. These families often arrive at shelters carrying the weight of trauma. But too often, they also carry something else: deep, chronic exhaustion.
Sleep is rarely part of the recovery plan.
In trauma care, we talk about safety, counselling, housing, and case management. But we don’t talk nearly enough about sleep—the very thing the nervous system needs most to heal.
When the body is in survival mode, sleep becomes fragmented or elusive. And when sleep is lost, everything becomes harder. Emotional regulation, memory, learning, immune function, and even the ability to feel safe in one’s own body. All depend on a foundation of deep, restorative sleep.
And for children, the cost is even greater.
Sleep isn’t just helpful for healthy development—it’s essential. During sleep, children’s brains process experiences and consolidate learning. Their nervous systems recalibrate. Their bodies release human growth hormone, supporting tissue repair, physical growth, and immune strength. Sleep is the scaffolding of a child’s health and development.
For children impacted by trauma, the need for quality sleep becomes even more urgent. They don’t just need rest to grow—they need it to recover.
And the benefits reach beyond early childhood. Research shows that sufficient sleep in adolescence can help buffer the effects of earlier trauma, reducing the risk of anxiety and depression later on (Barrett, Coote, & Grummitt, 2025).
But trauma and sleep loss don’t just coexist, they compound each other. Research shows that trauma-exposed children are significantly more likely to develop chronic sleep disturbances. These, in turn, amplify the risk of emotional dysregulation, anxiety, depression, behavioural challenges, and cognitive delays (Gregory & Sadeh, 2012; Kajeepeta et al., 2015).
And the effects ripple outward.
When a child can’t sleep, a parent can’t rest either. A mother who is depleted from trauma and sleep loss struggles to regulate her own emotions, make clear decisions, or offer the steady presence her child needs. This isn’t a failure of parenting, it’s the biology of a nervous system pushed beyond its limit.
For adults living with PTSD, sleep disruption can become a defining feature of the condition. Nightmares and insomnia are so prevalent they are considered hallmark symptoms—and they often persist even after trauma-focused therapy. Studies show that disrupted sleep interferes with memory processing, emotional regulation, and recovery itself, making targeted sleep support essential for long-term healing (So, Miller, & Gehrman, 2023).
And these struggles don’t just live inside one individual. They ripple outward.
When a mother is depleted from trauma and chronic sleep loss, her ability to be present for her child becomes compromised, not because she doesn’t care, but because her brain and body are running on empty. When a support worker is emotionally overloaded and sleep-deprived, the safety they hold for others can begin to fray.
Trauma doesn’t just live in memory. It lives in the body, and without sleep, the body cannot heal.
If we truly want to support trauma recovery, sleep must be part of the conversation. It’s not just a good habit. It’s a biological necessity, and a powerful catalyst for healing—across generations and roles.
Until sleep is part of trauma care, healing will remain incomplete.
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References
1. Barrett, E., Coote, T., & Grummitt, L. (2025). Sleep duration in adolescence buffers the impact of childhood trauma on anxiety and depressive symptoms. BMC Public Health, 25, Article 437. Read the study
2. El-Sheikh, M., & Sadeh, A. (Eds.). (2015). Sleep and development: Advancing theory and research. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 80(1), 1–215. Read the full monograph
3. Gregory, A. M., & Sadeh, A. (2012). Sleep, emotional and behavioral difficulties in children and adolescents. Sleep Medicine Reviews, 16(2), 129–136. Read the study
4. Kajeepeta, S., Gelaye, B., Jackson, C. L., & Williams, D. R. (2015). Adverse childhood experiences are associated with adult sleep disorders: A systematic review. Sleep Health, 1(4), 259–265. Read the full study
5. So, C. J., Miller, K. E., & Gehrman, P. R. (2023). Sleep disturbances associated with posttraumatic stress disorder. Psychiatric Annals, 53(11), 491–495. Read the study