Trust is the quiet foundation of our daily lives — a necessary ingredient in every relationship that stabilizes our perceptions, emotions, and social bonds. When trust is deliberately or inadvertently shattered, the psyche reacts as if it has been exposed to a potent psychoactive agent. The emotional fallout is not fleeting; it can prompt long-term trauma, incite paranoia, dismantle our sense of reality, create disruptive delusions, and push us toward simplistic, conspiratorial explanations for life’s uncertainties.
