Whether you experienced trauma recently or during your childhood, it can have a major mark on the many different types of relationships that you have in your life. From parents to children to romantic partners to colleagues, the effects of trauma might show themselves anywhere. Here are a few signs of trauma affecting interpersonal relationships:  Trust issues: Trauma is often the result of someone else breaking your trust in a significant way. A domestic abuse survivor might feel they can never put their guard down, even in the most intimate of relationships while someone attacked on the street may feel like every passerby is a threat.  Trouble communicating: Trust issues and communications problems exist hand in hand. Feeling like you must keep your distance or protect yourself in some way creates a barrier to intimacy. Lacking a sense of safety can mean that you feel as if you can’t be honest and open.  Regulating emotions: Moving between emotional numbness and extreme sensitivity are common reactions to trauma. These fluctuations can make it hard for your friends and family (as well as yourself) to know what to expect from one to the next.