Trauma memoir –
When the Mind Divides
Lost Innocence. Lost Time. Lost Self.
Content Note
This book contains references to childhood abuse, trauma and mental health.
The content is shared with care, but some readers may find it confronting.
Please read at your own pace and seek support if needed.
About the Book
When the Mind Divides is a childhood abuse memoir based on Jo Wilcox’s lived experience growing up in the 1950s, when abuse was not spoken about and silence was expected.
Harmed by someone entrusted with her care, Jo carried the impact of that experience through every stage of her life. It shaped her relationships, her sense of self, her health and her understanding of who she was.
For more than 60 years, she told no one outside of a small circle.
When she finally sought professional help later in life, she received diagnoses of Complex PTSD and Dissociative Identity Disorder. With that came answers to questions she had lived with for decades – why she reacted the way she did, why parts of her past felt missing, and why she had always felt like she wasn’t enough.
This is a surviving abuse story, but it is also about understanding. About finally knowing why.
It is not a clinical explanation. It is a personal account of living with trauma and beginning to make sense of it.
Who this book is for
- People who have lived through abuse
- Those who have kept their experiences to themselves for years
- Those who have questioned their memories, their reactions or their sense of identity
- Readers who feel they are not enough
- Those who have struggled to understand why life has felt harder than it should
Her message is clear:
You are seen, you are believed and you deserve support.
There are professionals who will listen and there is life beyond silence.
About the author - Jo Wilcox
About the author - Jo Wilcox
Ready to read Jo's story?
A powerful trauma memoir about survival, understanding and healing.