Understanding trauma, confinement, and the journey back to freedom
By Laura Matanah, Executive Director of Compassionate Action for Animals
June 2, 2025
Introduction: An Unexpected Parallel
A little over a week ago, I went over the handlebars of my bicycle. In an instant, I broke my arm and elbow and sustained a traumatic brain injury despite wearing a helmet. Passersby immediately came to my aid, and I was able to receive wonderful medical attention from the team at HCMC, along with incredible support from family and friends.
As I began processing this sudden shift from normal life to one of physical pain and cognitive challenges, I found myself drawing unexpected parallels between my experience and the lives of factory farmed chickens. Both involve sudden trauma, confinement, sensory overwhelm, and the desperate need for appropriate healing conditions — though I’m well aware that chickens and other farmed animals have it much harder than I do.
Through all of our work at Compassion Action for Animals, we strive to make farmed animals’ lives better. I hope this post gives you insight into the parallels between our experiences and inspires you to take action to help farmed animals who endure confinement and trauma without the initial supportive conditions, medical care, family support, and hope for recovery that I’ve been blessed with.
The Trauma: When Your World Becomes a Cage
The Moment Everything Changed
A factory farmed chicken experiences an abrupt transition from the potential of natural life to the confines of industrial production. Similarly, my concussion marked an instant shift from normal cognitive function to a world where walking was difficult and simple conversations could become overwhelming marathons.
The chicken, bred for rapid growth in cramped conditions, faces immediate sensory assault — bright artificial lighting, constant noise, overcrowding, and the overwhelming stench of ammonia from accumulated waste that burns their respiratory systems and eyes. My post-concussion brain reacted similarly to everyday stimuli that once felt normal. Simple tasks like walking across a room or reading a few sentences made me feel like I was on a rocking ship in stormy seas, my stomach churning with nausea. The ordinary world had transformed into a hostile environment where even the most basic activities threatened to overwhelm my injured system.
Loss of Basic Functions
Factory farmed chickens lose their natural behaviors — dust bathing, foraging, roosting. These aren’t luxuries — they’re fundamental needs. Concussion stripped me of my cognitive basics: reading comprehension and short-term memory. Like the chicken deprived of natural movement, I was confined to a fraction of my former capabilities.
The Confinement Period: Surviving in Reduced Circumstances
Physical Limitations
The average factory farmed chicken has less space than a standard sheet of paper to live its entire life. My concussion created a similar spatial restriction — not physical, but neurological. My world shrank to dark, quiet rooms. Restaurants, movie theaters, and social gatherings became impossible territories.
Both the chickens and I learned to exist within severely constrained parameters. The chickens adapt to concrete floors and artificial light cycles. I adapted to constant headaches and a brain that felt wrapped in cotton.
Social Isolation
Chickens are naturally social creatures, yet factory farming creates stress-induced aggression and abnormal behaviors in overcrowded conditions. My concussion led to the opposite, but equally devastating result — social isolation. Friends’ voices became too loud, social situations too complex to navigate. The isolation was necessary for healing but profoundly lonely.
The Slow Recognition: This Isn’t Normal
Developing Awareness
Factory farmed chickens never experience natural life, so they can’t miss what they’ve never known. I have the distinct challenge of remembering what normal felt like before my bicycle accident. Every forgotten word, every moment of confusion, every overwhelming sensory experience reminds me of my previous capabilities.
This awareness became both a curse and a blessing. While it makes the current limitations more painful, it also provides motivation for recovery and hope for returning FULLY to my work with Compassionate Action for Animals.
The Recovery Process: Reclaiming Natural Behaviors
Gradual Reintroduction
When rescued chickens first experience a pasture, they often remain huddled together, afraid to explore. Their natural instincts return slowly — tentative pecking, cautious steps into sunlight, eventual dust bathing and foraging. Though I’m still in the early stages of recovery from my bicycle accident, I can already see this pattern beginning in my own healing journey.
Even simple activities like reading this screen or having short conversations require careful pacing. Each step forward must be measured against my current capacity, just as rescued chickens might retreat to familiar corners when overwhelmed by too much freedom too quickly.
Rediscovering Joy
Watching videos of rescued chickens experiencing grass for the first time is deeply moving — their obvious delight in simple, natural pleasures. Miss Manor, a hen rescued by Chicken Run Rescue in Minneapolis, exemplifies this journey of survival and healing. She had somehow gotten loose from an urban chicken farmer in Northeast Minneapolis and survived on her own through sub-zero temperatures and two feet of snow, eating at wild bird feeders and seeking shelter in shrubs at an apartment complex called Friendly Manor. When local residents grew concerned and Chicken Run Rescue finally rescued her, she needed time to recover from her ordeal and learn to trust again.
My recovery is bringing similar moments of rediscovered joy, though I’m still in the early stages. The first time I could read a few paragraphs without overwhelming nausea. The first conversation that didn’t exhaust me completely. These aren’t just milestones — they’re resurrections of fundamental parts of myself, much like Miss Manor’s gradual healing and acceptance of safety at the rescue.
What Factory Farming Taught Me About Healing
The Importance of an Appropriate Environment
Factory farming fails because it ignores animals’ basic needs for space, natural light, medical care, and social structure. My recovery succeeded when I finally created an environment that supported healing — consistent sleep schedules, reduced stimulation, gentle cognitive rehabilitation.
Just as chickens need pasture to truly thrive, my brain needed specific conditions to heal properly.
Time and Patience
Chickens rescued from factory farms don’t immediately behave like naturally raised birds. Their bodies and behaviors reflect their traumatic experience. Similarly, concussion recovery isn’t linear. Good days mostly follow bad days. Progress comes in waves, not steady improvements.
The Risk of Re-Traumatization
Rescued chickens can be easily startled back into fearful behaviors by loud noises or sudden movements. My recovered brain will likely remain sensitive to over-stimulation for months after my major symptoms subside. Both situations require ongoing mindfulness and protection.
The Larger Implications: Systemic Issues in Recovery
Medical Understanding
Factory farming persists partly because many people don’t understand chicken intelligence and emotional capacity. Concussion treatment often falls short because brain injuries remain poorly understood, with symptoms dismissed as “just headaches” or psychological issues.
Both situations improve with better education and recognition of complex needs.
Societal Expectations
Our society expects rapid, efficient production from chickens and rapid, complete recovery from injured humans. Neither expectation aligns with biological reality. Healing takes time, proper conditions, and often permanent lifestyle adjustments.
Lessons for Other Recovery Journeys
This comparison extends beyond concussion recovery. Anyone dealing with trauma, chronic illness, or major life disruption might recognize similar patterns:
The shock of reduced capacity: When illness or injury suddenly limits your world, the adjustment period is profound and disorienting.
The need for appropriate healing conditions: Recovery requires environments that support rather than stress your current capabilities.
The importance of patience: Healing follows biological timelines, not social expectations or personal desires.
The value of gradual reintroduction: Rushing back to normal activities often causes setbacks.
Freedom Looks Different After Confinement
I’m still early in my recovery journey — just over a week since my accident — but already I can see how this experience will change me. Like rescued chickens who remain more cautious than their naturally-raised counterparts, I’m learning to navigate a world that feels different than before.
The parallel between my recovery and the plight of factory farmed chickens might seem unusual, but it highlights universal truths about trauma, healing, and resilience. Both experiences underscore the importance of appropriate care, patient recovery, and the remarkable capacity for healing when given proper conditions.
Perhaps most importantly, both stories remind us that confinement — whether physical, neurological, or emotional — doesn’t have to be a permanent state. With time, care, and the right environment, healing and freedom become possible.
How You Can Help Farmed Animals
Volunteer: Join our outreach efforts this summer to educate others about farmed animal welfare and ending factory farming.
Sign our petition: Sign to prevent rollbacks of animal protection laws that provide crucial safeguards for vulnerable animals.
Donate: Support our work and the increased staff time that will be needed to make up for my temporary absence as I recover.
If you’re currently navigating concussion recovery or supporting someone who is, remember that healing takes time and the right conditions. Be patient with the process, protect your healing environment, and celebrate small victories along the way.
Keywords: concussion recovery, brain injury healing, post-concussion syndrome, traumatic brain injury recovery, concussion symptoms, brain injury awareness, recovery journey, healing process
