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Reviews tagging 'Medical content'
The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk
126 reviews
Author: Bessel van der Kolk
Genre: Non Fiction
Rating: 4.00
Pub Date: June 12, 2014
T H R E E • W O R D S
Dense • Informative • Impactful
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Trauma is a fact of life. Veterans and their families deal with the painful aftermath of combat; one in five Americans has been molested; one in four grew up with alcoholics; one in three couples have engaged in physical violence.
Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, one of the world’s foremost experts on trauma, has spent over three decades working with survivors. In The Body Keeps the Score, he uses recent scientific advances to show how trauma literally reshapes both body and brain, compromising sufferers’ capacities for pleasure, engagement, self-control, and trust. He explores innovative treatments—from neurofeedback and meditation to sports, drama, and yoga—that offer new paths to recovery by activating the brain’s natural neuroplasticity.
💭 T H O U G H T S
The Body Keeps the Score was recommended to me by a mental health professional while I was searching for books in my own healing journey. My life has held trauma and grief, and I now know both have manifested in a variety of ways in my body. I was seeking to understand it all better so this book felt like the right place to start.
Based on his own research and that of other leading trauma specialists, this informative book details fascinating research on the topic. It examines the effects of trauma on the brain, the mind and the body. It explains how different parts of the body can hold trauma. It proposes several options for treatment. It challenges the status quo. In fact, it shines a light on the failures of the health care system and the lack of access to treatment options. I appreciated this critique of the system, because I have been there. Our society's reliance on medication doesn't solve the underlying issue, it simply offers a temporary band aid.
The information and research gets extremely dense and wordy at times, and in those moments I would find my attention withdrawing. In my opinion, without an expertise on the topic, it isn't an easily digestible read. The value for the average reader lies in the notion of having the ability to reclaim our lives in the wake of trauma.
In my opinion, this isn't necessarily a book to sit down and read through in its entirety. Rather it is best consumed in small portions, where you can sit with what you've read for awhile before coming back for more. Because there is so much information to digest, it can get overwhelming or even lost if read straight through.
The Body Keeps the Score is a transformative and necessary addition to the topic of trauma. The exploration of the mind/body connection was interesting and lead to many ah-ha moments for me. I came away understanding my own mind and body better, which is a gift in itself. I can see myself coming back to this at different times for reassurance.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• anyone who has gone through trauma
• mental and physical health care professionals
• loved ones of people who have experienced trauma
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"The drug revolution that started out with so much promise may in the end have done as much harm as good. The theory that mental illness is caused primarily by chemical imbalances in the brain that can be corrected by specific drugs has become broadly accepted, by the media and the public as well as by the medical profession. In many places drugs have displaced therapy and enabled patients to suppress their problems without addressing the underlying issues."
"Traumatized people chronically feel unsafe inside their bodies: The past is alive in the form of gnawing interior discomfort. Their bodies are constantly bombarded by visceral warning signs, and, in an attempt to control these processes, they often become expert at ignoring their gut feelings and in numbing awareness of what is played out inside. They learn to hide from their selves."
"The greatest sources of our suffering are the lies we tell ourselves."
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, War
Moderate: Death, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Car accident, Abandonment
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Car accident, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail
Be gentle with yourself if you read it. The book is very very helpful for understanding trauma and the research on treatment methods.
But ironically, it is not written to be very accessible to people who have PTSD. Most of the chapters could absolutely benefit from some content warnings because of how Van Der Kolk goes into detail about patients' traumatic experiences. Some argue he does that too much, and some feel it's important and relevant.
I don't know, myself, but I will say it took me over six months to read it, and I had to switch back and forth between a hardcopy and an audiobook. It changed the way I saw myself, gave me a lot more compassion and hope. And I needed lots of breaks and self-kindness to get through it.
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Dysphoria, War
Graphic: Child abuse, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Medical content, Medical trauma, Car accident
Moderate: Ableism, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Incest, Rape, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, War
Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Sexual harassment
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Car accident, War
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Medical content
My only downsides of the book was that it was pretty emphatic about some of the treatment options, not that I disagree with them, but it would have been interesting to hear more variations or other schools of thought… but I guess that will take further reading. Even with that, it’s one of the best books I have ever read.
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail
Can occasionally be triggering, has a lot of unwarned mentions of sexual abuse, neglect, traumatic events, etc.
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War
Moderate: Eating disorder, Incest, Kidnapping, Grief