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Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'
The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk
164 reviews
emreads0's review against another edition
Graphic: Medical trauma, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Child abuse, Mental illness, Domestic abuse, Chronic illness, Sexual assault, and War
mitziatratum's review
3.75
Graphic: Sexual assault, War, Torture, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Medical content, Racism, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Violence, Child abuse, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Mass/school shootings, Domestic abuse, Death, Incest, Gun violence, Grief, Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, Dysphoria, Drug use, Drug abuse, Child death, Car accident, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Ableism, and Abandonment
amyalwaysbooked's review
2.0
I know this is a book about trauma, but I did not expect him to go into such details of the personal traumas of multiple people. It felt gratuitous to me how often he would delve into the nitty gritty of a person's experienced trauma. I was expecting a book on the science of the brain and body's response to trauma, and while that was part of what I read, it was not the whole. I imagine this book would be especially upsetting for people who have experienced any extensive trauma. I also didn't love the ways in which can der Kolk often wrote about the people whose stories he shared. Women were often described physically, and the men were given a lot of slack for some of the horrible things they did because of their trauma. Except for one exception it often felt like he saw women as only victims of spousal or sexual abuse while men were only victims of military PTSD.
There were some excellent points made about the way the medical system in the US works, or rather, how it doesn't work. I appreciated how the lack of universal health care and better care for veterans and mothers only enables a vicious cycle of trauma. Unfortunately this also meant that a lot of what he was saying was "well here are some great ideas of what we could try, but there's no strong study behind any of it so maybe someday???"
I found the personal stories and van der Kolk's treatment of them to be far too distracting for any of the positives I found to be worthwhile.
Graphic: Car accident, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Self harm, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Violence, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Suicide, Pedophilia, Rape, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
emilydaniellew's review against another edition
3.0
Moderate: Sexual harassment, Panic attacks/disorders, Drug abuse, Sexual violence, Chronic illness, Child death, War, Suicide, Self harm, Physical abuse, Medical content, Grief, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Medical trauma, Terminal illness, Gun violence, Mental illness, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Death, Cancer, and Alcoholism
bookthia's review
2.0
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Child death, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Medical content, Medical trauma, War, Self harm, Murder, and Panic attacks/disorders
nicholesreadingnook's review against another edition
4.75
Graphic: Medical trauma, Child abuse, War, and Mental illness
issyd23's review
2.0
Graphic: Body horror, Sexual violence, Addiction, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Self harm, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Incest, Murder, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gaslighting, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Grief, Rape, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Dysphoria, and Emotional abuse
kathryn_reads_paiges's review against another edition
The story that quickly demonstrated this is when van der Kolk tells of a Vietnam veteran who was the sole survivor in his platoon from an ambush. His response? He raped a Vietnamese woman and killed children. Did his wife and children learn about this later? The author notes how this veteran had to temporarily live in a hotel so he “wouldn’t harm his family”…again sympathizing more with this man. Yes, what happened to the soldier’s friends is a tragedy, but the author is quick to excuse his actions. He even tells about how this man became a lawyer who successfully defended an accused murderer (hmm).
There were also some pretty upsetting stories of child death and car accidents early on. And I definitely didn’t need to hear about them while I was driving. The author spent a lot more real estate sympathizing with the Vietnam veteran than he did on, say, the mother from the one car accident. He mentions the Nazis in the first or second chapter but doesn’t condemn them, which I found suspicious, especially for a European author.
Moreover, van der Kolk was fired from his own trauma center for creating a hostile work environment for women.
https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/renowned-trauma-center-fires-its-medical-director/
I understood what (I think) is the main takeaway before I even picked up this book: Our bodies remember trauma even as our minds try to repress it. If you’ve ever read an incredible novel about this or been to a decent therapist, you probably do, too.
This book could be very triggering to anyone with PTSD and/or who has survived sexual assault or child abuse. Please read other critical reviews — I’m definitely not alone for DNFing for these reasons.
Graphic: Car accident, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Child death, and Rape
Moderate: Violence, War, Medical trauma, and Xenophobia
mirificmoxie's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Self harm, Panic attacks/disorders, Incest, Violence, Domestic abuse, and Rape
Moderate: Child death, Car accident, Mental illness, Abandonment, Suicide attempt, War, and Chronic illness
Minor: Medical trauma, Abandonment, and Animal cruelty
codyroberts541's review against another edition
3.0
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Medical trauma, Violence, Child abuse, Alcoholism, Addiction, Sexual assault, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Drug abuse, and Death