Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk

125 reviews

sophievansaghi's review against another edition

informative reflective slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , War, Abandonment, Child abuse, Medical trauma, Adult/minor relationship, Suicide, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, and Physical abuse

kellieturnerjones's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

5.0

Enlightened insight to the effects of trauma. Nice exploration of techniques to deal with trauma.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Self harm, Racial slurs, Mental illness, Abandonment, Medical trauma, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Child abuse, War, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Grief, Eating disorder, Car accident, Rape, Sexual violence, Addiction, Sexual assault, Bullying, Alcoholism, Suicide, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Infidelity, and Pedophilia

theskyboi's review against another edition

informative slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Addiction, Alcoholism, Self harm, Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Violence, Sexual violence, Abandonment, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Murder, War, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Medical content, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, Physical abuse, Incest, Drug abuse, Death, Pedophilia, Suicide, Child abuse, and Child death

scgonano's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

I’ve recently new diagnosed with PTSD and have found this book to be extremely informative. Whilst I’m not a psychologist, my bachelor’s degree did include a couple of introductory psychology courses. Whilst this prior study may have supported my understanding and following of some particular chapters, I still think that’s this book is widely accessible to people without prior knowledge of psychology. 
Following my diagnosis, I’ve had to wait a few months to engage with therapy services. My n the meantime, reading this book has supported my understanding of PTSD, how it affects me (both physically and mentally), and educated me about approaches to therapy. Knowing how the different therapy approaches work and what is happening in the body/brain has prompted me to seek some other (somewhat more accessible) approaches e.g., yoga, music, meditation; while I’ve waited for access to ongoing psychology therapy. 
There’s a bunch of resources and recommended reading, neatly summarised in the appendix. These are separate from the reference list and are accessible to the public (whether you’re learning about your diagnosis, supporting someone with this diagnosis, or just interested). 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Medical content, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Violence, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Self harm, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Medical trauma, Grief, Abandonment, Addiction, Drug abuse, Murder, Child abuse, Death, Suicide, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, War, Sexual violence, and Incest

The aforementioned content warnings are only included as precautions. They are not explicitly investigated or detailed. However they are included to educate about the causes and repercussions of PTSD.

purpleowl6's review against another edition

dark emotional informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Abandonment, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Drug abuse, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Drug use, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Rape, and Self harm

taylordeanne's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

3.0

It was interesting and gave insight to the effects of everyday events and traumatic events on the body. There were multiple points in the book that the term trauma was used too broadly. Allowing trauma to be anything that an individual person may deem traumatic felt ambiguous and meaningless. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Suicide, Rape, War, and Domestic abuse

studeronomy's review against another edition

informative medium-paced

3.25

As Charles Darwin wrote in his notebook, "The mind is a function of body." And, as this book convincingly shows, the body keeps a vicious tally of the wounds inflicted on the mind. These physical tallies are most easy to detect in people who suffer from PTSD and its adjacent disorders, but the implications of this book is that all our bodies carry the suffering our spirits have endured in ways that are tangible and quantifiable.

I know "The Body Keeps the Score" has its detractors and, because Bessel van der Kolk wrote it for a popular audience, he necessarily simplified some otherwise complex studies and truncated some otherwise complex research conclusions. But van der Kolk's observations over a fifty-year career demonstrate a couple things to me:

First, the field of psychiatry is (or was, until recently) hopelessly siloed. Psychopharmacologists aren't talking to neuroscientists aren't talking cognitive scientists aren't talking to social workers and therapists. Communication between disciplines and subdisciplines is very poor. And this doesn't begin to address the different methods of treating trauma that van der Kolk describes, most of which developed in disparate subdisciplines without much coordination with other subdisciplines. The whole organization of psychiatry (like the organization of most fields of study) is very messy.

Second, psychiatry still lacks its "germ theory," an explanation for the prevalence and cause of most mental illnesses and mood disorders. And such a theory might be impossible, given the nature of the mind itself. As Darwin also wrote in his notebook, "Experience shows the problem of the mind cannot be solved by attacking the citadel itself." An attack on the "citadel" of the mind cannot be a direct attack. There may be no unifying theory of the varied experiences we associate with "mind," "brain," "cognition," "the soul," whatever. And certainly no single field or discipline or method will unlock the mysteries of those experiences. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Incest, Sexual assault, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, War, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Rape, Eating disorder, Physical abuse, Self harm, Addiction, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

ppeynetti's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Mental illness, Violence, Suicide, Physical abuse, Self harm, Child abuse, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pedophilia, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, War, Suicide attempt, Medical trauma, and Sexual violence

patedm's review against another edition

informative reflective slow-paced

4.0

Took me forever to read, but it is seriously a must read for anyone who has personally experienced, works with, or loves someone with a history of trauma or a PTSD diagnosis. So informative 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Rape, and Suicide

Moderate: Self harm, Violence, and Domestic abuse

genevieveevelyn13's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective slow-paced

5.0

A very intense book of stories that help explain the complexities of PTSD and how your body interacts with a broken  nervous system. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Death, Suicide, Sexual content, Physical abuse, and Mental illness