Reviews tagging 'Blood'

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

23 reviews

authorbrittanibee's review

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

I'm honestly not sure how to rate such a read, but I can certainly share my thoughts on it.

Going in, this book immediately caused the trauma I have been working on to resurface in a very strong way. I think I personally should have prepared myself more mentally for the first half of the book as the stories shared immediately upset me. If certain stories of trauma cause you distress, I highly recommend either mentally preparing yourself for them or skipping to the end of the book where it relates more to healing and recovery (there are still mentions of traumatic stories, but the frequency and intensity is less as this area is more focused on the observable benefits of different types of therapy). This is definitely a book that should be read in manageable chunks, with lots of breaks in between, especially if any of the inner stories resonate with you or your past experiences. 

I definitely felt more empowered as I reached the latter chapters of this book when the author discusses the advances and implications of specific therapies as applied to various trauma survivors. I was especially surprised to find that EMDR had such high rates of "cure" for lack of a better term, but that this did not translate to those with history of childhood trauma, such as myself. What I really appreciated was the extensive dive into each form of therapy (EMDR, Yoga, Physchomotor, Neurofeedback, IFS, etc) as I hadn't heard of many of them and they each offered a potential solution. There are even specific resources and websites listed at the back of the book in case you want to further explore options for yourself. 

Overall, this book was wonderful in helping me to feel seen and less upset about the symptoms I have experienced throughout my life. It even helped me to uncover possible explanations as to why I have such a lapse in memory with my childhood years, reasons I may have been acting out, and why I view the world in the ways I do now. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Body horror, Blood, Child abuse, Abandonment, Addiction, and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Chronic illness, Drug use, Eating disorder, Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Death, Excrement, Pedophilia, Grief, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Self harm, Violence, War, Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Incest, Suicide, and Toxic relationship

mariamj's review

It was extremely triggering. His blunt description of certain traumatic instances made it unbearable to read. If you have trauma or active trauma I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS BOOK AS A START TO YOUR HEALING JOURNEY. Maybe I'll try again later...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Violence, and Body horror

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Addiction

_dear_reader_'s review against another edition

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, War, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Suicide, Murder, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Chronic illness, Car accident, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Gun violence, Grief, Gore, Genocide, Fatphobia, Drug abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Addiction, Drug use, Child death, Bullying, Alcoholism, Rape, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Self harm, Cancer, Blood, Alcohol, Abandonment, Toxic relationship, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Mental illness, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Incest, and Emotional abuse

delery's review

dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

3.25

this book was... a lot. i don't think i was necessarily in the right headspace to read it at this time. but it covered so many interesting issues, and i liked how it discussed different treatment methods. but also this book made me nauseous so... idk. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Grief, Incest, Medical content, Pedophilia, Ableism, Abortion, Blood, Body horror, Murder, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Addiction, Car accident, Child death, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Chronic illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Violence, Drug use, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Classism, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Sexual violence, Animal death, Cancer, Child abuse, Medical trauma, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Domestic abuse, Body shaming, and Drug abuse

gabriella_'s review

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

5.0

I tried reading this book twice but had to stop because of how emotional it made me. But now that I’ve finally finished it, I wish I read it sooner. It was incredibly informative and absolutely heartbreaking. Some individual patient stories were gutwrenching, so it’s best to take breaks as needed. Listen to your body with this one. Reflect, and be kind to yourself.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Medical trauma, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Confinement, Body horror, Child abuse, Car accident, Body shaming, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Incest, Sexual harassment, Medical content, Eating disorder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Self harm, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Gun violence, Genocide, Death, Bullying, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

juliaaaaa's review

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring sad slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Violence, War, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Torture, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Self harm, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pedophilia, Panic attacks/disorders, Incest, Eating disorder, Death of parent, Car accident, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Bullying, Body shaming, Body horror, Blood, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Adult/minor relationship, Addiction, and Abandonment

caitlinderocker's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Body shaming, Cancer, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Car accident, Grief, Medical trauma, Pedophilia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Child death, Mental illness, Rape, Abandonment, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Incest, Infidelity, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Torture, and Violence

vigil's review

informative reflective sad slow-paced

the body keeps the score is a dense text; small font on big pages full of scientific jargon and material. however, if you allow the book to be what it is it’s much more accessible than you’d think. 

bessel van der kolk has spent thirty years in practice which gives the book a somewhat academic, frank edge. it’s very insightful into traumatized individuals across the board, but i wouldn’t recommend it to any traumatized person off the bat due to kolk’s unrestrained tone throughout the book.

i have seen some question the ideas and theories he speaks of in here, but i’m (and probably them as well, if we’re being honest) not qualified to dissect that fully. nevertheless, i think everything in here is worth giving some thought to.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Car accident, Child death, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Cancer, Suicide attempt, Medical trauma, Abandonment, Abortion, Blood, Classism, Death, Medical content, Sexual assault, Incest, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death of parent, Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Animal death, Child abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, War, Chronic illness, Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, Domestic abuse, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Eating disorder, Genocide, Gun violence, and Toxic friendship

mandi4886's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Child abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Emotional abuse, and Mental illness

Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Trafficking, Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, Sexism, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, Violence, War, Drug use, Incest, Suicide, Torture, Addiction, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Car accident, Gaslighting, and Medical content

Minor: Death of parent, Drug abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Vomit, Body shaming, Dysphoria, Bullying, Chronic illness, Classism, Cursing, Cancer, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, and Pregnancy

mariamorrone's review

challenging emotional informative tense slow-paced

3.0

This book was very interesting and I learned a lot about myself. However, I found it incredibly hard to get through as the content is very dense. It reminded me of my psychology textbooks from when I was in university. I recommended this book to those willing to put in the work and time to read it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Abandonment, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Grief, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Trafficking, Violence, and War