Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

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

171 reviews

emilydaniellew's review against another edition

challenging dark informative inspiring slow-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, and War

bookthia's review against another edition

challenging slow-paced

2.0

This book was too much for me.  I am interested in how trauma affects people, both mentally and physically.  I am interested in approaches to treatment that are effective and cutting edge. I am particularly interested in how professionals (doctors, teachers, counsellors, clergy, and more) can perform their jobs through a trauma-informed lens. This book spent too much time detailing graphic details of trauma and insufficient time giving pragmatic information about how to aid people in our lives living through trauma.  Disappointing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

nicholesreadingnook's review against another edition

challenging hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Mental illness, Medical trauma, and War

issyd23's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

2.0

Too boring 2🧠

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Dysphoria

kathryn_reads_paiges's review against another edition

DNF. Yes, there are major content warnings for this book. And no, I don’t think subjects like rape, sexual abuse, and child abuse were handled with compassion. Far from it.

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Car accident

Moderate: Violence, Xenophobia, Medical trauma, and War

mirificmoxie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, and Violence

Moderate: Child death, Chronic illness, Mental illness, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, and War

Minor: Animal cruelty, Medical trauma, and Abandonment

codyroberts541's review against another edition

challenging slow-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Medical trauma, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

joey1914's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail

leseine's review against another edition

informative reflective

4.5

I loved it. It’s incredibly written and definitely struck a lot of chords with me. I feel seen and I have found many more words and treatments to put a face to what I have been feeling. The writing is digestible, I like the interspersing of brain science along with patient experiences and other information. It’s not too heavy on any one thing and although it did trigger flashbacks a couple of times.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Violence, Medical trauma, and War

_dear_reader_'s review against another edition

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

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