Reviews tagging 'Murder'

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

38 reviews

seawarrior's review against another edition

Quit reading because of lack of focus. I doubt I will continue the book because its descriptions of war criminals are so far removed from what I wanted to know about trauma in order to apply it to myself and my own settings. The author also seemed uncomfortably self-absorbed. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Murder, and Rape

chelanna22's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative sad tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Incest, Abandonment, Self harm, War, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Rape, Murder, Domestic abuse, and Alcoholism

Minor: Addiction, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Mass/school shootings

akvolcano's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.75

Loved reading this book! Trauma is always spoken in the context of war veterans, but the intricacies are never fully connected. This book well develops the connection. It actually goes further by not separating citizen trauma from war trauma, but speaks of them on the same level. When I began this reading I was skeptical if there would be any new concepts or material. I am happy to say that there was in fact exploration in areas that have not been fed into mainstream media! As a survivor myself, I enjoy that throughout the book there is consistently stories of people being shared. I would like to read a book like this one that takes its central concepts and goes a bit further. Overall, excellent well researched and articulated book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Incest, Mass/school shootings, Lesbophobia, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Body shaming, Car accident, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Dysphoria, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Gore, Infidelity, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Police brutality, Racism, Pregnancy, Rape, Self harm, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, War, and Violence

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

very good, well written and informative. i do wish the author focused less on veterans and more on those with different forms and reasons for ptsd and trauma. obviously nothing wrong with the information/research about veterans but i feel like there wasn’t enough diversity in its participants/examples

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Alcohol, Drug use, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Medical content, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Violence, and War

jussery's review against another edition

challenging informative medium-paced

4.0

This book was really useful to me in how it summarized a lot of research findings in an interesting and succinct way (not to say this book wasn't long, it definitely was). Halfway into this book I found out that the author is not really a great guy, which definetely soured anything I read from his perspective. I found some of his descriptions of women kinda gross. I thought he went too far describing some patient's trauma. This book has so many triggers and I read it as someone without PTSD (I have a depersonalization disorder though, and was hoping to uncover more about that through this book) - so a big warning to anyone considering reading it! Overall though, I still gave this book 4 stars just because I think it really captured a lot of research studies on trauma in a digestible way (could do without the authors excessive descriptions though). And it really helped me contextualize some of my symptoms and how they are biologically based, which helped me put less blame on myself for them.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Fatphobia, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Car accident, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, War, Chronic illness, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Trafficking, Sexism, Alcoholism, Child death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Slavery, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Rape, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Eating disorder, Murder, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicide, Torture, Domestic abuse, and Medical trauma

skylover's review against another edition

textbook heavy content and mildly triggering 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual violence, Rape, Murder, Suicide, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, and War

v_neptune's review against another edition

just wasn't feeling it

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, War, Death, Car accident, Gun violence, Mental illness, Child death, Murder, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, and Medical content

monstrouscosmos's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

1.0

I used to always recommend this book to people, but I'm at a point where I think it's an avoid. it's meant as a professional resource, and while as a non-professional I think there's something to be gained by learning about these topics: there are less triggering, less retraumatizing, and more empowering options out there. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Grief, Homophobia, Mass/school shootings, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Ableism, Addiction, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Violence, and War

susannadkm's review

informative sad medium-paced

3.5

“Social support is not the same as merely being in the presence of others. The critical issue is reciprocity: being truly heard and seen by the people around us, feeling that we are held in someone else’s mind and heart. For our physiology to calm down, heal, and grow we need a visceral feeling of safety. No doctor can write a prescription for friendship and love…” (Chapter 5) 

3.5 stars. This is an absorbing book for anyone curious about trauma therapy and how it’s evolved in recent decades. I like how it’s full of stories, and van der Kolk isn’t afraid to admit when he realized he was wrong (like about eye movement desensitization and reintegration).

I’m not sure it’s the best book to read for those looking for the best treatment methods (so many of the stories are anecdotal) or coming to grips with sexual trauma (so many stories are graphic), though.

I listened to the audiobook.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Rape, Self harm, Torture, War, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Incest

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Eating disorder, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Murder

brookerobbo's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Pregnancy, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Addiction, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, War, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Hate crime, Incest, Murder, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, Violence, Car accident, Genocide, Gun violence, Self harm, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Grief, Infidelity, Mass/school shootings, Medical content, and Medical trauma