Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

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

91 reviews

themookintosh's review

challenging informative reflective slow-paced

4.25

Incredibly informative, not much use of academic jargon which helps the lay reader. I feel as though every person who either has or who has worked with trauma in their lives needs to read this book. It expertly highlights how trauma is the biggest issue facing social care throughout Western society and provides several insights into research and treatment options.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual assault, Medical content, and Abandonment

crunchycrystals's review against another edition

idk i just wasn't getting a lot out of it and it was getting a little too much for me to handle. i don't feel comfortable giving a rating but i will say i liked the chapter on language i thought that was really cool

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, and War

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Abortion

this is a very heavy book please take all of these warnings to heart and know your limits there are so many descriptions of sexual assault (including of children)

veryill's review

challenging hopeful informative reflective slow-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

horizonous's review against another edition

challenging informative slow-paced

3.5

 To me, someone who isn't dealing with (C)PTSD, overall very informative; some chapters more than others. And if I take anything from this book, it's that I really should work on doing yoga regulary because there are only benefits from doing it.

I wouldn't recommend this to people who can't or don't want to read about anything that comes to mind in regards to child abuse. Some of the patients' stories are harrowing and I can easily see how this could be very triggering. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Car accident, and War

Moderate: Child death and Murder

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Gun violence, and Sexism

◦ Eating disorder = incl. force-feeding

meganmyer's review

challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

kellieturnerjones's review

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

ahuggingsam's review against another edition

challenging hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and War

theskyboi's review against another edition

informative slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

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

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.

studeronomy's review

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