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The Body Bears the Burden

Trauma, Dissociation, and Disease

By Robert C. Scaer

Published August 8th 2001 by Routledge

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    978-0-7890-1246-3
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Description

Measure the neurophysiological changes associated with PTSD and whiplash!

Using the clinical model of the whiplash syndrome, this groundbreaking book describes the alterations in brain chemistry and function induced in individuals by what is known as traumatic stress or traumatization--experiencing a life-threatening event while in a state of helplessness. The Body Bears the Burden: Trauma, Dissociation, and Disease presents evidence of the resulting and relatively permanent alteration in neurophysiology, neurochemistry, and neuronal organization.

This book convincingly demonstrates that these changes create lasting effects on the emotional and physical well-being of the victim--changes correlated with many of the most common, yet poorly understood, physical complaints and diseases, including whiplash, migraines, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, and other painful, difficult-to-treat conditions. Further, the causes and effects of retraumatization are explored, clarifying the reasons some patients suffer fresh trauma over relatively minor incidents while others handle major traumas more easily.

This groundbreaking volume backs up its new theory of PTSD neurophysiology with cogent theory and persuasive evidence, including:

  • case studies correlating clinical features of trauma and dissociation with compelling physiological rationales for the symptoms
  • solid documentation drawing from the medical and psychiatric literature of PTSD, whiplash, brain injury, epidemiology of trauma, and a variety of disease processes linked to trauma
  • in-depth discussions of medical traumatization of patients, including the results of pediatric procedures and ineffective anesthesia
  • demonstrations that somatization and conversion are not imagined symptoms but result from measurable autonomic physiological alteration of the affected organ
  • a well-documented exploration of the effect of prenatal and neonatal trauma on later emotional development, response to traumatic life events, and disease and mortality
This impressive empirical evidence that body, brain, and mind are a continuum offers a powerful new paradigm to medical and mental health professionals, as well as new hope to sufferers from trauma. With a foreword by Bessel van der Kolk and helpful figures, The Body Bears the Burden: Trauma, Dissociation, and Disease is an essential resource for the in-the-trenches professionals who confront the effects of trauma and resulting somatic consequences. It will be of compelling interest and usefulness to family practice physicians, nurses and nurse practitioners, speech and physical therapists, counselors and psychotherapists, and any medical or mental health professional who treats physical or emotional trauma.

Contents

Contents

  • Foreword
  • Preface
  • Acknowledgments
  • Chapter 1. Concepts of Traumatization: The Role of Boundaries
  • The Concept of Boundaries
  • The Role of Boundaries in Trauma
  • Boundaries and Childhood
  • Conclusion
  • Chapter 2. Trauma, Instinct, and the Brain: The Fight/Flight/Freeze Response
  • Brain Responses to Stress
  • Fighting, Fleeing, or Freezing
  • Conclusion
  • Chapter 3. The Whiplash Syndrome I: Symptoms in Search of a Meaning
  • The History of Whiplash
  • The Clinical Syndrome
  • Physical Forces and Structural Injury
  • The Pathophysiology of Whiplash
  • Conclusion
  • Chapter 4. The Whiplash Syndrome II: A Model for Traumatization
  • Memory Mechanisms in Trauma
  • Somatic Responses to Stress
  • The Meaning of Speed
  • The Physiology of Traumatization
  • Conclusion
  • Chapter 5. Trauma and Brain Plasticity
  • The History of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Psychiatry
  • The Developing Brain
  • The Development of Character
  • Brain Plasticity in Trauma
  • Objective Measures of Brain Change in Trauma
  • The Permanence of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
  • Conclusion
  • Chapter 6. Diseases of Traumatic Stress
  • The Pathophysiology of Stress
  • Stress versus Trauma
  • The Hypothalamic/Pituitary/Adrenal Axis
  • Stress, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and Immune Function
  • The Diseases of Trauma
  • Morbidity and Mortality
  • Conclusion
  • Chapter 7. Trauma Reenactment
  • Introduction
  • The Roots of Reenactment
  • Clinical Features
  • Gender Differences
  • The Anniversary Syndrome
  • Reenactment Through Risk-Taking
  • Conclusion
  • Chapter 8. Somatic Dissociation
  • Examples of Dissociation
  • Memory in Dissociation
  • Cognitive and Emotional Features
  • Dissociative Physical Symptoms
  • Conversion and Dissociation
  • The Autonomic Nervous System in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
  • The Concept of Boundaries
  • Somatic Dissociation and Disease
  • Conclusion
  • Chapter 9. Sources of Trauma
  • The Definition of Traumatic Stress
  • Expose to Combat
  • Child Abuse
  • Societal Trauma
  • Medical Trauma
  • The Role of Past Trauma
  • Awareness During Anesthesia
  • Pediatric Medical Trauma
  • Childhood Medical Trauma
  • Conclusion
  • Chapter 10. Trauma Therapy: Future Directions
  • Counseling and Verbal/Cognitive Therapy
  • Exposure and Desensitization Techniques
  • Somatically Based Therapies
  • Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing
  • Somatic Experiencing
  • The “Power Therapies”
  • Pharmacotherapy of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
  • Conclusion
  • Chapter 11. Case Histories: The Somatic Spectrum of Trauma
  • A State of Vulnerability
  • Somatic Representations of Prior Trauma
  • Medical and Forensic Retraumatization
  • Multiple Chemical Sensitivities
  • The Mysterious Piriformis
  • Disorders of Speech in Trauma
  • Spasmodic Torticollis: An Aberration of the Orienting Reflex
  • Dissociation and Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy
  • Comments
  • Postscript
  • Notes
  • Index
  • Reference Notes Included

Name: The Body Bears the Burden: Trauma, Dissociation, and Disease (Paperback) – Routledge 
Description: By Robert C. Scaer. Measure the neurophysiological changes associated with PTSD and whiplash!Using the clinical model of the whiplash syndrome, this groundbreaking book describes the alterations in brain chemistry and function induced in individuals by what is known as...
Categories: Psychiatry, Trauma Counseling - Adult, Trauma Studies