The unspeakable mind : stories of trauma and healing from the frontlines of PTSD science

From a physician and post-traumatic stress disorder specialist comes a nuanced cartography of PTSD, a widely misunderstood yet crushing condition that afflicts millions of Americans. "Dr. Jain’s beautiful prose illuminates this widely misunderstood condition and makes for fascinating reading. It is a must for anyone who has a survived trauma, their loved ones and the healthcare professionals who care for them." --Irvin Yalom, bestselling author of When Nietzsche Wept The Unspeakable Mind is the definitive guide for a trauma-burdened age. With profound empathy and meticulous research, Shaili Jain, M.D.—a practicing psychiatrist and PTSD specialist at one of America’s top VA hospitals, trauma scientist at the National Center for PTSD, and a Stanford Professor—shines a long-overdue light on the PTSD epidemic affecting today’s fractured world. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder goes far beyond the horrors of war and is an inescapable part of all our lives. At any given moment, more than six million Americans are suffering with PTSD. Dr. Jain’s groundbreaking work demonstrates the ways this disorder cuts to the heart of life, interfering with one’s capacity to love, create, and work—incapacity brought on by a complex interplay between biology, genetics, and environment. Beyond the struggles of individuals, PTSD has a tangible imprint on our cultures and societies around the world. Since 9/11 and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, there has been a huge growth in the science of PTSD, a body of evidence that continues to grow exponentially. With this new knowledge have come dramatic advances in the effective treatment of this condition. Jain draws on a decade of her own clinical innovation and research and argues for a paradigm shift in how PTSD should be approached in the new millennium. She highlights the myriads of ways PTSD care is being transformed to make it more accessible, acceptable, and available to sufferers via integrated care models, use of peer support programs, and technology. By identifying those among us who are most vulnerable to developing PTSD, cutting edge medical interventions that hold the promise of preventing the onset of PTSD are becoming more of a reality than ever before. Combining vividly recounted patient stories, interviews with some of the world’s top trauma scientists, and her professional expertise from working on the frontlines of PTSD, The Unspeakable Mind offers a textured portrait of this invisible illness that is unrivaled in scope and lays bare PTSD's roots, inner workings, and paths to healing. This book is essential reading for understanding how humans can recover from unspeakable trauma. The Unspeakable Mind stands as the definitive guide to PTSD and offers lasting hope to sufferers, their loved ones, and health care providers everywhere. "An absorbing and comprehensive account of one of the scourges of our modern age. Anyone suffering from PTSD—or their loved ones—should read this book." —Sandeep Jauhar, M.D., New York Times –bestselling author of My Father's Brain The Unspeakable Mind is the definitive guide for a trauma-burdened age. In these pages, VA psychiatrist, Stanford professor, and prominent trauma scientist Shaili Jain, M.D. shines a long-overdue light on the PTSD epidemic affecting today's fractured world. Dr. Jain's groundbreaking work demonstrates the ways this disorder cuts to the heart of life, interfering with one's capacity to love, create, and work—incapacity brought on by a complex interplay between biology, genetics, and environment. Beyond the struggles of individuals, PTSD has a tangible imprint on cultures and societies around the world. In the twenty-first century, there has been enormous growth in the science of PTSD, a body of evidence that continues to grow exponentially. With this new knowledge have come dramatic advances in effective treatment. Jain draws on a decade of her own clinical innovation and research to argue for a paradigm shift in how PTSD should be approached, and highlights the ways care is being transformed to make it more accessible, acceptable, and available to sufferers. By identifying those most vulnerable to developing PTSD, cutting-edge medical interventions that hold the promise of preventing its onset are becoming more of a reality than ever before. Combining vividly recounted patient stories, interviews with some of the world's top trauma scientists, and her professional experience on the frontlines, The Unspeakable Mind offers a textured portrait of this invisible illness unrivaled in scope, laying bare PTSD's roots, inner workings, and paths to healing. It is essential reading for understanding how humans can recover from unspeakable trauma and stands as the definitive guide to PTSD, offering new hope to sufferers, their loved ones, and health care providers. "[A] comprehensive survey of the state of knowledge concerning PTSD. . . . Jain carefully lays out what can be said with confidence about [PTSD] . . . and what is more speculative . . . Given epidemic anxiety and stress disorders, this is a timely book that will greatly interest those who suffer from [PTSD] as well as family members and medical practitioners." — Kirkus Reviews "An engrossing read." —Irvin Yalom, M.D., Emeritus professor of Psychiatry, Stanford University and bestselling author of The Gift of Therapy "A thoroughly engaging book about the hardest parts of life presented gently, beautifully, insightfully, and with wisdom." —Edward Hallowell, M.D., New York Times –bestselling coauthor of Driven to Distraction Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a challenging condition with a collection of possible symptomsnightmares, relentless harmful emotions (anger, fear, guilt), hypervigilance, flashbacks, and an amplified startle response. PTSD patients are at greater risk of suicide. About 80-percent of the afflicted also suffer from other psychiatric problems (depression, alcoholism, drug abuse). Some causes of PTSD are rape, combat exposure, child abuse, accidents, and fire. Psychiatrist Jain (the daughter of immigrants from India with a family history of trauma) incorporates anecdotes of her patients to help explain the etiologies, diagnoses, and treatments of PTSD. A sampling includes a woman who is sexually assaulted as a teenager and later endures her baby's SIDS death, a marine who served in Iraq and witnessed a street bombing that maimed or killed many civilians, and an individual badly injured in a car accident. The best treatment remains talk therapy (cognitive behavioral therapy), and medication (chiefly SSRI antidepressants) can be beneficial. Jain asserts that the importance of accessible treatment and early intervention for PTSD cannot be overstated, while also emphasizing the genuine healing value of empathy and simply listening