BOOK CLUB: The body keeps the score

@CheerBear are you ok???

Hi @CheerBear @mudsum @Maggie @NikNik @Former-Member (and anyone I forgot).

@CheerBear I totally agree with you re. the DSM. I think a good opportunity was lost when the DSM-V was published. Hopefully by the time the next edition comes out, the world of mental health will have moved more towards a trauma-based conceptualisation of mental health issues.

I'm glad you are taking care of yourself by taking a break from TBKTS for now @CheerBear. I am going to keep pressing on - though maybe not at a particularly rapid rate!

I finally got through chapter 15. I found this chapter less confronting than the previous one. It is all about EMDR. I have done a bit of EMDR in the past but not in a particularly well-planned way (my previous psychologist, "Fred" learnt about it during our time together and we experimented with it a bit).

I would definitely be open to trying EMDR again. Although...according to Van Der Kolk (2014, p. 255) it doesn't work nearly as well for complex trauma arising from childhood events as it does for discreet traumatic events that occur in adulthood. He says that chronic childhood abuse causes very different mental and biological adaptations than discrete traumatic events in adulthood.

One thing I found interesting (and somewhat amusing) in this chapter is that when describing a study that included a placebo group, anti-depressant group, and EMDR group, Van Der Kolk (2014, p. 254) says that as often happens, the people on placebo did well. After eight weeks their 42 percent improvement [in PTSD symptomatology] was greater than that for many other treatments that are promoted as "evidence based." As a profession, psychology loves to see itself as very scientific and "evidence based". However, given that very few people know how to read the results section of a research paper, most people wouldn't know how flimsy a lot of that "evidence" actually is.

Van Der Kolk also made the point that in contrast to the effects of the placebo and the anti-depressant, the effects of EMDR persisted over time. Although participants taking the antidepressant got some positive effect (as compared to the placebo), this effect only lasted for as long as they were taking the medication. Thus, whereas the medication dampened down the PTSD symptomatology, EMDR actually CURED it. And thus, once again, we come back to the idea that the effects of trauma ARE curable. People DON'T have to settle for simply learning "coping skills" and spending a lifetime on medication. Sigh...

The final point I found interesting was that Van Der Kolk (2014, p. 256) argues that while exposure therapy can help people become less reactive to triggers over time, as far as we know, simply exposing someone to the old trauma does not integrate the memory into the overall context of their lives, and it rarely restores them to the level of joyful engagement with people and pursuits they had prior to the trauma. That's what I want! I want "the level of joyful engagement with people and pursuits" that I had prior to my muddle beginning. I understand from what Van Der Kolk says in this chapter that achieving that with respect to complex trauma rather than a discrete event is very difficult. However, difficult does not mean impossible. I KNOW my brain is fixable. I just need to somehow (and right now I have no idea how) find the right person to help me fix it.

Well that's my thoughts for this chapter. I look forward to hearing what others have to say...and if everyone decides to take a break from reading, well then you will just have to put up with me chattering along to myself.

@Maggie I am really sorry that you have been labelled as "attention seeking" in the past. I have an extensive history of the same thing. It super sucks. I loathe the phrase "he/she is just attention seeking." It is perfectly normal for someone to seek help when in intense pain or distress. I have no idea how help-seeking behaviour gets re-labelled as "just attention seeking." I also have no idea how expressions of distress (such as SH) get labelled as "just attention seeking."

One of the things I have found so amazing about the SANE moderators is how much they truly "get" how super hard it is to keep on keeping on. I feel super safe here because it seems that no matter how many times I reach out for support, the constant message I hear is that it's ok to reach out. This is a HUGELY novel experience for me after such a very long history of being told I am "just attention seeking."

@Phoenix_Rising The SH sucks ok, but I'm slowly finding my voice...slowly. I'm reading lots on Forumland and see exactly what you are talking about...acceptance...understanding...empathy....humanity at its best. There are talented, gifted, intelligent people here searching for wellness.

I haven't received my book yet, hoping this week, so, I'm in on discussions. Have a good day

Hi @mudsum

Yes, we are here!

I'm sorry to hear that things are so rough at the moment. It sounds like you're doing a great job at persevering, but understandably, it can be exhausting.

Are you currently at your therapists office? I hope you have a good session with this evening and it's not triggering.

Nik

@mudsum I hear you. Stuck for words sorry.