The Body Bears the Burden: Trauma, Dissociation, and Disease Second edition

New edition provides updated concepts and ideas in simplified medical language

The Body Bears the Burden: Trauma, Dissociation, and Disease, Second Edition is the update of the classic book that explains the reasons behind some of the most common symptoms and conditions that previously defied a medical explanation. Respected author, Robert C. Scaer, MD, has diligently simplified the complex medical language that was used in the first edition to make it easier for lay readers and patients to understand—all without sacrificing accuracy. This valuable text presents a new theory of the neurophysiology of traumatic stress and dissociation and includes several updated chapters and new concepts that have been developed since the previous edition.

Human response is quite different than other animals’ response to trauma. This response is discussed in detail in The Body Bears the Burden: Trauma, Dissociation, and Disease, Second Edition, including the fight/flight/freeze cycle and how the human response causes abnormal regulation of many body systems which then may lead to many illnesses or conditions. The emotional and physical experiences of patients with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and other syndromes such as whiplash are comprehensively examined. Patients and lay readers alike who have been told it is “all in your head” may well feel like this book was specifically written about them and the unexplained complex symptoms they experience.

Topics in The Body Bears the Burden: Trauma, Dissociation, and Disease, Second Edition include:

• the role of the fight/flight/freeze response in traumatic stress
• the neurophysiology of traumatic stress and dissociation
• the Whiplash Syndrome as a model for procedural memory in trauma
• analysis of traumatic repetition
• the theoretical concept of somatic dissociation
• the varied syndromes and medical diseases of trauma and dissociation
• a theoretical analysis or therapy for trauma
• illustrative case histories of trauma and the body
• and more!

The Body Bears the Burden: Trauma, Dissociation, and Disease, Second Edition is valuable information for physicians, psychologists, psychotherapists, social workers, physical, occupational, and speech therapists, nurses, and those lay people looking to better understand the physiologic rationale for a large number of perplexing chronic medical diseases and syndromes.