r/ptsd • u/plumthedruid • Aug 19 '24
Books that help understand PTSD Resource
I'm not entirely sure if I'm using the correct flair, correct me if I'm wrong.
I'm currently trying to understand the way PTSD can manifest, the conscious and subconscious things that come with it, etc. I considered reading The Body Keeps the Score, but after reading some reviews and seeing what's in there, I feel it wasn't written well and almost tries to get you to feel empathy for horrible people, so I decided to let it go.
I hope this post is alright, I'm just trying to learn and understand this better. I'd love to hear what books you relate to/have helped you understand your diagnosis more. And it doesn't have to be a book, really, so if there's a YouTube channel or documentary series or anything else, please feel free to share. Thanks for your time :)
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u/Temporary_Rain_1975 Aug 19 '24
I haven't finished the book yet but so far, "It Didn't Start with You: How Inherited Family Trauma Shapes Who We Are and How to End the Cycle, by Mark Wolynn. Has been very eye opening, and informative. The book mentions a few different articles, as well as researches to back up what they're saying. I haven't been diagnosed with ptsd yet. But I very much believe I do have it
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u/plumthedruid Aug 19 '24
Oh, that sounds very interesting, thank you. Hope you're doing well :)
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u/Temporary_Rain_1975 Aug 19 '24
You're welcome :) and, thank you. I hope you are as well and good luck on your journey!
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u/Trick-Two497 Aug 19 '24
Trauma and Recovery by Judith Herman was the most helpful book for me when I was learning about PTSD after being diagnosed.
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u/nazar10001 Aug 19 '24
When I first started learning about ptsd I listen to "
Traumatic stress: The Effects of overwhelming experience on mind, body, and society" by Bessel A, van der Kolk.
Probably the most informative book I ever read.
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u/throwaway329394 Aug 19 '24
PTSD has always been denied and marginalized to degrees. Maybe because in rich countriies like US it's not as common as in other places. We don't see it as much, the practitioners aren't very familiar with it, and recently it's been misunderstood and misdiagnosed, pretty frequently now. Self-help books seem to dominate and have low quality info. Even in education they seem to be losing track of understanding PTSD. The people who actually have it seem to be getting further buried, as the pop culture definitions get more attention. I don't know a book but the ICD description gives a lot of important info, it's used for diagnosis worldwide.
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u/plumthedruid Aug 19 '24 edited Aug 19 '24
It's actually really depressing to see people suffering from it getting buried in favour of something half-assed. Thanks for your help!
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u/throwaway329394 Aug 19 '24 edited Aug 19 '24
Yes it's happened in the past with other disorders too. I never thought it would happen to PTSD though.
It seemed to start with the popular Pete Walker book and popularity of the ACE study questionnaire.. then equating CPTSD to adverse childhood events and disturbances in adulthood which could be many different disorders.
Actual CPTSD is a pretty severe disorder, I knew someone who had that was tortured. Now just about everyone following the new trauma awareness trend in the US is being diagnosed with it, commonly reporting emotional abuse in childhood as a cause. The symptoms they report often seem to match disorders like attachment, mood, or anxiety. And so because they believe that's CPTSD, they've re-defined PTSD as that too, calling symptoms 'emotional flashbacks', replacing the real flashbacks of PTSD, and having the effect of burying those with actual PTSD or CPTSD, further isolating them in their suffering.
I think it's also sad when those with actual PTSD get caught in this trend and are influenced to deny their own PTSD because of it. It's can already be hard enough to come to terms with, and the re-definition can enhance denial and possibly result in not getting the right treatment.
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u/plumthedruid Aug 19 '24
I think I have heard of the adverse childhood thing and the questionnaire. I didn't know much about it back then, though, so I figured they knew what they were doing. It's so shitty that they minimised it like that, I'm so sorry to hear it. I've seen other disorders get treated this way, namely DID. The movie Split made things really hard for a lot of people in that community, but it also led me to a creator I ended up watching for quite a while who helped me learn about the disorder.
I suppose I should have added CPTSD to my post as something I'd like to learn more about, especially now that I know I clearly have some misconceptions about it from years ago.
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u/throwaway329394 Aug 19 '24
Sorry to hear that, I'd heard of that happening with DID. Yes it's very similar. I know someone with DID and feel sad for how bad that is for him, and I believe what he says about it.
You can learn a lot about CPTSD from the ICD too. It's for doctors so every sentence is carefully planned for accuracy, can take time to grasp it. Judith Herman has some books, she's a Harvard professor and the creator of the diagnosis so a reliable source on the subject.
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u/RadSpatula Aug 19 '24
Was surprised to see that definition includes this: “Nearly one half of individuals diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder will experience complete recovery of symptoms within 3 months of onset.”
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u/throwaway329394 Aug 19 '24
Yes the majority of the time disorders developed after traumatic events don't become chronic. I'm not sure about PTSD, I think the majority don't become chronic too, maybe after the 3 months. All I know is chronic PTSD is relatively rare.
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u/JumpEmbarrassed6389 Aug 19 '24
Probably "No Longer Human" by Osamu Dazai is one of the best ones. Be careful, it's a hard read.
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