jason cline

Trauma is a fact of life. Veterans and their families deal with the painful aftermath of combat; one in five Americans has been molested; one in four grew up with alcoholics; one in three couples have engaged in physical violence. Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, one of the world’s foremost experts on trauma, has spent more than three decades working with survivors. In The Body Keeps the Score, he uses recent scientific advances to show how trauma literally reshapes both body and brain, compromising sufferers’ capacities for pleasure, engagement, self-control, and trust.

Do you feel a tightness in your chest and a racing heart anytime you have to speak up for yourself, whether in a large group or small? Does the very idea that others could perceive you as looking uncomfortable or frightened make those symptoms even worse? Do you vigilantly avoid potential panic triggers, and always think the worst is bound to happen? If so, you may be one of the 40 million Americans who suffer from anxiety. Symptoms run the gamut from mildly embarrassing but tolerable to persistent and debilitating.