THE UNSPEAKABLE MIND

At any given moment, more than six million Americans are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder—ptsd—a severe medical condition that has been described since ancient times but was not recognised by the psychiatric establishment until 1980. In her beautifully written and deeply informative new book, Professor of medicine and practicing psychiatrist shaili Jain finally gives the illness its due, exploring the ways in which traumatic stress cuts to the heart of existence, interfering with one’s capacity to love, create, and worked the complex interplay between Biology, genes, and Environment that causes it. Ptsd is a disorder of memory that provokes nightmares, flashbacks, an exaggerated startle reaction, and renders emotional life barren. The unspeakable mind offers a textured portrait of this devastating disease, drawing on Jain’s personal history and the two decades she has spent conducting cutting edge research in the field and caring for patients who have survived child abuse, rape, intimate partner violence, life-threatening accidents, and war. Full of profoundly moving case studies and fascinating scientific research, The unspeakable mind tells the complete story of PTSD for the first time, Deconstructing its impact on the cellular, emotional, psychological, behavioral, societal, cultural, and global level. For the millions of Americans who have experienced traumatic events and are still trying to fathom the impact on their lives, The unspeakable mind provides answers and reassurance is also an essential guide for their loved ones. And yet PTSD not only affects us individuals, argues Jain, it also infiltrates our society and culture. A singular work, The unspeakable mind is not only required reading for those who have a personal experience with PTSD, but for everyone who seeks to understand how traumatic stress is an inescapable part of all our lives and the world we live in.