Customer Reviews

Does Stress Damage the Brain?: Understanding Trauma-Related Disorders from a Neurological Perspective

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THIS IS A "MUST READ". Any one who has suffered a loss, experienced grief, been violated or exposed to violence of self or other will derive comfort, knowledge and a logical explanation for why actions, feelings, thoughts, and ideas occur subsequent to such exposure. With the events of 9/11, that includes every American and much of the world's population who if not directly there in person, will have the images the media replayed time and again burned into their conscious and unconscious minds forever. It furthermore includes victims of childhood abuse no less than combat veterans, hurricane or other natural disaster survivors along with those from any terror, war and conflict.
The answer is that scientifically demonstrated brain changes and hormonal actions do govern behaviours, feelings and actions: NO, you're not crazy for seeing or perceiving things as you do.
The changes are real. You're OK. You're part of a world that isn't as OK or safe as you'd like it to be.

Dr. Bremner puts all of it together in a delightfully readable form sprinkled with annecdotes, metaphors and analogies. He presents serious subject matter and profound insights in a style as fascinating and captivating as science fiction. I bought it for professional purposes and then read it non-stop for pleasure.

I picked this book up in the bookstore because of the title
and once I read the first few pages in the store I was
really hooked. The author tells a couple of different stories
in the book and I can see why one of the reviews talked
about some parts of the book that are somewhat complicated.
The brain stuff about stress is very fascinating, and most
of it is easy to understand (I don't have any more than
a high school background in science.) There were a few difficult
parts but skipping over these did not detract from the fascinating story that the author tells about how people
experience stress, what events like September 11 can do
to people, and what the future holds in terms of understanding
how to deal with stress and treat it. The author includes
in the book an excerpt from his family history detailing
some very traumatic events and I wish that he had written
more about that. Still, a short but provocative book that helps
to put many issues regarding trauma into a perspective
that is new.

I just presented a couple of Power Point presentations in two University classes on PTSD. Though I didn't reference his journal production or his books, I find that reading this book pulled many things together after doing the above. He is at Emory now, going there from Yale.
The hardback could have used some editing. He repeats himself almost verbatim many times, which might help somebody who just picks into stray chapters.

Anyway, you might want to check out a PPT he presented March 2007.

http://braininstitute.vanderbilt.edu/Vanderbilt_March07_BremnerLecture.ppt

He frequently studies how trauma affects brain structures.