In this “deeply original” (Elif Batuman) and “violently funny” (Myriam Gurba) story, a young lawyer finally confronts her dark past so she can live in a more peaceful future. To the outside observer, Vivian is a success story—a dedicated lawyer who advocates for mentally ill patients at a New York City psychiatric hospital. Privately, Vivian contends with the memories and aftereffects of her bad childhood—compounded by the everyday stresses of being a Black Latinx woman in America. She lives in a constant state of hypervigilant awareness that makes even a simple subway ride into a heart-pounding drama. For years, Vivian has self-medicated with a mix of dating, dieting, dark humor and smoking weed with her BFF, Jane. But after a family reunion prompts Vivian to take a bold step, she finds herself alone in new and terrifying ways, without even Jane to confide in, and she starts to unravel. Will she find a way to repair what matters most to her? A debut from a stunning talent, Post-traumatic is a new kind of survivor narrative, featuring a complex heroine who is blazingly, indelibly alive. With razor-sharp prose and mordant wit, Chantal V. Johnson performs an extraordinary feat, delivering a psychologically astute story about the aftermath of trauma that somehow manages to brim with warmth, laughter, and hope.

This volume brings together the leaders in the field of PTSD research to present an up-to-date summary and understanding of this complex disorder. All of our current knowledge and controversies concerning the diagnosis, epidemiology, course, pathophysiology and treatment are described in detail. The evidence for efficacy for each of the different forms of psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy is reviewed. Particular attention is paid to at-risk groups, including minorities, and coverage of PTSD throughout the world is reviewed as well. The authors present state-of-the-art findings in genetics, epigenetics, neurotransmitter function and brain imaging to provide the most current and comprehensive review of this burgeoning field.

This is an all-embracing reference that offers analyses and discussions of contemporary issues in the field of PTSD. The book brings together scientific material from leading experts in the field relating to a wide range of important current topics across disciplines. These include the early identification of PTSD and subsequent treatment, to social and behavioral studies, to biochemical, molecular and genetic research. With more than 125 chapters organized in 12 major sections, this is the most complete single resource on PTSD.

More than 13 million Americans experience Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and one out of 13 adults will develop it in their lifetime. Recent worldwide crises and events including the Iraq war; the September 11th attacks; numerous Columbine-like events; the Catholic Church child molestation scandal; and the Katrina tragedy in New Orleans, continue to present thousands more PTSD cases each year in all age groups. This book helps victims make sense of the events that led to their illness and teaches them how to create a new reality with specific advice and action plans that put them on the road to recovery and long-term healing.

PTSD is in no way an easy diagnosis for the patient, the provider, or the therapist. It is a diagnosis developed at the border of our capacity to handle extreme stress, a marker diagnosis denoting the limits of our capacity for functioning in the stress of this modern world. For both individuals and society, PTSD marks the limits of our available compassion and our capacity to protect ourselves from the dangers of the environment and other humans. PTSD is often a chronic disease, forming at a place where mind sometimes no longer equals the brain, a point at which individual patient requirements often trump theory and belief. There are treatments for PTSD that work, and many that do not. This book presents evidence, rather than theory, anecdote, or case report. Psychological approaches including prolonged exposure, imagery rehearsal therapy and EMDR have a greater than 75% positive short-term response when used to treat PTSD. Yet these treatments vary markedly and have different, even contradictory underlying theory and objectives for treatment. Medications, rarely indicated as primary therapy, can be used to treat symptoms and address comorbid PTSD diagnoses. Treatment of sleep apnea in the PTSD population produces a positive effect on symptoms and a reduction in morbidity and mortality across the span of life. Complementary treatments offer the many individuals chronically affected by PTSD assistance in coping with symptoms and opportunities to attempt to functionally integrate their experience of trauma.

This volume brings together the leaders in the field of PTSD research to present an up-to-date summary and understanding of this complex disorder. All of our current knowledge and controversies concerning the diagnosis, epidemiology, course, pathophysiology and treatment are described in detail. The evidence for efficacy for each of the different forms of psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy is reviewed. Particular attention is paid to at-risk groups, including minorities, and coverage of PTSD throughout the world is reviewed as well. The authors present state-of-the-art findings in genetics, epigenetics, neurotransmitter function and brain imaging to provide the most current and comprehensive review of this burgeoning field.

This work brings together key papers by well known authors on traumatic stress responses and good counselling practice. It covers an extensive range of methods for helping people with PTSD and also focuses on helping the helpers.

There are few clinical problems in the sleep medicine field that are more challenging than the sleep difficulties experienced by individuals suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This book offers a unique, complete resource addressing all the basic concepts and clinical applications in sleep medicine in settings where combat-related PTSD is commonplace. Authored by leading international experts in the field of sleep/military medicine, Sleep and Combat-Related Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is organized in six sections and provides a broad perspective of the field, from the established theories to the most recent developments in research, including the latest neuroscientific perspectives surrounding sleep and PTSD. The result is a full assessment of sleep in relation to combat-related PTSD and a gold standard volume that is the first of its kind. This comprehensive title will be of great interest to a wide range of clinicians -- from academics and clinicians working within or in partnership with the military health care system to veteran hospital physicians and all health personnel who work with war veterans.