Everyday trauma Remapping the brain's response to stress, anxiety, and painful memories for a better life

Tracey Shors

Book - 2021

"A neuroscientist explores how trauma impacts the brain, especially for women-and how we can learn to heal ourselves Everyone experiences trauma. Whether a specific harrowing event or a series of stressful moments that culminate over time, trauma can echo and etch itself into our brain as we remember it again and again throughout our lives. In Everyday Trauma, neuroscientist Dr. Tracey Shors examines trauma with a focus on its pervasive nature-how it can happen at any time, through big or small events, and how it often reappears in the form of encoded memory. Her research reveals that when we are reminded of our trauma, reliving that tragic moment copies yet another memory of it in our brain, making it that much more difficult to forge...t. Dr. Shors also explores the neuroscience behind why women in particular are more vulnerable to stress and traumatic events, setting them up to be three times more likely than men to suffer PTSD. With potential long-term consequences such as addiction, anxiety, depression, and PTSD, trauma can have a lasting impact on both the brain and body. Dr. Shors illuminates the effective tools that can reduce the repetitive thoughts that reinforce our traumas, including cognitive-based therapies and trauma-informed care such as her own groundbreaking program, a combination of mental and physical training called MAP Training. By understanding how our brain responds to trauma and practicing proven techniques that can train our brains and help us let go of our tragic memories-whatever they may be-we are better equipped to leave our traumatic pasts behind and live in a brighter present"--

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Subjects
Published
New York, NY : Flatiron Books 2021.
Language
English
Main Author
Tracey Shors (author)
Edition
First edition
Physical Description
x, 193 pages ; 25 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 169-185) and index.
ISBN
9781250247001
  • Prologue
  • Part I. The Stories of Our Lives
  • 1. Life's Traumas-Both Large and Small
  • 2. How Stress and Trauma Change Our Lives
  • 3. The Two Forms of Everyday Trauma
  • Part II. From Thoughts to Memories to Feelings
  • 4. Ruminations: Thoughts That Get Stuck in Our Brains
  • 5. The Brain Is Always Learning
  • 6. Women and Their Changing Brains
  • 7. Everyday Neurons for Everyday Life
  • Part III. Preparing Our Brains for Everyday Trauma
  • 8. Therapies for Stress and Trauma
  • 9. MAP Train My Brain: A "Mental and Physical" Training Program
  • 10. Why We Should Train Our Brains
  • 11. Living with Traumas: Past, Present, and Future
  • Acknowledgments
  • Notes
  • Index
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

"With a bit of effort and insight" it's possible to train one's brain to overcome trauma, according to neuroscientist Shors in her intriguing if somewhat out-of-touch debut. She writes that "our brains are designed to create stories... and often the stories we repeat are of our everyday traumas," and by bolstering the brain's ability to cope with those traumas, people--and women in particular--will find more well-being. To that end, she presents her "brain fitness program," a combination of meditation and exercise to help the brain cope "with problems that are already present but also... those that are yet to come." The program consists of a 12-item questionnaire, 30 minutes of meditation (20 minutes sitting and 10 minutes walking), followed by 30 minutes of aerobic exercise--the combination, she writes, is key. Shors's research is impressive, and she effectively explains the complicated relationship between trauma and memory. But while she claims her method is intended to be usable by people "regardless of income or gender or race or age," her instructions don't take into account one's specific abilities, needs, or amounts of free time, making the argument feel thin. It's a fine introduction to the workings of trauma, though the program isn't applicable to all. (Dec.)

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