The Unspeakable Mind: Stories of Trauma and Healing from the Frontlines of PTSD Science

“An absorbing and comprehensive account of one of the scourges of our modern age. Anyone suffering from PTSD—or their loved ones—should read this book.” —Sandeep Jauhar, M.D., New York Times–bestselling author of My Father’s Brain

The Unspeakable Mind is the definitive guide for a trauma-burdened age. In these pages, VA psychiatrist, Stanford professor, and prominent trauma scientist Shaili Jain, M.D. shines a long-overdue light on the PTSD epidemic affecting today’s fractured world.

Dr. Jain’s groundbreaking work demonstrates the ways this disorder cuts to the heart of life, interfering with one’s capacity to love, create, and work—incapacity brought on by a complex interplay between biology, genetics, and environment. Beyond the struggles of individuals, PTSD has a tangible imprint on cultures and societies around the world.

In the twenty-first century, there has been enormous growth in the science of PTSD, a body of evidence that continues to grow exponentially. With this new knowledge have come dramatic advances in effective treatment. Jain draws on a decade of her own clinical innovation and research to argue for a paradigm shift in how PTSD should be approached, and highlights the ways care is being transformed to make it more accessible, acceptable, and available to sufferers. By identifying those most vulnerable to developing PTSD, cutting-edge medical interventions that hold the promise of preventing its onset are becoming more of a reality than ever before.

Combining vividly recounted patient stories, interviews with some of the world’s top trauma scientists, and her professional experience on the frontlines, The Unspeakable Mind offers a textured portrait of this invisible illness unrivaled in scope, laying bare PTSD’s roots, inner workings, and paths to healing. It is essential reading for understanding how humans can recover from unspeakable trauma and stands as the definitive guide to PTSD, offering new hope to sufferers, their loved ones, and health care providers.

“[A] comprehensive survey of the state of knowledge concerning PTSD. . . . Jain carefully lays out what can be said with confidence about [PTSD] . . . and what is more speculative . . . Given epidemic anxiety and stress disorders, this is a timely book that will greatly interest those who suffer from [PTSD] as well as family members and medical practitioners.” —Kirkus Reviews

“An engrossing read.” —Irvin Yalom, M.D., Emeritus professor of Psychiatry, Stanford University and bestselling author of The Gift of Therapy

“A thoroughly engaging book about the hardest parts of life presented gently, beautifully, insightfully, and with wisdom.” —Edward Hallowell, M.D., New York Times–bestselling coauthor of Driven to Distraction

© 2023 Harper (Ebook): 9780062469090

Release date

Ebook: 21 November 2023