Myths of Trauma: Why Adversity Does Not Necessarily Make Us Sick

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a serious mental disorder, but it is over-diagnosed due to the widening diagnostic criteria and the temptation for clinicians to seize on traumatic events as an explanation for mental disorders. Myths of Trauma is a timely and important book that explores the sensitive, emotional, and often controversial subject of trauma, the difficulties associated with its diagnosis, and the over-diagnosis of PTSD. It teaches us not to think about trauma in isolation or as one thing, but rather as many different things, and that the experiences of trauma deserve a place in clinical practice.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 200 pages
Publication date: 13 December 2022
Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a severe and potentially debilitating mental condition. However, only approximately one in ten individuals exposed to significant traumatic events develop PTSD. Since its inclusion in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) in 1980, the definition of PTSD has been contentious. Various changes to the criteria have gradually broadened the diagnostic criteria, which now include experiences that may not involve direct exposure to trauma, leading to PTSD being overdiagnosed. Clinicians may be tempted to attribute mental disorders to traumatic events in a patient's history, while patients may automatically receive the diagnosis if they have experienced significant trauma in the past.

Myths of Trauma is a timely and essential book that delves into the sensitive, emotional, and often controversial topic of trauma, the challenges associated with its diagnosis, and the overdiagnosis of PTSD. Trauma has become a catch-all for many different types of adverse experiences, when in reality, individuals are remarkably resilient to traumatic events. The book also explores how responses to trauma develop within the context of multiple interwoven risk factors, ranging from genetic vulnerability affecting sensitivity to the environment to past adversities. It examines how trauma has become a political issue that interferes with unbiased scientific study of its effects and how trauma narratives can have a darker side when patients use them to justify feelings of victimhood that interfere with their own agency.

By integrating and analyzing the vast quantities of scientific literature on the topic, Myths of Trauma teaches us not to think about trauma in isolation or as one thing but as many different things. The experiences of trauma deserve a place in clinical practice and research.

Dimension: 210 x 140 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780197615768