Damaged
Childhood Trauma, Adult Illness, and the Need for a Health Care Revolution
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- 19,99 €
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- 19,99 €
Publisher Description
Childhood adversity that is severe enough to be harmful throughout life is one of the biggest public health issues of our time, yet health care systems struggle to even acknowledge the problem. In Damaged, Dr. Robert Maunder and Dr. Jonathan Hunter call for a radical change, arguing that the medical system needs to be not only more compassionate but more effective at recognizing that trauma impacts everybody's health, from patient to practitioner.
Drawing on decades of experience providing psychiatric care, Maunder and Hunter offer an open and honest window into the private world of psychotherapy. At the heart of the book is the painful yet inspiring story of Maunder's career-long work with a patient named Isaac. In unfiltered accounts of their therapy sessions, we see the many ways in which childhood trauma harms Isaac's health for the rest of his life. We also see how deeply patients can affect the doctors who care for them, and how the caring collegiality between doctors can significantly improve the medicine they practice.
Damaged makes it clear that human relationships are at the core of medicine, and that a revolution in health care must start with the development of safe, respectful, and caring relationships between doctors and patients. It serves as a strong reminder that the way we care for those who suffer most reveals who we are as a society.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Childhood trauma is "one of the biggest public health issues of our time, and yet health care systems are ill-equipped to even acknowledge" it, argue psychiatrists Maunder and Hunter in this vivid appeal (after Love, Fear, and Health). At the center of their story is Isaac, a patient whose life exemplifies the connection between childhood adversity and chronic disease. As a child, Isaac was abused and neglected by his parents and sexually abused by a neighbor; since his youth, he has suffered from chronic disease. Readers get an up-close look at Isaac's therapy sessions, starting with his first at age 45, ostensibly for help coping with the stress of his Crohn's disease. The authors trace the highs and lows of his healing as he recounts his abuse, and along the way they call for a "care revolution" that supports "strong children instead of trying to fix broken adults," and advocate for the CARE method of dealing with trauma (which stands for consent, asking, reflection, and engagement) and for medical students receiving better education about trauma. It's not for the faint of heart—many events from Isaac's past can be hard to read. But those who persist will find much to consider.
