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The Body Keeps the Score

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The Body Keeps the Score
Cover featuring Henri Matisse's Icarus
AuthorBessel van der Kolk
Original titleThe Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma
PublisherViking Press
Publication date
September 25, 2014
Pages464
ISBN978-0-670-78593-3
OCLC861478952
616.85/21206
LC ClassRC552.P67 V358 2014

The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma is a 2014 book by Bessel van der Kolk about the purported effects of psychological trauma.[1][2] The book describes van der Kolk's research and experiences on how people are affected by traumatic stress, including its effects on the mind and body.

The Body Keeps the Score has been published in 43 languages.[3] As of July 2021, it had spent more than 141 weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List for nonfiction, 27 of them in the No. 1 position.[4]

Though the book was generally well-received,[2][5] some scientists have criticized the book for promoting pseudoscientific claims.[6][7][8]

Publication history

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The book is based on van der Kolk’s 1994 Harvard Review of Psychiatry article "The body keeps the score: memory and the evolving psychobiology of posttraumatic stress".[9][10]

Overview

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In the book, van der Kolk focuses on the central role of the attachment system and social environment to protect against developing trauma related disorders. Where trauma does occur, he discusses the effects[1] and possible forms of healing, including a large variety of interventions to recover from the impacts of traumatic experiences.[11] These include EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing), yoga, and limbic system therapy.[12]

Reception

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Positive

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The Body Keeps the Score was well-received, including a starred review from Library Journal.[5] Reviewing the book for New Scientist magazine, Shaoni Bhattacharya wrote that "[p]acked with science and human stories, the book is an intense read that can get technical. Stay with it, though: van der Kolk has a lot to say, and the struggle and resilience of his patients is very moving."[2]

In 2024, India Ross of Financial Times article reported that, "In recent years, [van der Kolk's] 2014 masterwork The Body Keeps the Score has become an improbable sensation. Buoyed by a groundswell of popular interest in trauma and psychology in the wake of the pandemic, the dense, scientifically rigorous text has become a latent, runaway success, spending nearly 300 weeks on The New York Times bestseller list."[13]

Negative

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Some scientists have criticized the book for promoting pseudoscientific claims. Martin Kristen of The Washington Post described the book in 2023 as promoting "uncertain science", such as mirror neurons, the polyvagal theory, and the triune brain model.[8]

A 2023 editorial published in Research on Social Work Practice criticized the book for promoting treatments that have limited to no evidence. It states that van der Kolk and Levine "regularly ignore, misrepresent, and sometimes veer into or close to pseudoscience when it comes to the scientific knowledge base of PTSD treatment".[7] In 2024, Peter Barglow, writing for the Skeptical Inquirer, called the book "scientifically weak, misleading, flawed, and at times deceptive". He criticized it for endorsing controversial treatments, including EMDR and emotional freedom technique.[14]

In a 2024 Mother Jones article, author and journalist Emi Nietfeld criticized the book, claiming the book "stigmatizes survivors, blames victims, and depoliticizes violence."[15] She reached out to multiple researchers of the original research the book cites for comments. These researchers reportedly stated that the book distorted their research. Nietfeld wrote that the evidence the book presents regarding how trauma is "remembered" by the body was weak. She also believed book lacked considerations for broader social and political factors of violence and trauma.[15]

Sales

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In 2019, The Body Keeps the Score was ranked second in the science category of The New York Times Best Seller list.[16] As of July 2021, the book had spent more than 141 weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List for nonfiction, with 27 of those weeks spent in the No. 1 position.[4] By the end of October 2023, The Body Keeps the Score had spent 153 weeks (nearly 3 years) on Amazon’s bestseller list.[17]

References

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  1. ^ a b "The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk, M.D." PenguinRandomhouse.com. Retrieved April 2, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c Bhattacharya, Shaoni (November 5, 2014). "The lifelong cost of burying our traumatic experiences". New Scientist. Retrieved April 2, 2023.
  3. ^ "The Body Keeps The Score". Bessel van der Kolk, MD. Retrieved April 2, 2023.
  4. ^ a b Egan, Elisabeth (July 8, 2021). "Does a Writer Ever Get Cozy on the Best-Seller List? Bessel van der Kolk Says No". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on July 11, 2021.
  5. ^ a b "The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma". Book Verdict. October 1, 2014. Retrieved April 2, 2023.
  6. ^ McNally, Richard J (November 2005). "Debunking Myths about Trauma and Memory". The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry. 50 (13): 817–822. doi:10.1177/070674370505001302. ISSN 0706-7437.
  7. ^ a b Cox, Keith S.; Codd, R. Trent (2023). "Advocates of Research-Supported Treatments for PTSD are Losing in Lots of Ways: What Are We Going to Do About It?". Research on Social Work Practice. 34 (4): 347–359. doi:10.1177/10497315231206754. ISSN 1049-7315.
  8. ^ a b Martin, Kristen (2023-08-06). "'The Body Keeps the Score' offers uncertain science in the name of self-help. It's not alone". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2024-06-07.
  9. ^ Carr, Danielle (31 July 2023). "Tell Me Why It Hurts: How Bessel van der Kolk's once controversial theory of trauma became the dominant way we make sense of our lives". Intelligencer. New York: New York Media. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
  10. ^ Rodrigues, Ashwin (2 August 2023). "The Author of The Body Keeps the Score Is "Puzzled" By Its Popularity". GQ. New York: Condé Nast Inc. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
  11. ^ Treleaven, Sarah (January 30, 2020). "What Developmental Trauma Disorder Looks Like in Kids". Today's Parent. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
  12. ^ Interlandi, Jeneen (May 22, 2014). "A Revolutionary Approach to Treating PTSD". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on May 25, 2014.
  13. ^ "Psychiatrist Bessel van der Kolk: 'When trauma becomes your identity, that's a dangerous thing'". www.ft.com.
  14. ^ Barglow, Peter (September–October 2024). "Trauma Here, Trauma There, Trauma, Trauma Everywhere!". Skeptical Inquirer. Archived from the original on 2024-08-23. Retrieved 2025-01-05.
  15. ^ a b Nietfeld, Emi. "What the most famous book about trauma gets wrong". Mother Jones. Retrieved 2025-01-01.
  16. ^ "Science Books - Best Sellers - The New York Times". The New York Times. September 2019. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 12, 2019.
  17. ^ "Most Sold Nonfiction | Amazon Charts". Amazon. October 30, 2023. Archived from the original on 2023-10-30.
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