The Trouble with Trauma

by Michael S. Scheeringa

Dr. Scheeringa questions the long-term physical effects of complex trauma and how we humans choose to ignore scientific evidence and practice self-deception based on heuristics for survival.
The Trouble with Trauma is the story of how the idea of psychological trauma appeals to the human mind. Trauma impacts many people psychologically, but the evidence on the long-term physical effect is incomplete. Theories that psychological trauma can permanently damage your brain, cause physical disease, and change your essential character have become staples of human thought worldwide.

Dr. Scheeringa explains how those theories are widely believed whilst not being true, and at the heart of the story is an explanation of how humans choose to ignore scientific evidence and practice self-deception based on heuristics for survival. Heuristics is a rapid and efficient method to make judgments about threatening situations, which may be especially relevant during an epidemic and the spread of misinformation.

But The Trouble with Trauma is more than a critique of social policy. This is a book for anyone who wants a better understanding on how groupthink and herd mentality works and improves our ability to understand scientific fact. Dr. Scheeringa sheds light on why we choose to ignore scientific evidence while engaging the reader in a lively conversation on how we come to believe.

Genres: Psychiatry

236 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 8, 2022

Reviews

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is torn between two theses. Ostensibly it is about Trauma, but the trauma debate is just a vehicle for the bigger quest - looking at how beliefs are formed and propagated. He uses social Psychology to get at that. As for the trauma aspect, it comes down to this. He thinks trauma, as a concept, has been broadened too far away from the original PTSD diagnosis. But he really takes issue with the claim that complex PTSD has not been proven because it only uses cross-sectional studies. This is where a person is looked at after they display PTSD symptoms to find correlations as opposed to taking a sample population at random and then tracking them longitudinally. If that's true then he makes a great point. Unfortunately, since the other focus of the book - how beliefs are propagated - takes a front seat, he doesn't go far enough into analyzing the debates for and against complex PTSD. He also does not delve into the ramifications of the diagnosis other than to point out that it has spawned quite a few governmental responses. And even there he does not elaborate enough to show how "troubling" that is.

If you read the book with an eye toward seeing how beliefs become facts it will seem just okay. Meh. If you read it for the trauma debate you will feel let down. It will seem incomplete.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scheeringa does a good job of casting doubt on van der Kolk (The Body Keeps the Score), Herman (Complex PTSD), and the NST (neurotoxic stress theory) proponents that ascert trauma fundamentally changes the body (brain, mainly) permanently through "toxic" stress. His DST (diathesis stress theory) theory, supported by "evidence," attempts to explain mental problems as a consequence of a predispositional vulnerability (diathesis) and stressful life experience. However, Scheeringa falls into the ditch on the other side, putting far too much responsibility for moral behavior on genetics. Both NST & DST are reductuonistic compared to the comprehensive biblical perspective of human nature and thriving.

[Stephanie Erwin · Rating 2 out of 5]

The informational sections regarding trauma were excellent and exactly what I was hoping to get from the book based on the title. Unfortunately, about half the book (maybe more) is about various theories and frameworks for understanding generally how false beliefs can become widespread. While some of this was interesting, most of it felt unhelpful at best. I particularly didn't like the many sections in which the author seemed to assign bad motives to those he disagrees with. He might be right, but we can't prove bad motives so it would have been best to focus on the evidence. I've been looking for a book to share with people to demonstrate why much of the trauma discourse is not evidence-based. Because this book focuses so much on things beyond the evidence, this won't be the one.

[Matthew Loftus · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is another one of those books that brings up critical issues in a clumsy way. It desperately needed better editing. Scheeringa is an expert in his field and discusses some really important flaws in the current popular ideas about trauma, CPTSD, toxic stress, and Adverse Childhood Events. But the writing is incredibly repetitive and veers way too often into psychoanalyzing his opponents. Some statements are far too broad to be taken seriously; other times the inside-baseball of "here's what I wrote in an email ten years ago" is just inappropriate. We did not need a full recap of the Madoff Ponzi scheme. Hopefully others will take this information, synthesize it with other accounts, and produce a better book in the future.

[Abbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thought provoking and interesting. A person may be convinced his beliefs are true, but he may also be completely wrong. Our beliefs/memories are often self-biased. And science isn’t always science. I do disagree with Scheeringa’s evolutionary framework and emphasis on ancestral clans. Yet, this book affirms that we need an absolute truth outside of ourselves and that people are much more than the trauma they’ve experienced.
(I listened to the audiobook.)

[Frank · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was written from a psychological perspective. The author fully embraces evolution, and that worldview permeates his writing and makes for some interesting logical inconsistencies. What he does well is expose the baseless claims of those who say that trauma causes physical damage to neurons. He also exposes the lack of evidence for complex-PTSD, and demonstrates the push to embrace such a diagnosis is motivated by activism, rather than science.

[Cal Davie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic. Trauma has become such a widespread term, and a big business that it is skewing dialogue on an array of issues. The obsession with "trauma" often detracts from helpful treatment individuals need, this book details how we've got to where we are with trauma mis-information. Very captivating and well argued.

[John Gould · Rating 5 out of 5]

A true skeptic in the spirit of Socrates

Michael Scheeringa brilliantly exposes the flaws in trauma-informed therapy, and provides a roadmap of how to detect and combat psychological Ponzi schemes.

[Beebee Pomegranate · Rating 5 out of 5]

The new holy bible for people getting over themselves.