PTSD Bookclub

In the final months of 2015, my much-beloved partner of eleven years, Jason, was the victim of two brutal attacks. After the second, he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In August 2019, after a failed attempt to check him into a behavioral health crisis center, we realized that our mental health and our relationship weren’t improving. They were eroding, close to collapse.

I am an academic and an investigative journalist. When faced with an existential threat or deep question, I research. I write. I read books. After the failed hospitalization, I took a break from regular journalism (I usually focus on technology and social justice) and challenged myself to learn more about PTSD. In PTSD Bookclub, I share my journey through great books about trauma and its aftermath.

Starting April 2021, I’ll re-read the twelve books that most helped me cope: provided a crucial new insight, made me feel seen and validated, or simply offered hope and courage. I’ll try to read a book a month, posting weekly short reflections on the book’s most resonant contributions, insights drawn from my own experience, interviews and related research. [June 2022 update: I’ve had to take some breaks, slow the pace, and I’ve made some additions, so now it looks like we’ll read 15 books over three years.]

I hope that we’ll develop ways to interact and discuss your experience, too, as the series unfolds.* I know I’m not alone! Eleven million people in the United States are currently diagnosed with PTSD, and at least eleven million more are supporting, loving, and caregiving, accompanying their suffering loved ones the best they can. The worst part of my journey was feeling isolated — like I was the only person in the trauma whirlwind. I hope this project helps you feel a little less alone.

 

THE BOOKS

Fiction

Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse Five [April 2021]

• Slaughterhouse-Five, Part 1: Trauma Time
• Slaughterhouse-Five, Part 2: The Tyranny of Generosity
• The Space between Books: Kurt Vonnegut, Meet Micaiah Johnson
• Slaughterhouse-Five, Part 3: The Blind Innkeeper

Pat Barker, Regeneration [May-June 2021]

• PTSD Bookclub: Introducing *Regeneration*
• Regeneration, Part 2: Non-traums
• Regeneration, Part 3: The Male Mothers of Trauma
• Regeneration, Pt 4: Explosive and Erosive Trauma

Memoir

Mac McClelland, Irritable Hearts: A PTSD Love Story [July 2021]

• PTSD Bookclub: Introducing *Irritable Hearts*
• Irritable Hearts, Part 1: Earning the Diagnosis
• Irritable Hearts, Part 2: The Perplexing Language of PTSD
• Irritable Hearts, Part 3: Find the Thing You Won’t Give Up

Terese Marie Mailhot, Heart Berries [August-September 2021]

• PTSD Bookclub: Introducing *Heart Berries*
• Heart Berries, Part 1: PTSD Mouth
• Heart Berries, Part 2: Loyalty to Monsters

David Morris, The Evil Hours: A Biography of PTSD [November/December 2021/July 2022]

• PTSD Bookclub: Introducing *The Evil Hours*
• The Evil Hours, Pt 1: “the sheer weight of unprocessed dread”
• The Evil Hours, Pr 2: Against Against Trauma
• The Evil Hours, Pt 3: “Exposure, Meds, Yoga (and Why You Should Reconsider Offering Unsolicited Medical Advice)”

Stephanie Foo, What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma [December 2022]

• Apologies! And coming soon: *What My Bones Know*
• What My Bones Know, Pt 1: The keel. The drone The untiring ear.
• What My Bones Know, Pt 2: Intergenerational Trauma and Family Policing

 

Clinical

Shaili Jain, The Unspeakable Mind: Stories of Trauma and Healing from the Frontlines of PTSD Science [Jan/Feb 2023]
Bessel van der Kolk, The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma [Mar/Apr 2023]

Social/Structural

Judith Herman, Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence–From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror [May/Jun 2023]
Resmaa Menakem, My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Healing Our Hearts and Bodies [July/Aug 2023]
David Wood, What Have We Done? The Moral Injury of Our Longest Wars [Sept/Oct 2023]

Care and Caregiving

Kate Washington, Already Toast: Caregiving and Burnout in America [Nov/Dec 2023]
Ai-jen Poo, The Age of Dignity: Preparing for the Elder Boom in a Changing America [Jan/Feb 2024]

Healing and the Future

Zach Norris, We Keep Us Safe: Building Secure, Just, and Inclusive Communities [Mar/Apr 2024]
Staci Haines, The Politics of Trauma: Somatics, Healing, and Social Justice [May/Jun 2024]

 

* While there will be room to talk about the traumas that brought PTSD into our lives, from sexual assault to military service to systemic racism, this space won’t be geared toward peer support or group therapy. There are other great venues for that important work. Check out the Trauma Book Club, the Spouses & Family Members’ PTSD Support Group, or find a PTSD support group through NAMI (the National Alliance on Mental Illness).

If you or anyone you know is in danger or crisis, here is a good list of numbers to call or text or TTY for support: https://autistichoya.net/resources/crisis-resource-list/ (via the indomitable Lydia X. Z. Brown).

If you are a US veteran who needs support, contact the Veterans Crisis Line:

• • 1-800-273-8255, press 1
  • Send a text to 838255
  • Chat online Confidential Veterans Chat