The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma

by Bessel van der Kolk

“I’ve had a very different last few days: I ate when I was hungry, and the rest of the time I did my schoolwork.”

When their serotonin levels rose, many of my patients became less reactive.

The theory that mental illness is caused primarily by chemical imbalances in the brain that can be corrected by specific drugs has become broadly accepted, by the media and the public as well as by the medical profession.

I have come to realize that psychiatric medications have a serious downside, as they may deflect attention from dealing with the underlying issues.

our capacity to destroy one another is matched by our capacity to heal one another.

we have the ability to regulate our own physiology, including some of the so-called involuntary functions of the body and brain, through such basic activities as breathing, moving, and touching;