Description
Book SynopsisDespite the fact that we have been studying posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) since at least the late 1800s, it remains prevalent and, in many cases intractable. Merleau-Ponty and a Phenomenology of PTSD: Hidden Ghosts of Traumatic Memory begins with the assertion that we struggle to successfully treat PTSD because we simply do not understand it well enough.Using the phenomenological approach of Maurice Merleau-Ponty which focuses on the first-person, lived experience of the trauma victim Merleau-Ponty and a Phenomenology of PTSD: Hidden Ghosts of Traumatic Memory focuses on reframing our understanding of combat trauma in two fundamental ways. First, the concepts of embodiment and adaptation give us an understanding of the human being as fundamentally adaptive. This allows us to view traumatic responses as adaptive as well. When the roots of traumatic injury become reframed in this way, combat-related PTSD can be understood more accurately as a set of symptoms borne of strength an
Trade ReviewWeaving together insights from neuroscience, psychology, and Merleau-Ponty's phenomenology, MaryCatherine McDonald has written a groundbreaking analysis of human trauma. Her writing is consistently crisp and clear and rich with concrete examples. This is a wholly original work that will be a valuable resource in trauma studies for years to come. -- Kevin Aho, Professor of Philosophy, Florida Gulf Coast University
Table of ContentsPrologue Chapter One – From Hysteria to PTSD: Tracing the Roots of Trauma Chapter Two – They Carry it With Them: Phenomenologies of Traumatic Memory Chapter Three – Rethinking the Roots of Trauma: A Phenomenology of Adaptation Chapter Four – Trauma and the Troubled Mind: Narrative Healing, Narrative Harming Chapter Five – Haunted by a Different Ghost Epilogue
