Before and After Loss: A Neurologist's Perspective on Loss, Grief, and Our Brain

by Lisa M. Shulman

Overview

An expert neurologist explores how the mind, brain, and body respond and heal after her personal experience with profound loss.

Winner of the Best Book Award (Health: Death & Dying) by American Book Fest

In Before and After Loss, neurologist Dr. Lisa M. Shulman describes a personal story of loss and her journey to understand the science behind the mind-altering experience of grief. Part memoir, part creative nonfiction, part account of scientific discovery, this moving book combines Shulman's perspectives as an expert in brain science and a keen observer of behavior with her experience as a clinician, a caregiver, and a widow. Drawing on the latest studies about grief and its effects, she explains what scientists know about how the mind, brain, and body respond and heal following traumatic loss. She also traces the interface between the experience of profound loss and the search for emotional restoration.

Combining the science of emotional trauma with concrete psychological techniques— including dream interpretation, journaling, mindfulness exercises, and meditation—Shulman's frank and empathetic account will help readers regain their emotional balance by navigating the passage from profound sorrow to healing and growth.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781421426952
Publisher:	Johns Hopkins University Press
Publication date:	12/14/2018
Series:	A Johns Hopkins Press Health Book
Pages:	184
Sales rank:	159,842
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Lisa M. Shulman, MD, is a professor of neurology at the University of Maryland. She is the author or editor of numerous books on neurologic disorders, including Parkinson’s Disease: A Complete Guide for Patients and Families, 3rd edition.

Table of Contents

Preface

I.The Before Life

Chapter 1. But We Will
Chapter 2. We Are Sick
Chapter 3. We Are Dying

II. The After Life

Grief and Loss

Chapter 4. The Altered Life
Chapter 5. The Neurology of Grief
Chapter 6. Dreams and Dream Interpretation
Chapter 7. The Science of the Wounded Mind
Chapter 8. The Science of the Wounded Brain

Healing and Restoration

Chapter 9. Developing Confidence in Managing Grief and Loss
Chapter 10. Journaling as a Tool of Emotional Healing
Chapter 11. Nontraditional and Traditional Therapies: Meditation to Medication
Chapter 12. Emotional Restoration: A Gateway to New Directions

Acknowledgments
Bibliography
Index

What People are Saying About This

"A courageous and formative work. Dr. Shulman's intimate account and search for answers creates a recipe of sensible ingredients honoring the deeply personal experience and transformative power of loss and grief. And she serves it all up with scientific sizzle."

Christine Moutier

"Dr. Shulman has found a way to make the concept of emotional trauma more tangible, explaining the emotional experiences related to loss and healing through neurological physical functions and the psychological purpose each symptom serves. This bravely intimate and scholarly work provides a unique guide for all of us in our healing journeys."

Laurel Goodrick

"The book's combination of storytelling, insights, education, research, and suggested strategies will appeal to a broad audience interested in the science behind grief. Dr. Shulman’s offering advances our understanding of how the brain impacts grief."

Christine Way Lynn

"A masterpiece. This important, richly heartening book will be a tremendous resource for those experiencing loss and grief, as well as those working with people who are experiencing loss and grief."

Myra Christopher

"Before and After Loss is remarkable. Having worked to improve care of those who are seriously ill and dying and their families for four decades, I have never read another manuscript like it. This book will be a touchstone for those who have experienced the loss of a loved one."

Susan Dentzer

"Had Dr. Shulman's book only been an eloquent and moving account of how she approached her husband's death and the grief that followed, it would have been well worth reading. But in taking us deep into the science of grief, she also enlightens us, and normalizes grief as evolution's way of enabling our survival in the face of traumatic loss."

Sameet Kumar

"Dr. Shulman has written a touching and informative memoir about grief. This book manages to balance science with an intimate, compassionate voice that allows easy access to her extensive experience and wisdom. I highly recommend this to people who have lost a loved one and are feeling the confusion and bewilderment that often accompanies loss."

Susan Schneider Williams

"A courageous and formative work. Dr. Shulman's intimate account and search for answers creates a recipe of sensible ingredients honoring the deeply personal experience and transformative power of loss and grief. And she serves it all up with scientific sizzle."

Editorial Reviews

An interesting thought-provoking book, which describes the trauma experienced by the author of losing her husband to cancer and then provides psychological techniques to move forward from sorrow to healing and growth.

Nursing Times

This poetic and insightful, if heartbreaking, memoir from neurologist Lisa M. Shulman stems from her own bereavement of her late husband . . . Combined with the latest scientific studies in traumatic brain injury and holistic approaches to healing, Shulman has created a unique book that touches on all aspects of the process of grieving—the psychological, physiological, and overlap between neurology and psychiatry. Ultimately, Shulman points out that whether brain injury is caused by physical or emotional trauma, it results in similar long-term effects—and also that post-traumatic stress can become post-traumatic growth, with the right tools. In short, it could prove to be an invaluable aid to counselors, psychotherapists, and medical doctors, as well as anyone moving through grief toward wholeness.

Baltimore Magazine - Lauren LaRocca