The Love Trauma Syndrome: Free Yourself from the Pain of a Broken Heart

By Richard B. Rosse

Book Overview

Love is one of the most exhilarating emotions we experience--unfortunately, it is also one of the most painful and sometimes traumatic. The unresolved emotional scars from a broken heart can manifest as a "love trauma syndrome." Until now, a love trauma was thought to precipitate other common psychiatric conditions, such as depression or adjustment disorders, but these generic psychiatric ailments are not adequate for articulating the full and unique character of the condition following love trauma. The Love Trauma Syndrome: Free Yourself from the Pain of a Broken Heart fills the need of patients feeling isolated, ashamed, or alone in their anguish. Dr. Richard Rosse, a psychiatrist with expertise in the area of emotional breakdown, provides a concrete path to help people understand this condition. At times, the syndrome can seriously diminish the sufferer's quality of life, and dramatically impair social, academic, and occupational activities. Dr. Rosse warns that there can also be bouts of severe manifestations, things go horribly wrong. Patients may end up committing suicide. A few become so obsessed by their lost loves that they are driven to stalk, attack, or murder these persons and then ultimately commit suicide. However, most patients suffer alone and in silence without ever resorting to an act of physical violence.Dr. Rosse clearly explains that Love Trauma Syndrome is a clinical disorder of "too much memory" in which the past intrudes upon the present to influence thoughts, feelings, and behaviors to a much greater extent than is expected. It can also be associated with a variety of other behavioral problems: the avoidance of future loving relationships, nervousness, feeling "unreal" or out of place, anger, and sleep disturbances. The book will educate mental health clinicians on how to recognize and treat people with the syndrome, and Dr. Rosse discusses a variety of psychotherapeutic and pharmacological treatment options and their rationale.The Love Trauma Syndrome is the first book to describe the condition and to present a full array of self-help strategies and specific techniques tailored to help those suffering from a love trauma. Designed for both lay and professional audiences, it is the ideal resource for anyone--male or female, young or old, gay or straight--hurt by love to understand what to do to escape the bleak prison of misery.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0738206229
• ISBN13: 9780738206226
• Release Date: October 2001
• Publisher: Balance
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.9" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

The Love Trauma Syndrome

This is the answer that I've been looking for. Knowing the reason for some/all of your symptoms, and knowing others feel as you do is a big help. This book made me feel like I was not alone, and that symptoms are "normal". Suggestions are good, and I'll be trying to follow them. Pain from rejection is like pain I've never felt before, and this reading calmed me.

FINALLY! Somebody gets it!

Dr. Rosse has finally brought forth the most realistic description of what it is like to be betrayed by the one you loved most. He compares the pain and resulting mental and emotional anquish with post-traumatic stress, which is exactly how a broken heart through the discovery of infidelity, abandonment, and the resulting fear and grief manifests. Dr. Rosse gives you the information, validation, and path back to inner peace, so you can work through the trauma with calm and clarity. This is the first book I recommend to anyone who is feeling like they have had their heart ripped out and can barely get through each day without falling apart, or feeling like they are going insane. Kudos to Dr. Rosse. I hope other therapists out there will begin to realized that the pain of a broken heart over a break-up or discovery of an affair is not always something that can be healed with a course in self esteem, healthy food, and exercise - or TIME. With the high rate of marital infidelity and the desensitization that people have developed toward affairs due to the glamorazation of cheating by the media, those who are truly suffering and are at risk for falling into major depression or worse. Every Mental Health professional should read this book to recognize when their client or patient is trapped in this syndrome. LTS is not a trivial condition, as it can be associated with intense emotional distress and social and occupational impairment. The importance of LTS is minimized by both practiced mental health clinicians and the lay public. LTS can be complicated by other psychiatric disorders, such as depression, anxiety, and substance or alcohol abuse. The long duration of some cases of Love Trauma Syndrome demonstrates that sometimes, without treatment, time does not heal all wounds.