Early Trauma, Loneliness, the Indoctrinated Self, and the Need for Compassionate Empathy

This book focuses on some of the detrimental effects of early trauma by detailing the particular outcomes of loneliness and heightened vulnerability to indoctrination. These stress states are present at virtually pandemic levels. In terms of loneliness, the author goes well beyond the mental health consequences, outlining the numerous medical conditions it may lead to such as heart disease, immune system problems, and many others. Indoctrination processes are present in all walks of life – no one is immune. In extreme states of indoctrination, such as in fundamentalism, violence may be the result as we have seen with many wars and acts of terrorism. Overall, efforts to indoctrinate often play a huge role in forming our divided world.Two notions in this book are unique – the focus on environmental sensitivity as a critical force in determining levels of vulnerability to stressful events and the emphasis on compassionate empathy to repair unmet needs stemming from trauma.