She also blames PTSD on the person who has it because they 'did not choose, process, or react correctly to the event' while they were being traumatized. She says 'wrong choices cause brain damage.' She cites a study on adolescents with schizophrenia symptoms to claim that if 'we don't help our children and adolescents manage stress, we are potentially causing brain damage,' ignoring her own earlier references to studies showing that the brains of people at high risk for schizophrenia are different from infancy (so their 'brain damage' resulting in schizophrenia is not caused by teenage stress).

In her first chapter, she says that treating depression with antidepressants is 'biblically and scientifically incorrect.' She repeatedly makes the claim that '75 to 98 percent of mental and physical illness comes from one's thought life,' citing references that say no such thing but implying that if anyone struggles with ANY health issue, mental or physical, it is probably their own fault for not thinking better.

If you have a friend who struggles with mental illness, PLEASE DO NOT recommend this book to them. The problem is that it is terrible science combined with terrible theology combined with terrible mental health advice, all wrapped up in terrible writing. This book was recommended to me by someone who thought I would love it because it combines science with Scripture and addresses mental health, all of which are very important to me. I apologize for the lengthy review, but I have never read a book that made me so angry!

Dr caroline leaf switch on your brain