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.