Donna Jackson Nakazawa

Learn about how our backgrounds and childhood influence who we are!

Hardcover (1 to 2 lbs)

California

How Your Biography Becomes Your Biology, and How You Can Heal

A groundbreaking book showing the link between Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and adult illnesses such as heart disease, autoimmune disease, and cancer--Childhood Disrupted also explains how to cope with these emotional traumas and even heal from them.

Your biography becomes your biology. The emotional trauma we suffer as children not only shapes our emotional lives as adults, it also affects our physical health, longevity, and overall wellbeing. Scientists now know on a bio-chemical level exactly how parents' chronic fights, divorce, death in the family, being bullied or hazed, and growing up with a hypercritical, alcoholic, or mentally ill parent can leave permanent, physical "fingerprints" on our brains.

When we as children encounter sudden or chronic adversity, excessive stress hormones cause powerful changes in the body, altering our body chemistry. The developing immune system and brain react to this chemical barrage by permanently resetting our stress response to "high," which in turn can have a devastating impact on our mental and physical health.

Donna Jackson Nakazawa shares stories from people who have recognized and overcome their adverse experiences, shows why some children are more immune to stress than others, and explains why women are at particular risk. Groundbreaking in its research, inspiring in its clarity, Childhood Disrupted explains how you can reset your biology--and help your loved ones find ways to heal.

Childhood Disrupted

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"A groundbreaking book showing the link between Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and adult illnesses such as heart disease, autoimmune disease, and cancer--Childhood Disrupted also explains how to cope with these emotional traumas and even heal from them. Your biography becomes your biology. The emotional trauma we suffer as children not only shapes our emotional lives as adults, it also affects our physical health, longevity, and overall wellbeing. Scientists now know on a bio-chemical level exactly how parents' chronic fights, divorce, death in the family, being bullied or hazed, and growing up with a hypercritical, alcoholic, or mentally ill parent can leave permanent, physical "fingerprints" on our brains. When we as children encounter sudden or chronic adversity, excessive stress hormones cause powerful changes in the body, altering our body chemistry. The developing immune system and brain react to this chemical barrage by permanently resetting our stress response to "high," which in turn can have a devastating impact on our mental and physical health. Donna Jackson Nakazawa shares stories from people who have recognized and overcome their adverse experiences, shows why some children are more immune to stress than others, and explains why women are at particular risk. Groundbreaking in its research, inspiring in its clarity, Childhood Disrupted explains how you can reset your biology--and help your loved ones find ways to heal"--

My Quest to Awaken the Healing Parts of My Brain and Get Back My Body, My Joy, a Nd My Life

One day Donna Jackson Nakazawa found herself lying on the floor to recover from climbing the stairs. That's when it hit her. She was managing the symptoms of the autoimmune disorders that had plagued her for a decade, but she had lost her joy. As a science journalist, she was curious to know what mind-body strategies might help her. As a wife and mother she was determined to get her life back.

Over the course of one year, Nakazawa researches and tests a variety of therapies including meditation, yoga, and acupuncture to find out what works. But the discovery of a little-known branch of research into Adverse Childhood Experiences causes her to have an epiphany about her illness that not only stuns her--it turns her life around.

Perfect for readers of Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project, Nakazawa shares her unexpected discoveries, amazing improvements, and shows readers how they too can find their own last best cure.

The Last Best Cure

Helping Our Daughters Thrive in an Era of Increased Anxiety, Depression, and Social Media

15 "simple but powerful" (The New York Times Book Review) strategies for raising emotionally healthy girls, based on cutting-edge science that explains the modern pressures that make it so difficult for adolescent girls to thrive

"This is a brave and important book; the challenging stories--both personal and scientific--will make you think, and, hopefully, act."--Bruce D. Perry, MD, PhD, New York Times bestselling co-author of What Happened to You?

ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The Washington Post, Mashable

Anyone caring for girls today knows that our daughters, students, and girls next door are more anxious and more prone to depression and self-harming than ever before. The question that no one has yet been able to credibly answer is Why?

Now we have answers. As award-winning writer Donna Jackson Nakazawa deftly explains in Girls on the Brink, new findings reveal that the crisis facing today's girls is a biologically rooted phenomenon: the earlier onset of puberty mixes badly with the unchecked bloom of social media and cultural misogyny. When this toxic clash occurs during the critical neurodevelopmental window of adolescence, it can alter the female stress-immune response in ways that derail healthy emotional development.

But our new understanding of the biology of modern girlhood yields good news, too. Though puberty is a particularly critical and vulnerable period, it is also a time during which the female adolescent brain is highly flexible and responsive to certain kinds of support and scaffolding. Indeed, we know now that a girl's innate sensitivity to her environment can, with the right conditions, become her superpower. Jackson Nakazawa details the common denominators of such support, shedding new light on the keys to preventing mental health concerns in girls as well as helping those who are already struggling. Drawing on insights from both the latest science and interviews with girls about their adolescent experiences, the author carefully guides adults through fifteen "antidote" strategies to help any teenage girl thrive in the face of stress, including how to nurture the parent-child connection through the rollercoaster of adolescence, core ingredients to building a sense of safety and security for your teenage girl at home, and how to foster the foundations of long-term resilience in our girls so they're ready to face the world.

Neuroprotective and healing, the strategies in Girls on the Brink amount to a new playbook for how we--parents, families, and the human tribe--can secure a healthy emotional inner life for all of our girls.

Girls on the Brink

Douglas Kerr

Hailed by Mark Hyman, MD, as "a ray of light and hope" for autoimmune sufferers, this groundbreaking book provides research and solutions for those affected by autoimmune disorders including Crohn's disease, type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and more.

In the first book of its kind, journalist Donna Jackson Nakazawa examines nearly 100 debilitating autoimmune diseases--such as multiple sclerosis, lupus, Crohn's disease, type 1 diabetes, and rheumatoid arthritis--that cause the body to destroy itself, mistakenly attacking healthy cells as the immune system fights off bacteria, viruses, and other invaders. As Nakazawa share the vivid, heartbreaking stories, including her own, of people living with these mysterious, chronic, and often hard-to-diagnose illnesses, she explores the alarming and unexpected connection between this deadly crisis and the countless environmental triggers we're exposed to every day: heavy metals, toxins, pesticides, viruses, chemicals in the foods we eat, and more.

With the help of leading experts, Nakazawa explores revolutionary preventions, treatments, and cures emerging around the world and offers practical advice for protecting your immune system and reducing your risk of autoimmune disease in the future.

The Autoimmune Epidemic

In perfect, condition except for creasing on the dust cover (see pic). Never read, like new except as noted

Mississippi

A Parent's Guide to Raising Multiracial Children

This psychologically wise guide provides advice for helping ethnically mixed kids develop confidence and an understanding of their uniqueness.

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Donna Jackson Nakazawa

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Donna Jackson Nakazawa

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Donna Jackson Nakazawa

Does Anybody Else Look Like Me?