Resistance

25. Updated July, 2006.

Why do some people develop PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) after trauma and others remain symptom? We're not sure, but researchers are looking into this matter.

The ability to recover from adversity has been called "resilience". It is an important component of mental health. We have long known that some people with stress better than others. Why some Vietnamese veterans for life deactivated while to be other senators of the United States? Why do some adults have grown up in alcoholic families do well, while others repeated problems in life? The feature of "resilience" is shared by those who deal well with stress.

Most studies have examined resilience to respond as adults on the death of a spouse. Studies have shown that many bereaved people have few or no symptoms of mental health and continue to operate normally or almost normally. In most studies, not a minority of people do not develop symptoms.

Resilience after the attack on the World Trade Center

A recent study examined 2,752 residents of New York-area, the Some sample members were in the area at the time of the World Trade Center attack of September 11, 2001, actually in the World Trade Center at the time of the attack, while others to trauma exposed in a less extreme form. Two thirds of the sample had no symptoms of post-traumatic stress or a single symptom. Resilience is the lowest among residents of Staten Iceland (48%) and spouses (39%). Resilience among people with higher risk less frequently, but the frequency of resistance below the third never fallen.

This study adds to our understanding of resilience, but we do not yet have all the factors identified to increase the resistance. The authors of the study suggest that the World Trade Center are many ways to be resilient. Future research could help to recover strongly in the face of future trauma.

Become harder as

We know that social support helps. Maintaining good relationships with friends and family, and they in times of crisis. You can recover more "alone", but faster if you. Assistance in support of people who care about you

Source: Bonanno, George, et. al. "Psychological resilience after disaster in New York after the September 11 terrorist attack" Psychological Science 17th 3 (2006) 181-186.