Search over 1.4 million articles by over 600 experts
  1. Home
  2. Health
  3. Mental Health

More from About.com

Browse Topics A-Z

Mental Health Blog

From About.com

Resilience

Wednesday July 26, 2006
©Jupiter MediaWhy do some people develop post-traumatic stress disorder after a trauma and others remain symptom free? We are still trying to understand resilience, one characteristic of good mental health.

Researchers studying survivors of the September 11, 2001 World Trade Center attack have been surprised to find many of them to be free of PTSD symptoms. Resilience was less common among people who were actually in the buildings or in the immediate area, but the researchers report that even for "highly exposed individuals" the frequency of resilience never fell below one third.

Read more about resilience and the World Trade Center research.

Comments

July 26, 2006 at 8:42 am
(1) Kimberly Schneider says:

I think this is an interesting perspective. I was diagnosed with PTSD in 1990. I can say from my perspective that I may have developed resilience as a result of the struggle with my symptoms of this disorder. The research on this subject peaks my interest as to whether or not resilience is an innate or learned trait.

July 26, 2006 at 9:52 pm
(2) mentalhealth says:

That’s a good question. At the very extreme end I think that poor resilience can be either innate or learned (or both). Growing up in an extremely abusive home seems to make people more vulnerable to PTSD from later adult trauma. On the other hand, some people are resilient even though they come from such a home. Maybe that’s the innate variety.

Leave a Comment

Line and paragraph breaks are automatic. Some HTML allowed: <a href="" title="">, <b>, <i>, <strike>

  1. Home
  2. Health
  3. Mental Health

©2008 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company.

All rights reserved.