Ego Resilience As A Protective Factor

The article, Unbroken: what makes some people more resilient than others, uses the example of Louis Zamperini as shown in the movie, Unbroken, to examine the role of resilience in the ability to recover after a traumatic event. Written by David Cox for The Guardian, the article discusses current research on resilience, and explains how it can be used to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Many people experience a severe trauma in their lives, but only a few go on to develop PTSD. For a long time, the focus has been on what makes people more susceptible to developing PTSD. A newer approach to studying stress disorders, as the article establishes, is the study of resilience. Using the example of Louis Zamperini, the article describes an interdisciplinary approach to studying resilience including biological, social, and lifestyle factors.

Larry Watson suggests that traumatic experiences transform children into adults, and that disturbing experiences lead to changes of mind, growth in morals, and an emerging sense of adulthood.

However, the argument that exposure to traumatic event can always result in mental health problems has become controversial because it can stigmatize those who do not believe they have been affected in an adverse manner. Fortunately, only a small percentage of people experience severe enough lose or trauma reactions to meet the criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder (American Psychiatric Association, 2000), and most people appear to fully recover from any adverse effect within a relatively short period of time, and to successfully overcome potentially traumatic events with little or no disruption in their normal ability to function (Shalev, 2002). Therefore, it is important to note that “the emergence of interest in the concept of resilience comes at the peak of success of the concept of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), serving as a reminder that

Trauma can be defined as an event or experience that hinders an individual’s ability to cope (Covington, 2008). These experiences have the power to alter biology and brain function, especially earlier on in life. Trauma can change an individual’s world-view, impacting their sense of self. This can lead to difficulties with self-regulation and higher incidences of impulsive behavior (Markoff et al., 2005). Often, individuals who have endured traumatic incidences turn to self-medication as a form of coping (De Bellis, 2002).

The term “Psychological trauma” refers to damage wrought from a traumatic event, which that damages one’s ability to cope with stressors. “Trauma” is commonly defined as an exposure to a situation in which a person is confronted with an event that involves actual or threatened death or serious injury, or a threat to self or others’ physical well-being (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). Specific types of client trauma frequently encountered by which therapists and other mental health workers frequently encounter in a clinical setting include sexual abuse, physical , or sexual assault, natural disasters such as earthquakes or tsunamis, domestic violence, and school or/and work related violence (James & Gilliland, 2001). Traumatic

“Resilience: The Biology of Stress and Science of Hope” (2016), is a documentary corelating adverse childhood events (ACE) and chronic medical condition like heart disease and diabetes (Resilience trailer, 2016). Childhood trauma and toxic stress changes a person physically and emotionally (Lee, 2016). On November 29, 2017, I had the pleasure of attending a showing of the film ‘Resilience’ and the panel discussion which followed. The panel consisted of five community leaders discussing the impact of ACEs and the work being done to address the problem. The panel included: Joan Caley MS, ARNP-CNS, CNL, NEA, BC of ACES Action Coalition, Jill McGillis of Clark County Juvenile Justice, Michelle Welton outreach manager for Catholic Charities Refugee Services Program Support, Jonathan Weedman CCTP, LPC the director of operations population health partnerships for Care Oregon, and Sandy Mathenson EdD director of social –emotional learning for Battle Ground Public Schools. The speakers received about fifteen minutes to discuss their respective work and agencies. In this brief review, I will summarize the discussion and deliberate the effectiveness of the presentation method.

Also, like adults, they can recover just as easily with therapy sessions and techniques. This is just a preview of what kind of research is being done in order to combat this issue with adolescents that have PTSD. The next step into the paper is to show if children are more resilient than adults or how does PTSD affect the development of children’s mental and physical

The core-concept of an individual is largely influenced by one’s ability to regulate internal emotional states and one’s behavioral reactions to external stress. Children who experience trauma have difficulty managing their emotional states thus leading to poor perceptions of themselves. A distorted sense of self can potentially lead to loss of autobiographical memories, poor body image, and disturbances in sense of separateness in which the person may appear detached and distant (Carr, 2012). It may also lead to difficulty with impulse control which includes aggression

The pervasiveness of these correlations is high and suggesting childhood trauma could play a major role in the psychological health of a person later in adulthood, and there have many studies which have been conducted that could support these theories.

Trauma is very complex and varied in its nature. Traumatic events include child abuse, neglect and maltreatment. Wamser‐Nanney & Vandenberg (2013) found that one of the more harmful types of trauma is the abuse is committed intentionally. This directly impacts the victim 's safety and sense of trust. The devastating effects of this type of trauma is the way in which it impacts not only the survivors, but also future generations, and the ability they have to form attachments (Connolly, 2011).

The authors aim to identify the mental and physical risks in late adult life that has been negatively influenced by childhood trauma. There are two purposes of this literature review. Results can help develop support or intervention strategies that foster resilience throughout the life course by investigating the correlation childhood trauma has on older adults’ well being (Maschi et. al., 2013, p. 62). Another purpose is to address the gap in literature that examines the influence traumatic events has on later life health.

Dr. Ruth Lanius’s psychology talk, “Seeing the Invisible, Why you can't just get over psychological trauma,” provided an insight of her research and her interpretations of why trauma affects people individually and differently. Dr. Ruth Lanius’s research involves The Ace study. It’s a study that is using neuroimaging on invisible injuries and making them visible. With this processes she's able to see traumas in her patients with an inner perspective. The goal of this study is to reduce stigmas, educaticate and begin early intervention. Another key thing that Dr. Ruth Lanius focused on was trauma disorders that affects an individual response. For example, childhood traumas and witnessing or enduring domestic abuse, can affect an individual's

There are many types of trauma that can effect an adolescent and without the proper treatment of the traumatic event the adolescent can have difficulty adapting and developing into adulthood. Kathleen J. Moroz, of the Vermont Agency of Human Services, defines trauma as a physical or psychological threat or assault to a child’s physical integrity, sense of self, safety of survival or to the physical safety of another person significant to the child. She goes on to list the types of trauma a child may be exposed to. Abuse of every kind, domestic violence, natural disasters, abandonment, serious illness or an accident are just a few traumatic events that can effect the development of a child. (2) When these events occur as an acute event

Judith Lewis Herman’s Trauma and Recovery provides not only greater understanding of how a traumatic event may defined but also the ways in which the effects of the experience may have a significantly repressing effect on the present and future self. Traumatic events are impressing on the self because they overwhelm the conventional emotional and physical perceptions that humanity has adjusted and modified their selves to. As traumatic events generally involve threats to the emotional and physical self, they differ from common misfortunes as they confront the victim with the feeling of extreme terror and helplessness that in result causes the individual to perceive the experience as one that was out of their control. As Herman reiterates, according to the Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry, “The common denominator of psychological trauma is a feeling of “intense fear, helplessness, loss of control, and threat of annihilation” (Herman 104). However, it is the response to the traumatic event in the emotional or conscious self that may differ from one another as there are three differing reactions to the terror factor of trauma: hyper-arousal, intrusion, and disconnection. Throughout this essay the work of Judith Lewis Herman’s Trauma and Recovery as well as Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower will be utilized to illustrated the compromising effects a traumatic experience such as childhood sexual abuse may have on the development of a young teen and the ways in

This study was done in 2013 by Diann S. Eley, C. Robert Cloninger, Luci Walters, Caroline Laurence, Robyn Synnott and David Wilkinson. All of the researchers were based out of Australia except for Robert Cloninger who attended Washington University. The research study wanted to find out how a physicians personality either impair or promote resilience which is extremely important in their care of patients.