Article Review: Loss, Trauma, and Human Resilience
The article focuses on the people who are resilient in the face of loss or potentially traumatic events. The articles notes that almost everyone experiences some type of traumatic event at some point of their life, and then notes that some people deal with these problems effectively and experience very little upheaval. Bonanno notes that resilience is generally seen in children and that most of the adult studies deal with individuals who have developed significant psychological problems. Based on this, resilience in adults is often considered as something rare. Bonanno argues against this, stating that resilience is more common than expected and that there are multiple pathways to resilience. The next section of the article describes the difference between resilience and recovery. Bonanno notes that recovery is a process where normal functioning gives way to symptoms of depression as the individual deals with the trauma. Most importantly, these depressive symptoms are not a sign that individual does not have resilience. This is true because resilience does not refer to this process, but to the ability to maintain a stable equilibrium during the process. The article goes on to describe how resilient individuals can exper
The article concludes by arguing that the way that people respond to loss, violence, or life-threatening events needs to be seen more broadly. Bonanno states that it must be understood that resilience is common and something positive, rather than something abnormal. Bonanno also argues that researchers need to accept that there is more than one way to cope with loss or violence and more than one pathway to resilience. Bonanno finishes by stating that researchers need to consider resilience in more detailed in order to understand it fully. The next section of the article moves on to a consideration of what factors in an individual promote resilience. This includes showing that there is not one means of achieving resilience, but that there is more than one pathway. The article then goes on to describe various dimensions that contribute to resilience. The first dimension is hardiness, with Bonanno showing that people with hardiness are better able to cope with stressful situations. The second dimension is self-enhancement, which refers to an individual's tendency to see themselves positively. Bonanno shows that this trait can help individuals to cope with difficult circumstances and adapt to loss. The third dimension is repressive coping, which refers to the process where individuals avoid unpleasant thoughts and memories. Bonanno shows that repressive coping can actually help people to cope in times of extreme trauma. The fourth
Some common words found in the essay are:
, bonanno notes, bonanno argues, section article, individuals resilience, emotions loss, resilience bonanno, resilience common, resilience section article, section article describes, positive emotions loss, display positive, loss violence, individuals display, individuals display positive, article goes describe,
Approximate Word count = 977
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
|