Resilience is not a rare gift; it is our default setting
In short: We often view trauma as a permanent scar that leaves people fundamentally broken. However, research suggests the opposite is true. Resilience isn't a heroic exception for the few; it is actually the most common human response to adversity, driven by specific psychological mechanisms rather than just personality traits.
Clinical psychologist George Bonanno has spent over three decades researching how humans respond to highly aversive life events. His work, which includes over a hundred studies, challenges the tidy narrative that trauma permanently alters people. Instead, Bonanno argues that resilience is the standard human outcome when facing significant hardships, ranging from natural disasters and war to the death of a loved one or life-threatening health events. At Columbia University's Teachers College, Bonanno leads the Loss, Trauma, and Emotion Lab. His research covers diverse experiences like physical assault, divorce, and even global disease pandemics. He has been recognized as one of the top one percent most cited scientists globally by the Web of Science.
The shift in understanding moves away from seeing resilience as a rare, innate quality. Instead, recent research focuses on the underlying psychological mechanisms that facilitate these outcomes. A key driver identified in this research is flexible self-regulation. This suggests that the ability to adapt is less about being 'tough' and more about the psychological capacity to manage emotions and responses in a fluid, adaptable way. This research explores how people navigate complex situations like traumatic injury or life-threatening health crises. It seeks to identify the specific factors that predict how individuals process these events. By moving beyond personality, the science looks at the actual processes of human development.
This perspective has significant implications for how we approach mental health and PTSD. By recognizing resilience as the default, the focus shifts toward understanding what enables this adaptation. In 'The End of Trauma' and 'The Other Side of Sadness', Bonanno attempts to reshape current views on grieving and mental healing by focusing on a resilience-based science that examines common ways individuals endure deep tragedy. His work has earned him lifetime achievement awards from several major organizations, including the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. Funding of nearly $3 million was awarded by the National Institute of Mental Health for his research into prolonged grief. These resources support his goal of changing how we think about PTSD.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: The real reason some people adapt faster than others | George Bonanno
- Also: George A. Bonanno | Faculty Profile | Teachers College, Columbia University
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