Contrary to previous research, percent of people resilient to major life stressors is 48%, compared to the 81% found previously.
Adam Rifkin stashed this in Stress
Stashed in: Awesome, life, Psychology!, Anxiety, Grit, Mental Health
People are not as naturally resilient as previously thought.
Merely removing the restrictive assumptions applied in previous studies dramatically changed the percentage of people found to be resilient. Using exactly the same database, rates of resilience in the face of unemployment were reported to be 81 percent. With the restrictive assumptions removed, Infurna and Luthar found the rates to be much lower, around 48 percent.
“We used previous research as a basis and analyzed the data based on their specifications,” Infurna explained. “Then we used our own specifications that we feel are more in line with conceptual assumptions and we found contrasting results.”
“The previous research postulated that most people, anywhere from 50 to 70 percent, would show a trajectory characterized by no change. They are largely unperturbed by life’s major events,” Infurna said. “We found that it usually took people much longer, several years, to return to their previous levels of functioning.”
A finding that means giving a person time alone to deal with the stressor might not be the best approach to getting them back to full functionality, Infurna said.
“These are major qualitative shifts in a person’s life and it can have a lasting impact on their lives,” he said. “It provides some evidence that if most people are affected then interventions certainly should be utilized in terms of helping these individuals in response to these events.”
The findings have implications not just for science but for public policy. According to Infurna, sweeping scientific claims that “most people are resilient” carry dangers of blaming the victims (those who do not rebound immediately), and more seriously, suggest that external interventions are not necessary to help people hit by traumatic events.
Among the many variables to consider offered in different posts, this stood out— "It's nice to see that people are becoming more and more open to mental health discussions".
Yes, and I agree. It's good to see more mental health discussions happening.
Can really help some people.
maybe we need to rethink how life goes then
We definitely need to rethink how life goes.
It turns out stress is really bad for most people.
4:38 PM Mar 21 2016