Psychosocial Assistance Without Borders

One part of being scientific-minded means being skeptical and contrarian. So I am going to challenge resiliency on a website so dedicated to Resiliency.

A subtle premise of many unscientific resiliency workshops and trainings is that “Everyone is Resilient.” This myth finds itself in crisis against the real finding that some damage strikes very deep.

Childhood Trauma, the Neurobiology of Adaptation & Use-dependent Development of the Brain is a field-changing article in which Bruce Perry, et. al. argues that our brains (particularly young brains) cannot always be resilient. Brains can be malleable -- adapting to trauma in ways that only make sense in the context of horror. This malleability can account for the inexplicable and sometimes unsavory behavior of people who have been secretly affected by trauma.

The non-scientist (layperson) will enjoy reading paragraphs #2, #3 and then review the “Key Points” at the end of the article.

# posted by Siddharth Ashvin Shah, M.D., M.P.H. @ 9:13 PM