Not doomed: How the right coping mechanisms can save trauma victims from PTSD

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This singular ordeal does not, as is often believed, mean that it is impossible to live, but generally forces people to live in a very different way.

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The ConversationThe Conversation
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https://theconversation.com/not-doomed-how-the-right-coping-mechanisms-can-save-trauma-victims-from-ptsd-198747https://theconversation.com/not-doomed-how-the-right-coping-mechanisms-can-save-trauma-victims-from-ptsd-198747
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Wednesday, April 12, 2023
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People, Trauma, Headache, Depression, DSM-IV codes, Method, Anxiety, Hypervigilance, Psychotherapy, Research, Acute stress disorder, Terrorism, Meta-analysis, Personality disorder, Way, Post-traumatic stress disorder, Risk, Virginia Tech, Meditation, Sleep, Irritability, PTSD, Nursing, Online shopping, Toy, Meat, Risk management
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USA
Summary
Key Points: 
  • This singular ordeal does not, as is often believed, mean that it is impossible to live, but generally forces people to live in a very different way.
  • To describe the mechanisms at work, health psychologists have coined the concept of “coping”, which is closely linked to that of adaptation.

Forms and styles of coping

    • The results revealed that there are two main forms of coping: problem-focused and emotion-focused.
    • Emotion-focused coping refers to the set of efforts to mitigate and cope with the emotional states triggered by the stressful situation.
    • Problem-focused coping and emotion-focused coping are not two perfectly separate processes: in a given situation, one can use either one or the other, or both together.

Emotional coping strongly linked to post-traumatic stress disorder

    • Furthermore, academics have noted victims of violence crime showing symptoms of acute stress disorder for more than one month tend to develop PTSD.
    • The results obtained showed that the type of coping was a factor to be taken into account in order to explain why acute stress disorder does not systematically turn into PTSD.
    • Thus, it appears that trauma victims who adopt an avoidance-oriented coping strategy (or a low-problem-oriented coping strategy) are more likely to develop PTSD over time.
    • Conversely, recent research has shown that problem-focused coping reduces the stress experienced by the individual by eliminating (or mitigating) the stressor.

The importance of the subject’s hold on the situation

    • In controllable situations (or perceived controllable situations) problem-focused coping appears to be more effective than emotion-focused coping, as it is associated with less subsequent distress.
    • Such an effect is reversed in uncontrollable situations, where the subject’s repeated efforts to control the situation are useless and exhausting.

Adopting the most appropriate coping strategy

    • People who are able to use different coping strategies are better able to adapt to life-threatening situations.
    • However, it is important not to leave it at that, and then to find ways of coping with these clinical conditions.
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