The End of Trauma

July 23, 2021

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is commonly known as a condition that develops in some people who experience a shocking, scary, or dangerous event. Bonanno (psychology, Teacher's Coll., Columbia Univ.) has spent over 15 years researching the new "science" of resiliency in people who have experienced traumatic events. In this work, Bonanno asserts that people are generally more resilient than is commonly believed, and that the rate of PTSD among those who experience traumatic events is in fact much lower than widely thought, because of the natural, innate ability of most people to strategize their own recoveries. His research is brilliantly presented through the personal stories of his interview subjects and comes alive through the lenses of personal experience, as people explain their feelings of stress and worry, hope, and optimism in their own words. Bonanno's writing is accessible, and the book helpfully uses charts to help relay the meaning of some of the more extensive data. Readers will be drawn into this research without their even knowing it. VERDICT A necessary and important addition to the literature of adaptation to stress; it belongs in the collections of every academic library. Highly recommended.--Steve Dixon, State Univ. of New York, Delhi

Copyright 2021 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 13, 2021
Bonanno (The Other Side of Sadness), director of the Loss, Trauma, and Emotion Lab at Teachers College, proposes a new way to look at trauma in this hopeful examination. Arguing against the popular notion that “traumatic stress inevitably produces lasting trauma and PTSD,” he instead posits that most people go through traumatic events without developing any long-lasting negative consequences—in other words, that people are more resilient than the general consensus considers. He further proposes that a “flexibility mindset” (“a conviction that we will be able to adapt ourselves to the challenge at hand”) can explain why two-thirds of people who go through traumatic events eventually recover instead of developing PTSD. Bonanno masterfully conveys his extensive research on 9/11 survivors, and on people who suffered severe spinal cord injuries yet who didn’t experience long-term traumatic effects. His resilience model is provocative, and Bonanno urges that there’s “no single best way to cope” and calls for professionals to “adjust our behavior to fit whatever the situation is calling for, and... make sure whatever we are doing is working.” Bold and accessible, this offers much to consider. Agent: Jim Levine, LGR.