Bouncing Back From Hurt: Who Does It Best

Benedict Carey, writing in the NYT Well column, examines our ability to bounce back from pain, all kinds of pain, from the loss of a spouse to a diagnosis of cancer. It turns out, says Carey, that people who have the greatest ability to bounce back from tragedy are those who have had several painful events, but not a great many, and not a life that has been free of pain. Carey cites a study, recently published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, that followed nearly 2,000 adults for several years, monitoring their mental well-being. The participants listed all of the upsetting life events (divorce, the death of a friend or parent, a serious illness, and being in a natural disaster, etc) that they had experienced before entering the study, as well as any new ones. The researchers found that those people in the middle range, –those who suffered from two to six stressful events scored highest on several measures of well-being, and who showed the most resilience in response to recent hits. Carey says the findings suggest that mental toughness is something like the physical strength: It cannot develop without exercise, and it breaks down when overworked.

Read more in the New York Times Well Column.