Psychological Hardiness In Disaster Response Gary L. Patton, Ph.D., LPC

What we know about the human brain:  The brain abhors discrepancy.  The brain loves patterns.  The brain is adaptive.  The brain has a compulsion for repetition.  The brain has a bias toward negativity.  The brain does not reproduce events. It reconstructs them.

Violation of Expectation  Studies with infants have shown that the human brain can develop expectations based on repeated exposure to a stimulus  The human brain also has an innate tendency to “make sense out of” or determine how realistic an event is

Violate of Expectation – (cont’d)  When the brain sees alterations (violations) of these events and determines that it is not likely, it has a hard time of being distracted (cannot let go of it)  The results of this are so severe that children have been noted to demonstrate apathy and depression.

Violation of Expectation – (cont’d)  In essence, it is like the brain eventually “gives up” trying to make sense out of something that it cannot find reason and meaning in.

The Repetition Compulsion Why does the human brain keep returning to distressing events? (even when they say it doesn’t)  The repetition compulsion is the unconscious compulsion to repeat events or relationships in the past that were painful or traumatic, in the hope that they will come out differently this time.

Completion Tendency  The mind continues to process important new information until the situation changes or the cognitive models change, and reality and models reach accord." (Horowitz, 1986)

Hardiness – S. Kobasa  Control – belief in one’s ability to influence and control events  Challenge – viewing change as an opportunity to grow and learn  Commitment – viewing the world as interesting, meaningful, and inviting

This is hard work with lingering effects. The brain will need:  some time  support  assistance  information

Maintaining Hardiness  Distance – proximal distance  Diversion – periodic distance  Distraction – punctual distance

Application of the 3 D’s  Distance = literal and geographic distance from the usual places and events of duty  Diversion = behaviors and experiences that occupy the brain and body enough to not dwell on the usual places and events of duty  Distraction = brief activities and practices that create some reprieve from usual places and events of duty