The End of Trauma: How the New Science of Resilience Is Changing How We Think about PTSD

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.