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Resilience in the Face of Adversity

Protective Factors and Resistance to Psychiatric Disorder

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Michael Rutter
Michael Rutter*
Affiliation:
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AF
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Extract

Almost since the beginnings of psychiatric practice, there has been a recognition that negative life experiences and stressful happenings may serve to precipitate mental disorders (Garmezy & Rutter, 1985). Nearly 200 years ago, Pinel wrote about the psychiatric risks associated with unexpected reverses or adverse circumstances, and it is reported that his initial question to newly admitted psychiatric patients was: “Have you suffered vexation, grief or reverse of fortune?” Nevertheless, although an appreciation that a variety of stressors may play a role in the genesis of psychiatric disorder has a long history, the systematic study of such effects is much more recent.

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Type
Lecture
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 147 , Issue 6 , December 1985 , pp. 598 - 611
Copyright
Copyright © 1985 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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