24 Feb 2015

Resilience and why some people cope with trauma better

From Nine To Noon, 11:21 am on 24 February 2015
Dr Gini McIntosh.

Dr Gini McIntosh. Photo: Supplied

This week marked the 4th anniversary of the Christchurch and Canterbury earthquake.

New research from the University of Otago in Christchurch with earthquake survivors  is shedding some light on the question of what makes some people cope better with trauma than others.

A group of psychiatrists and psychologists from the University have been studying a group of more than 100 Cantabrians exposed to high levels of stress during the earthquakes who coped well.

They compared this group against a group of patients with post-earthquake trauma, being treated by the Adult Specialist Services Earthquake Treatment Team - or ASSETT - set up by the Canterbury DHB.

Dr Gini McIntosh from the Otago University is part of the research team, and one of the psychologists with ASSETT. She talks with Kathryn Ryan about the findings.