Children at psychiatric risk / edited by E. James Anthony and Cyrille Koupernik.
- Date:
- [1974]
Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
Credit: Children at psychiatric risk / edited by E. James Anthony and Cyrille Koupernik. Source: Wellcome Collection.
87/584 page 59
![A Theory of Adaptation and the Risk of Trauma 59 a fit between the characteristics of an individual's A and В components and the requirements and gratifications associated with his environmental context: A person may adjust successfully to some situations, even though he is a misfit in others. For example, an accident-prone individual might be placed to advantage in a commando or paratroop unit, where he could satisfy his tendency to find excitement in risk—but not aboard a submarine. Again, an individual whose only point of vulnerability is a dread of being alone should not necessarily be disqualified for submarine duty, because the occasion which would arouse his anxiety would not exist in this situation. On the contrary, his need for group support may even facilitate his adjustment as a submarine. (Haggard [27], p. 456) Although most individuals shun situations involving short-term stress, it is not at all uncommon to find them persisting in specific habits, or in a general way of life, that increases the likelihood of the ultimate stress and trauma. The use, or the excessive use, of stimulants and other drugs are too familiar examples of this phenomenon. It is ironic, furthermore, that whereas many individuals can learn to deal rather effectively with specific instances of short-term stress, their success in dealing with long-term stress of this sort often comes with great difficulty. The behavior patterns involved in long-term stress tend to be intractable because all three components and their interrelationships must be involved and must be modified for the behavior change to be successful—that is, durable. However, the likelihood of changing maladaptive behavior patterns is reasonably good under certain circumstances. For example, if an individual is motivated enough (the A component) to seek aid and support voluntarily from an organization such as Synanon or Alcoholics Anonymous (the С component), and to learn something of others' problems and the sources of his own (the В component), and to participate in those activities that are directed toward helping others as well as himself to change his own behavior, while also learning to control his craving for the drug [A-B interactions), the likelihood of a durable behavior 21 In this connection Etzioni [30] cites a wide range of maladaptive or otherwise less than adequate behaviors which prove to be resistant to change. In those instances where only one component is involved, little if any evidence exists of important adaptive change. For example, to know and fully appreciate the effects of smoking cigarettes (the В component) is hardly sufficient to break the habit, or to be exposed to improved educational opportunities (the С component) may not result in improved academic achievement [31].](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b18021876_0088.JP2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
