What do you hypothesize would be one personality trait (if any) that is associated with faster recovery?

I think we have all observed this tendency to consider one’s personality or disposition in how he/she approaches illness, from the common cold to life-altering injury. I have family members who complain about any ailment and seem to overreact while others who have suffered serious illness with little complaint. These observations lead me to believe that our personality affects how we cope and heal. One of the most compelling experiences I’ve had was when testing individuals with traumatic brain injury for research studies as some were so incredibly positive and talked about how much they had to be thankful for in life instead of talking about how they could no longer do the things they were previously able to do. One individual who had been severely injured when walking and hit by a car years earlier told me about his daily routine and organized schedule and made me wonder whether he approached life in such an organized way before his accident. Does he fare better than others with similar injuries because of his disposition and ability to organize his life and schedule after his injury? We don’t have enough research on this topic. Most of what we read in Ch. 18 had to do with how personality affects the development of illness, but in this discussion post, let’s consider how personality affects recovery. Take a look at this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJlEwRPrI04 about a young man who suffered a traumatic brain injury.

In this discussion post, please answer the following questions:

1. If you were employed at a recovery center, how would you seek to assess personality before injury for a research study seeking to understand whether one’s personality affects recovery?

2. What do you hypothesize would be one personality trait (if any) that is associated with faster recovery?

3. If there were strong findings that particular psychological or personality traits were associated with faster recovery, would you tell patients about these findings? How would you tell them? Would you seek to develop specific psychological treatmecixnt to boost these traits?

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