Support for a Stiff Upper Lip

Talking about a trauma has for some time been the default position to help people recover.

A new study lead by UC Irvine psychologist Roxane Cohen Silver suggests that a one-size-fits-all approach doesn't work.  The study is published in the June issue of the American Psychological Association's Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.

in the immediate aftermath of a collective trauma it is perfectly healthy not to want to express thoughts and feelings.
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“Some people don’t need to express thoughts and feelings after trauma and do just fine, and it’s a myth that you must express your distress in order to recover,” Silver said. “Mandatory or required psychological counseling is often unwarranted and universal intervention is likely to be a waste of resources.”

Via Neuranthropology where Greg Downey wrote

The research looked at the effects of the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks and found that ‘individuals who communicated their thoughts and feelings about the attacks reported more physical health problems and emotional distress over time, even after controlling for exposure to and distance from the attacks.’

Brits at their Best  have more to say about the traditional stiff upper lip.

Words are powerful, perhaps more secretly powerful than we know. People who repeatedly relive a trauma by describing it in detail in psychological counselling sometimes find they have burned it into their souls.