In article <k7_89.15199$Cq.610323 at ozemail.com.au>, John H.
<johnhkm at overhere.com.au> writes
>Mr. Medford,
>>Good to see you back. Yes, the research is replete with examples of how
>stress can exacerbate mental illness. Stress has been associated with poor
>performance on testing over sustained periods or intense effort,
>particularly in relation to TBI. Where it appears to cause mental illness,
>do you think perhaps it has just surfaced the latent pathology?
>
I think the idea of "latent pathology" is conceptually questionable in this
context. Certainly stressors may exacerbate pre-existing tendencies, one
example would be PTSD, where it is often claimed that people do not
develop PTSD unless they had some neurotic predisposition before the
traumatic event. Personally I don't believe this is always true but it is
certainly true in some cases. But- whether it is useful or even accurate to
describe such a predisposition as "latent pathology" I'm not sure. We get
onto dangerous ground if every psychological quirk or vulnerability is
held up to be "latent pathology".
regards
--
Nick Medford
