Social connection and supportive behaviors as determinants of resilience for employees exposed to extreme adversity

Employees in high-risk occupations, including military personnel and emergency medicine clinicians, routinely encounter traumatic events at work that have been repeatedly linked to the development of mental health problems such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Understanding the determinants of resilience among these personnel is therefore critical, along with understanding the facilitators of these employees receiving mental health treatment when needed. During my talk I will address social connection as an important mechanism linking self-reported resilience to positive adaptation following combat exposure among military personnel. I will also describe unit training we developed to improve supportive behaviors towards soldiers needing mental health treatment. I will conclude the talk with recent research examining the role of social support in the mental health strain of emergency medicine personnel during the Covid-19 pandemic