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after psychological trauma. Usually it is
determined by means of questionnaires
and psychometric scales. Until now, there
was no attempt to assess it objectively
by measuring biological parameters.
And that’s what we’ve succeeded in
demonstrating in our work, that by
measuring simple biological variables,
it is possible to more or less determine
the level of resilience in individuals. like anxiety and depression. It would be
enormously beneficial to be able to identify
susceptible individuals in advance, well
before they develop their psychopathology,
and subject them to some kind of
psychological interventions. That’s the
foregoing aim.
How much corroboration of this research
will you need until it can be reliable and
applied to real-life settings? We haven’t yet addressed this issue, but it is
something to consider in the future.
It requires an application on a larger scale. Do you have any tips for dealing with stress, apart
from obviously looking at preventive measures?
You mentioned a few different applications
for this technology, one being the military
and another being schools. How can
it be used in schools, and in any other
applications it might have? Absolutely, yes. This is actually the subject
of our joint project with Professor Rohan
Walker that we were awarded last year. It’s
to do with rich, reality-based training. This is
a $2 million contract, with support funded
by Defence. The purpose of it is to develop
a comprehensive program for resilience
training based on the best evidence-
The burden of mental health is substantial
in Australia – all over the world in fact – and
specifically it’s related to mood disorders
How do you foresee that happening? Would
it be done by a medical professional or a
school administrator?
based approaches, and we are now in full
progress with this project.
By measuring simple
biological variables, it is
possible to more or less
determine the level of
resilience in individuals.
Do you have any findings from it so far?
The purpose of the project is not to
conduct research but to develop real
intervention, and eventually we will test it,
but first we need to develop it.
When will that happen?
We are in the first year of the project, and
the duration is three years, so in a couple
of years’ time. ■
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