title: Scar Tissue.
abstract: Scar tissue is associated with physical wounds and their mending, but it is also descriptive in portraying the emotional scarring that occurs following adversity, resulting in potential psychological morbidity. Provided the adversity is not severe, such challenges to adaptability may provoke Andrew Solomon's process of forging meaning and building identity. Perceiving an emotional constitution as analogous to the immune system provides a metaphor for appreciating the benefits of emotional challenges, which may provoke greater emotional resilience or posttraumatic growth.
authors.affiliation: Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, PA, USA hjmclean@comcast.net.
authors.forename: Haydn J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: McLean
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008602:Mental Healing; D008603:Mental Health; D055500:Resilience, Psychological; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: agency; anxiety; challenge; emotional immunity; posttraumatic growth; resilience; trauma