unhappyguy, I wanted to think about the article and come back and add some thoughts.

I think people who are responded to compassionately, with acceptance and support, can still develop PTSD. But I agree with the researchers that compassion and support can mitigate the effects of trauma and perhaps decrease the chances of PTSD developing or reduce its severity.

I've been told that the response to a trauma can be as powerful in shaping PTSD as the trauma itself. In my case, the traumas were ignored, downplayed, or dismissed, and there was no room for me to have reactions to them, so I hid them well. But of course that didn't stop the reactions from happening. Now that I know what does help trauma recovery, I am working hard on giving myself that compassionate support, and I'm getting it from my treatment team and friends. But it's coming many years late, so it's not as effective.