Psychologist Sees Many Lessons In Chilean Miners’ Rescue

Who could have failed to be moved by Tuesday and Wednesday's dramatic rescue of 33 Chilean miners, trapped underground for a record 69 days?

A University of Buffalo psychologist says the miners' rescue may actually provide a worldwide lesson on the remarkable strength of human resilience.

"That doesn't mean being trapped with 32 others in a small chamber 2,296 feet beneath the earth for 69 days in 90-degree heat was easy," said Michael Poulin, UB assistant professor of psychology and an expert on human response to stress and adversity. It was harrowing, mentally stressful and for some it constituted a medical emergency. But the men had good reason to expect a rare happy ending."

Poulin says the key element of success in what could otherwise have been a horrific tragedy was the manner in which the miners below ground worked with those above ground to achieve a successful rescue. Poulin says the way the miners coped with threat to their survival is instructive in understanding how people in general cope with life's difficulties.

We're all 'trapped' at one time or another

"So many of us face stresses like illness, injury, economic crisis, loss of employment, loss of home, which in turn mean a loss of our sense of predictability and control and a loss of the everyday routines that give our lives meaning," he said. "The miners' lives also were disrupted in a terrifying and unexpected way. But even in this frightening new environment, they set out to create new routines, sleeping in shifts, and devising a schedule for doing what needed to be done, such as moving rock and earth displaced by the drilling. They adopted new roles -- one miner, for instance, took on the role of spiritual advisor, one was the medic, and so on."

The way the miners approached their particular crisis is instructive of how people in general can and should cope with their own crises and stresses, Poulin says.

"In fact, it mirrors the advice psychologists give to people whose lives have been disrupted," he said.

Inspiration

That may have been why, Poulin says, that the world was so fascinated. An estimated one billion people tuned into television coverage Wednesday evening as the last of the miners were hoisted to the surface and reunited with family. Their co-workers and government officials on hand to greet them repeatedly told them they were heroes, for inspiring the Chilean people.

"These men could have just sat there, marking time on the wall," Poulin said. "But instead, even in a situation unique and terrifying in their lives, they determined what needed to be done, who should do what and when, and set about giving order and meaning to their experience. That practice, as much as anything else, reflected and promoted their mental and emotional well being. It's a lesson for the rest of us."