When sensitivity means strength: Distinguishing between soft and hard threats as part of the personality

Abstract

Some people are more sensitive to environmental threats that are easier to objectify and are generally accepted as serious - hard threats, while others are more sensitive to threats that are more subjective, peculiar, and less predictable - soft threats. Defensive denial of distress creates an illusion of mental health and seems to be related to sensitivity to hard threats. People sensitive to soft threats may be more resilient to hard threats. Data from outpatient visits in the aftermath of the 2020 Zagreb earthquake support these hypotheses and could explain why various patient populations (manifestly distressed) seem to cope better with pandemics and natural disasters (sample examples of hard threats) than the general population which consists of genuinely healthy people and those with illusory mental health.