SARASOTA – The emotional story of the miners that have safely returned from the San Jose Mine in Chile has kept a lot of people on the Suncoast glued to their televisions with many people staying up late Tuesday night to watch the unprecedented rescue.

And even as we saw them come out we had to wonder -- how did they last trapped more than 2000 feet inside the earth for more than two months? It was a triumph of science engineering and psychology.

"The great thing about being a human being is that we can get used to things." Dr. Richard Reich teaches psychology at USF Sarasota-Manatee. He is not surprised that the miners could stay so sane even after being trapped so far underground for so long.

The key he says was the support from the surface that helped them see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. "If you get stuck in a traffic jam on I-75 and you can't see why you're stopped it's more stressful than if you see the police cars a half mile up…you see where the end is going to be."

At The Sports Page in downtown Sarasota several of its televisions stayed tuned to news channels. And instead of stock quotes or sports scores the topic was the incredible rescue. "It's amazing; finally those guys will be able to get out" says onlooker Fernando Draga.

As a precaution the freed miners will go to a local hospital for a few days. The Chilean government promises to keep a close eye on their mental and physical health for at least six months. "The miners are going to respond to it differently. But most of them I would imagine would be fine" says Dr. Reich.

And that may be the greatest triumph of all.

Dr. Reich says that the miners could suffer post-traumatic stress disorder. He says it will be perfectly normal if they have anxiety and nightmares about their experience for a while. He says if it goes on for more than six months that's when it's a bigger problem.