Building Resilience
According to the definition from the American Psychological Association (APA), Resilience refers to both the process and the outcome of successfully adapting to difficult or challenging life experiences. “It’s your ability to withstand adversity and bounce back and grow despite life’s downturns,” says Amit Sood, MD, the executive director of the Global Center for Resiliency and Well-Being and the creator of the Resilient Option program.
What is resilience?
According to the definition from the American Psychological Association (APA), Resilience refers to both the process and the outcome of successfully adapting to difficult or challenging life experiences. “It’s your ability to withstand adversity and bounce back and grow despite life’s downturns,” says Amit Sood, MD, the executive director of the Global Center for Resiliency and Well-Being and the creator of the Resilient Option program.
Resilience and Wellbeing
Many people from different walks of life experience challenges and stress at different stages of their life. Stress is a natural response to any difficult or threatening event or a situation. Eustress and distress are different kinds of stress. Distress, as most of us are aware can be difficult and can cause negative impact on our wellbeing. But stress is not always a bad thing. Eustress is positive and can be manageable and motivating. Many times, eustress can turn into distress and there, resilience comes into play - like how we deal with the distress and turn it into eustress so that we are productive and not burnout and live meaningful lives even when the stress persists.
However, over time, due ongoing distress people may find difficulty to handle stress and cope with it effectively which can cause negative impact on our wellbeing and quality of life. According to one of the studies, resilience is negatively correlated to negative indicators of mental health such as depression, anxiety, and negative affect, and positively correlated to positive indicators of mental health such as life satisfaction and positive emotions (Hu et al.,2015).
Resilience will not fix the problems, but it can help to enhance our ability to respond to difficult situations and handle stress effectively.
Let us look at some of the ways to develop resilience:
Relaxation: Practicing relaxation strategies including breathing exercise, progressive muscle relaxation, mindfulness. It slows the heart rate, lowers blood pressure, and reduces levels of stress hormones. It can help you bounce back a little faster and prepare you for the next day.
Social connectedness: Developing positive relationships with loved ones, family, colleagues and in the community. There is an emerging literature on how social support and the neurobiological pathways act to foster resilience and reduce the risk for developing mental health concerns.
Values: Developing alignment between your values and your goals and actions to live a meaningful life. Being aligned with your values can make you feel purposeful, happy and increase your flexibility, adaptability and ability to bounce back.
Helpful thinking: Identifying if the thoughts associated with an event or situation are helpful or unhealthy and unhelpful. Restructuring your thoughts by thinking if there is any other way to think about the situation that can help in reducing stress levels.
Building resilience takes time and practice. But if you are struggling, it is important to seek professional support.
Our Psychologists at Tonic Psychology
