Building Resilience
- Apr 14, 2020
- 3 min read
Updated: Feb 6, 2022
“The oak fought the wind and was broken, the willow bent when it must and survived.” ~ROBERT JORDAN
We live in a complex world that is marked by advanced and intensifying use of technology, significant changes in work demand, various chronic illnesses, reduced life expectancy, disturbance in the external environment, along with other causes which results in one common thing that every person in the modern world experiences that is stress. Sometimes, the intensity is less, testing people’s ability in little ways to overcome it. While in other cases, stressors can be life-threatening or demanding. Human beings often don’t have power over what happens around them, however, our mind is a source of great potential for control and resilience.
Resilience can be defined as the process of bouncing back and adapting well in the face of adversity and other stressors. It is also considered mental endurance which reflects the inner strength, willpower and perseverance. Resilience is a continuous process that builds over a lifetime to adapt during harsh conditions, by developing hardiness, optimism and confidence to take things in stride. It plays a very important role in our lives in the following way:
It results into enhanced and improved learning and academic accomplishment.
Results into low level of absenteeism at workplace and school
Reduced level of risk-taking behaviour and avoiding substance abuse during stressful situations.
Higher level of resilience leads to improved social relations with others.
Results into low rate of mortality and improved physical health.
Less prone to depression and other mental problems.
Successful ageing and well-being.
Resilience should be considered at all three levels: individual, community and society. In order to ensure resilience at all these level, it is important to have an environment that supports both health and well-being of the individuals. Supportive environment constitutes basic conditions that are necessary to ensure protection and promotion of health at the individual as well as population level in spite of various hazards and stressors. Consequently, World Health Organization focuses on including the creation of ‘community resilience’ and ‘supportive environment’ as one of the primary goal in developing Health 2020.
Resilience can be natural and learned. First type can be described as Natural resilience which refers to human nature and life force that we are born with. Such individuals are enthusiastic and optimistic about their life experiences and are keen to explore. On the other hand, there is restored resilience which is learned and can be built in the following ways:
Social Support: Family members, relatives and friends are a major source of social support as they provide resources that can be emotional, informational and instrumental. It plays a very significant role in developing resilience as it provides an individual with love, trust, role models, encouragement and reassurance that things will go the right way.
Avoid considering problems as indomitable: Human beings have almost no control on the external environment and various challenges that life throws at us. However, one thing that we can change is, how we interpret such events and respond to them with optimism and self-confidence.
Accepting change is inevitable: Change is life and accepting such changes will only enable us to move forward. Some changes are planned and relatively small that we all handle on a daily basis; however there are certain changes that can be demanding and stressful. Therefore, being resilient in such situation help us to accept and understand our own and others reaction to such changes and focus on adapting ourselves.
Foster wellness: For building resilience self-care plays a pivotal role, as it promotes positive lifestyle that includes proper sleep, exercise, meditation, balanced diet, yoga etc. All these activities restore hope and reduce our dependency on alcohol, drugs and other substance.
Looking for Purpose: Setting attainable goals, taking decisive actions when facing an adverse situation, fostering self-discovery and learning from past experiences results into making a person more resilient.
Seeking Help: For some individuals implementing the above mentioned strategies can be helpful, however there might be situations where the individual might get stuck and require professional help from a psychologist. It is very important to understand that you are not alone in this journey and by looking beyond the taboos, it can result into successful coping.
Written by:
Rubal Poonia (III-YEAR)
References:
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