Situations during the pandemic have definitely made us focus on mental health and people are trying to figure out how to face these inevitable trying times with all the energy they have. So here comes the role of resilience and a need to build resilience over time in face of adversities, calamities that may drain our mental energy, while trying to deal with different kinds of losses. Each human reacts to challenging situations in their unique ways, some with more strong emotions, while some are more easily adapting to their new situation.
Do you ever imagine why is it easy for some and not for others? Do some people not feel the distress caused by traumas? A big NO!
Each one of us feels the distress caused by adversities and trauma, but our coping mechanism helps us to ‘bounce back’ from tough situations. This process of adapting well in face of trauma, adversities like loss of loved ones, terrorist attacks, natural calamities, loss of a job, or a serious accident is what we call Resilience. The key to building resilience is working on one’s flexibility. It has been considered to be a tool to balance, transform and hold together oneself in an unfavorable environment.
The contributors to resilience building that can help one to bounce back from stressful situations, that are important skills for a mentally healthy lifestyle, are: -
Using Active coping strategies – When one faces a stressor and the person tries to directly work to control it through targeted behavior, while assuming the responsibility to resolve the situation with the resources available is a stress management strategy called Active coping. It has been found to be inversely correlated with psychological distress, and on the other hand it is seen to be associated with adaptability, self-efficacy and psychological resilience. It results in fewer mood disturbances that allows a person to bounce back faster from the trauma they face. Active coping strategies includes going on a walk, blowing bubbles, exercising, breath work, reading or watching a series, coloring, doodle, doing crossword puzzles, keeping away from negative comments, cleaning your space, distracting yourself through music, jotting down on your impulses – what it was, what do you hope to do out of it, what do you hope to get out of it, what is it that you are expressing, all these help us process through the impulses and slow them down.
Reaching out to our Social support – Seeking support at the face of adversity has been closely related to psychological hardiness. Creating strong social support circles make a huge difference in how we process stressors than those with poorer social support systems. People tend to process stressors better when they have a strong social support to face unfavorable situations, that allows them to assume responsibility and have a higher internal locus of control. People with weaker support systems might often use phrases like “Why did it happen to me?”, “I can’t do anything anymore in my life, I have lost everything”.
Using Humor – Humor mitigates the adverse effects of stress by means of shifting perspective (perception of incongruity), distancing oneself from a problem (diminishment), eliciting social support, increasing positive emotion (mirth) and/or relieving tension through laughter (e.g., Abel, 1998; Dixon, 1980; Kuiper, 2012; Kuiper et al., 1993; Lefcourt, 2001).
Developing Mental Toughness – During research on human hardness, the ability to be resilient during periods of high stress emerged the concept of mental toughness (Kobasa, 1979). Kobasa, Maddi and Kahn (1982) proposed that hardiness comprised three elements: commitment, control, and challenge. Commitment measures the extent to which people actively approach and persist with a goal or event they encounter. Control is measured by the tendency to feel considerable influence over the outcomes of events (rather than feeling helpless). Challenge is defined as an individual’s belief that challenge is a regular part of life and should be viewed as an opportunity rather than a threat. There is also an addition of a fourth factor, confidence, argued by Clough, Earl and Sewell (2001) to be a necessary component of resilience. Confidence is defined by a high sense of self belief to complete difficult tasks.
Using positive psychology interventions – These interventions can be positive writing interventions, gratitude intervention, kindness intervention which are self- help interventions to keep building one’s resilience.
Cognitive reappraisal – This refers to the process of the ability to assess and monitor negative thoughts and replacing them with positive ones, it involves changing the way one views a situation. Victor Frankl has been a classic example of what humans can endure, through his journey of meaning finding during his experience of the tyranny in the concentration camps. In his book, Man’s search for meaning, he describes how searching for a meaning can be a motivating force in continuing to survive and sets an example of what our psychological endurance is capable of.
Mindfulness – It refers to the active focus of attention or awareness about the moment-to-moment thoughts, bodily changes, and the environment. Studies on mindfulness suggest that strong pre-trauma mindfulness skills may help prevent ruminative, depressogenic thinking, curbing the development of depression and PTSD symptoms following trauma (Thompson et al., 2011). A study of 124 firefighters showed that trait mindfulness was negatively related to depressive and PTSD symptoms, physical symptoms, and alcohol problems, suggesting that trait mindfulness may reduce avoidant coping in response to stress and contribute to resilience (Smith et al., 2011).
Being resilient or building resilience does not necessarily mean an exclusion of any feelings of distress or trauma, but nurturing this skill definitely allows us to adjust better to our newer situations, and not develop serious mental illnesses as a result of the trauma or adverse situation. It brings a shift in our perceptions, relationships and life priorities for the better and brings self-growth.
- Shivangi Banerjee