Psychological resilience

Psychological resilience, or mental resilience, is the ability to handle tough times and feel better quickly. It can grow over time or be a natural part of who someone is.

Many things help with resilience, like feeling good about yourself, having self-control, staying hopeful, and understanding your feelings. Support from family, friends, and the community also helps.

The idea of resilience became well-known in the 1970s and 1980s. Psychologist Emmy Werner studied children from hard places in Kauai, Hawaii for many years. She found that about one-third of these children grew up to be strong adults, even with many difficulties. This was because of special qualities in themselves, their families, and their communities.

Scientists have found that resilience is linked to brain chemicals like dopamine and endogenous opioids, as well as parts of the brain such as the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus. Feeling good helps people handle stress and build strong relationships. People can become more resilient through helpful thinking, being mindful, having social support, and other good actions.

Resilience is important in many situations, such as facing hard times as a child, natural disasters, losing a loved one, stress at work, and serving in the military. Culture also affects how people handle and recover from tough situations. Some people think the idea of resilience might focus too much on what individuals can do, instead of what groups should do to help after a disaster.

Overview

A resilient person uses thoughts and actions to stay strong during tough times. Psychological resilience means someone can keep a healthy mind even when things are hard or chaotic.

Resilience is important for mental health and happiness. People who are resilient can handle life's challenges better, keep positive feelings, and bounce back from setbacks. They often feel confident, stay hopeful, and solve problems well. This helps them succeed even in hard times. Resilience can help people grow stronger after facing difficult situations.

Process

Psychological resilience is often seen as something people develop over time. It is a quality that helps someone stay strong.

When people face a tough situation, they can react in different ways. Some might get angry, while others might feel overwhelmed. The best way to handle it is to face the feelings and find ways to cope. This helps people grow stronger.

Resilient people know how to solve problems and bounce back after hard times. They are helped by supportive families, schools, and communities, which give them the strength to handle challenges.

Biological models

Resilience is a big idea that connects to many parts of our biology. It is tied to how our nervous systems work, like the somatic, autonomic, and central systems.

Studies show that changes in our DNA, called epigenetic modifications, can help us handle stress better. Brain chemicals, such as dopamine and oxytocin, also help us stay strong when times are hard. Changes in brain parts like the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus can affect our mental health and how we deal with stress.

Sport models

In sports, being strong in mind means more than just natural talent. It means learning from practice, wanting to do your best, and dealing with your surroundings. Athletes talk about two kinds of mental strength. One kind stays the same, like always trying hard. The other kind changes over time, helping athletes handle tough situations better. These ideas help athletes recover from stress and stay steady in competitions.

History

The first research on resilience was published in 1973. This study looked at how some people stay strong even when faced with hard times.

One of the early scientists who studied resilience was Emmy Werner. She looked at children growing up in tough places, like Kauai in Hawaii. Werner found that while many of these children had hard times later, some stayed strong and did well. She called these children resilient.

Researchers also studied children whose parents faced serious health issues. Some of these children still did very well in school and life. This helped scientists learn more about what helps people handle tough situations.

Trait resilience

Some people are naturally better at dealing with hard times because of their personality. Being calm, confident, and staying positive helps someone stay strong when facing problems.

Traits like being open to new experiences and feeling good about oneself can also help. Researchers study resilience by looking at how people react to tough times or by comparing it to other personality traits that help protect against stress.

Developing and sustaining resilience

There are many ways to think about what helps a person stay strong and calm during tough times. Researchers have found several important things that help people build this strength.

One study found five key things that help people stay strong: making good plans and following through, feeling confident in your abilities, having good skills for talking and solving problems, managing strong feelings, and having healthy self-esteem.

For older adults, things like having good friends and family, being independent, taking care of yourself, and having a positive outlook on life are very important.

Another study looked at people who do very well in challenging jobs. These people shared some common traits: they were positive and proactive, they learned from their experiences, they felt in control of their lives, they could adapt and be flexible, they kept things in balance, and they had good support from friends and family.

Experts suggest several ways to build strength:

• Spend time with friends and family.
• Join a group or club.
• Take care of your body by eating well and staying active.
• Practice being calm and mindful.
• Avoid using alcohol or other harmful ways to cope.
• Help others when you can.
• Be ready to look for solutions to problems.
• Work toward your goals.
• Look for good in tough situations.
• Keep things in perspective.
• Accept that change happens.
• Stay hopeful.
• Learn from your past experiences.

Feeling positive even when things are hard helps people stay strong. Positive feelings make it easier to solve problems and recover from stress. They also help protect the body and build strong relationships.

Having good support from friends, family, and community is very important for staying strong. Feeling connected to others and having trust helps people face challenges together.

Learning new languages and communicating with others can also help build strength, especially for people who have had to leave their homes. Talking and sharing stories can help people understand and heal from difficult experiences.

Programs that help children and families, like mentoring and coaching, also support building strength. Learning to cope with stress through healthy activities, like exercise and talking with friends, is another key part of staying strong.

Children

Hard times can happen to kids, like having only one parent or a family with money troubles. These can make kids feel worried or sad.

Resilience helps kids get through tough times. It grows as kids face small problems and learn how to handle them. This builds skills and helps kids feel good about themselves. Good thinking and positive relationships, especially with caring adults like parents, help kids stay strong. Even in hard situations, kids with support usually do better.

Resilience in children comes from many places, like loving parenting, good friends, being smart, controlling feelings, and wanting to succeed. Communities and schools also help by offering support and helping kids feel they belong. These things help kids grow and face challenges with confidence.

Specific situations

Divorce

Having strong resilience can help everyone when parents divorce. How well a child handles this depends on their own health and the support they get from school, friends, and other family members. Not all children react the same way; some may have more trouble than others. While some children face emotional and behavior problems during a divorce, most will grow up to be well-adjusted adults without long-term issues.

Divorce brings many changes, like money problems or new step-parents, which can be stressful for children. Programs like the Children's Support Group can help kids cope with these changes.

Bullying

Main article: Bullying and emotional intelligence § Resilience

When dealing with bullying, having emotional intelligence helps build resilience. This means being able to handle stress and manage emotions well, which can prevent negative outcomes. Learning to manage emotions and understand them is key to staying strong when facing tough situations.

Natural disasters

Resilience after a natural disaster can be looked at in three ways: how each person handles it, how the whole community works together, and how the area's environment and buildings hold up. Communities that work together and share resources recover more quickly. Countries with stronger economies and more job options also tend to bounce back better.

How well a person handles a disaster depends on how they deal with their emotions during and after the event. Those who face their feelings and use positive coping methods often grow from the experience and can help others.

Death of a family member

Until recently, most studies looked at how individuals handle grief, not families. Resilience here means keeping balance and harmony even after a loss. Resilient families talk openly about what happened, show understanding for each other, and keep up their daily routines. Staying connected through school and other activities also helps children cope.

Workplace settings

Main article: Workplace resilience

Resilience is important in the workplace, especially when things don’t go as planned. It helps people stay motivated and willing to try new ideas. Certain traits, like self-confidence and a positive outlook, support resilience. In innovative work, where things are often uncertain, resilience helps people keep trying even after setbacks.

Cultural differences

Different cultures think in different ways about how people deal with hard times. In some places, like the U.S., people focus on their own goals and strengths. In other places, like Japan, people focus more on working together as a group.

When big problems happen, like natural disasters, people may respond in different ways. Some cultures pull together as a group, while others focus on what each person can do. Even with these differences, many cultures have their own words to describe being strong and bouncing back after tough times. For example, in Chinese, a common word for this idea means "rebound," and in Greek, it can mean "bounce." Each culture has its own special way of thinking about and talking about resilience.

Measurement

Resilience can be measured by looking at personal qualities that show how people handle tough times. There are many ways to check for resilience, but no single best method. Some common tools include scales that look at traits like staying calm under pressure, feeling in control of life, and being able to adapt to change.

Other ways to understand resilience involve looking at related traits such as personality, thinking skills, managing emotions, feeling well overall, and staying healthy. These can all help someone stay strong during difficult moments. Some studies combine these different ways to get a fuller picture of resilience.

Criticism

People sometimes argue about what it means to be resilient. This can make it hard to study because everyone might be looking at different things. Some think you either have resilience or you don’t. Others believe you can build it over time.

Some writers say talking too much about resilience might make people feel they must handle problems alone, instead of asking for help from others or the government. They worry this takes away focus from what bigger groups should do to help during hard times.