08/19/2018
Empowerment and Self Discovery for your health and wellbeing.
How do people deal with challenging events that change their lives? The death of a loved one, loss of a job, serious illness, terrorist attacks and other traumatic events: these are all examples of very challenging life experiences. Many people react to such circumstances with a flood of strong emotions and a sense of uncertainty.
Yet people generally adapt well over time to life-changing situations and stressful conditions. What enables them to do so? It involves resilience, an ongoing process that requires time and effort and engages people in taking many steps.
This information is intended to help readers with taking their own road to resilience. The information within describes resistance and some factors that affect how people deal with hardship. Much of the program focuses on developing and using a personal strategy for enhancing resilience.
Resilience is the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats or significant sources of stress — such as family and relationship problems, serious health problems or workplace and financial stressors. It means "bouncing back" from painful experiences.
Research has shown that resilience is ordinary, not extraordinary. People commonly demonstrate resistance. One example is the response of many Americans to September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and individuals' efforts to rebuild their lives.
Being resilient does not mean that a person doesn't experience difficulty or distress. Emotional pain and sadness are common in people who have suffered significant adversity or trauma in their lives. In fact, the road to resilience is likely to involve considerable emotional distress.
Resilience is not a trait that people either have or do not have. It involves behaviors, thoughts, and actions that can be learned and developed in anyone.
Factors in Resilience
A combination of factors contributes to resilience. Many studies show that the primary factor in resistance is having caring and supportive relationships within and outside the family. Relationships that create love and trust provide role models and offer encouragement and reassurance help bolster a person's resilience.
Several additional factors are associated with resilience, including:
● The capacity to make realistic plans and take steps to carry them out.
A favorable view of yourself and confidence in your strengths and abilities.
Developing Skills in communication and problem-solving.
● The capacity to manage strong feelings and impulses.
All of these are factors that people can develop in themselves.
Strategies For Building Resilience
Developing resilience is a personal journey. People do not all react the same to traumatic and stressful life events. An approach to building resilience that works for one person might not work for another. People use varying strategies.
Some variation may reflect cultural differences. A person's culture might have an impact on how he or she communicates feelings and deals with adversity — for example, whether and how a person connects with significant others, including extended family members and community resources. With growing cultural diversity, the public has greater access to some different approaches to building resilience.
Some or many of the ways to build resilience in the following pages may be appropriate to consider in developing your personal strategy.
Make connections. Good relationships with close family members, friends or others are essential. Accepting help and support from those who care about you and will listen to you strengthens resilience. Some people find that being active in civic groups, faith-based organizations, or other local groups provides social support and can help with reclaiming hope. Assisting others in their time of need also can benefit the helper.
Avoid seeing crises as insurmountable problems. You can't change the fact that highly stressful events happen, but you can change how you interpret and respond to these events. Try looking beyond the present to how future circumstances may be a little better. Note any subtle ways in which you might already feel somewhat better as you deal with stressful situations.
Accept that change is a part of living. Specific goals may no longer be attainable as a result of adverse situations. Accepting circumstances that cannot be changed can help you focus on events that you can alter.
Move toward your goals. Develop some realistic goals. Do something regularly — even if it seems like a small accomplishment — that enables you to move toward your goals. Instead of focusing on tasks that seem unachievable, ask yourself, "What's one thing I know I can accomplish today that helps me move in the direction I want to go?"
Take decisive actions. Act on adverse situations as much as you can. Take decisive actions, rather than detaching completely from problems and stresses and wishing they would just go away.
Look for opportunities for self-discovery. People often learn something about themselves and may find that they have grown in some respect as a result of their struggle with loss. Many people who have experienced tragedies and hardship have reported better relationships, a greater sense of strength even while feeling vulnerable, increased a sense of self-worth, a more developed spirituality and heightened appreciation for life.
Nurture a favorable view of yourself. Developing confidence in your ability to solve problems and trusting your instincts helps build resilience.
Keep things in perspective. Even when facing harrowing events, try to consider the stressful situation in a broader context and keep a long-term view. Avoid blowing the incident out of proportion.
Maintain a hopeful outlook. An optimistic outlook enables you to expect those good things will happen in your life. Try visualizing what you want, rather than worrying about what you fear.
Take care of yourself. Pay attention to your own needs and feelings. Engage in activities that you enjoy and find relaxing. Exercise regularly. Taking care of yourself helps to keep your mind and body primed to deal with situations that require resilience.
Additional ways of strengthening resilience may be helpful. For example, some people write about their most profound thoughts and feelings related to trauma or other stressful events in their life. Meditation and spiritual practices help some people build connections and restore hope.
The key is to identify ways that are likely to work well for you as part of your own personal strategy for fostering resilience.
Focusing on past experiences and sources of personal strength can help you learn about what strategies for building resilience might work for you. By exploring answers to the following questions about yourself and your reactions to challenging life events, you may discover how you can respond effectively to stressful situations in your life.
Consider the following:
● What kinds of events have been most stressful for me?
● How have those events typically affected me?
● Have I found it helpful to think of influential people in my life when I am distressed?
● To whom have I reached out for support in working through a traumatic or stressful experience?
● What have I learned about myself and my interactions with others during difficult times?
● Has it been helpful for me to assist someone else going through a similar experience?
● Have I been able to overcome obstacles, and if so, how?
● What has helped make me feel more hopeful about the future?
Resilience involves maintaining flexibility and balance in your life as you deal with stressful circumstances and traumatic events. This happens in several ways, including:
● Letting yourself experience strong emotions, and also realizing when you may need to avoid encountering them at times to continue functioning.
● Stepping forward and taking action to deal with your problems and meet the demands of daily living, and also stepping back to rest and re-energize yourself.
● Spending time with loved ones to gain support and encouragement, and even nurturing yourself.
● To help summarize several of the main points in this brochure, think of resilience as similar to taking a raft trip down a river.
● On a river, you may encounter rapids, turns, slow water, and shallows. As in life, the changes you experience affect you differently along the way.
● In traveling the river, it helps to have knowledge about it and past experience in dealing with it. Your journey should be guided by a plan, a strategy that you consider likely to work well for you.
● Perseverance and trust in your ability to work your way around boulders and other obstacles are essential. You can gain courage and insight by successfully navigating your way through the white water. Trusted companions who accompany you on the journey can be especially helpful for dealing with rapids, upstream currents and other difficult stretches of the river.
● You can climb out to rest alongside the river. But to get to the end of your journey, you need to get back in the raft and continue.
● Relying on others, and also relying on yourself.
