How to Take Care of Mental Resilience?

Psychological immune system

Resilience is the ability that allows us to rise from the most difficult situations and not allow them to burden us or hinder our further development. We are like plants — we naturally strive to grow, develop and flourish. In our minds and personalities, there are resources that allow us to return to balance after difficult experiencesand sometimes even make us immune to them.

Resilience is the capacity for positive adaptation that allows us to maintain good mental health, even though for many of us the world turns out to be a place full of difficulties and challenges relatively early on. A person without the resources of mental resilience would not be able to survive in the reality as we know it. Researchers studying the issue of residency drew inspiration from observations of people who did very well in life despite the adverse conditions in which they lived.

The Seed of Immunity

Probably, however, each of us also knows the stories of people who have not been able to bear the burden of their traumatic and stressful experiences — people struggling with severe depression or addictions. Do such people lack the strength of resignation that should help them face adversity? Turns out, no. They are equipped with it, like any of us. However, as with talent, having this ability is only the beginning. Resilience is like a seed — to reach its full potential, you need to nurture it and create the right conditions for it to grow.

Resilience is not just a “miraculous” force that protects us from all difficulties, regardless of the circumstances. This is a much more complicated mechanism. What is certain, however, is that we can consciously contribute to strengthening our adaptability, flexibility and resilience in the face of adverse events and chronic stress, which can significantly impair our physical and mental health.

By supporting our own mental resilience, we develop emotionally, physically, socially and spiritually, which makes us calmer in difficult times and better cope with stress. Resilience contributes to improving our well-being, counteracts mental illness and somatic ailments. So how do we nurture its resources? Anything that promotes health in a holistic way will also support our resilience potential. It is important to work on self-development, that is, self-observation and taking care of a stable sense of self-esteem.

Developing mental resilience over time

The results of scientific research provide valuable guidance on how to effectively strengthen one's own psychological resilience. Here are a few of them:

1. Cognitive reframing. Often our own thoughts are a source of tremendous stress for us, and excessive tension can weaken psychological immunity. So it's worth learning how to think about life's turmoil in a different way. Changing your perspective can reduce the amount of difficult emotions that accompany us in the face of stress. For example, instead of focusing on the fact that we made the mistake of not paying for car insurance on time (which involved additional costs), we might think, “It was a very difficult experience for me, but it taught me to pay insurance on time.” Focusing on the positives of challenges allows us to get through the whole difficult event more easily.
2. Building social ties and a support system. As humans, we live in “herds”. They are our families, friends and other people around us. The comfort that comes from knowing that we have someone to turn to in case of trouble helps to maintain a high level of resilience and reduces stress. The supportive presence of others in our lives gives us a sense of emotional comfort and belonging, and this “recharges” the decks of our psychological resilience.
3. Development of coping mechanisms. It has been proven that people with high mental resilience have manufactured coping strategies that cause a quick return to balance after life's turbulence. It is therefore worth learning from our mistakes — this will help us develop our own strategies for dealing with challenges. After failure, we can ask ourselves: “What can I do to do better next time?” Finding supportive strategies to get out of life's curves will strengthen the resources of our mental resilience.
4. Taking care of yourself. When we regularly engage in physical activity, take care of the right amount of sleep and nurture our interests, we contribute to the development of our psychological resilience in the long term. Resilience is linked to the hygiene of life and our general state of health.
5. Emotional self-regulation training. Understanding the genesis of one's own feelings and being able to recognize them significantly facilitates a conscious response to stress and healthy expression of emotions. Breathing exercise, keeping a diary, participating in psychotherapy are effective methods that can help us regulate our own emotions. People with this ability are more psychologically resilient because they are able to reduce the negative effects of stressful events while paying more attention to the positive emotions that arise in everyday life.
6. Cultivating optimism. Optimism is a positive perception of various aspects of life — including those that can present difficulties. Optimistic people see challenges as temporary phenomena that subside over time. A key element of an optimistic approach is belief in a person's ability to cope with everyday difficulties. Developing such an attitude in yourself can be a big challenge for many people, but it's worth the effort!

Learning from experience

Although mental resilience is an innate ability, its level is not constant. It is an ability that can develop over time through a variety of activities related to self-reflection, development, and interactions with other supportive individuals. It is also worth remembering that psychological resilience is not about avoiding stress, but about the learning process resulting from difficult experiences. It is these experiences that make us stronger. When we are able to learn from stressful situations, we gain confidence that we are able to cope in the face of the next crisis, which makes us better prepared for future challenges.

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