What is resilience?

The American Psychological Association defines resilience as “the process and outcome of successfully adapting to difficult or challenging life experiences, especially through mental, emotional, and behavioral flexibility and adjustment to external and internal demands.”

Although everyone has different circumstances and predispositions, to “be resilient” is to be able to recover from and adapt well from significant sources of stress, including adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats, or even physical injuries.

What resilience is not

Resiliency is not the complete lack of distress or not experiencing any difficulties.

On the contrary, resilience involves behaviors, thoughts, and actions that anyone can learn and develop - and in order to develop those skills, exposure to difficulties in crucial! In fact, the path to becoming more resilient is likely to involve considerable emotional distress.

What do resilient people have in common? ⁠⁠

Science shows that specific structural differences in the brain contribute to greater resilience including:

• A larger hippocampi (the area of the brain primarily involved in memory and learning)

• Increased activation and interconnectivity between brain areas involved in processes such as:

  • Planning

  • Decision-making

  • Problem-solving

  • Self-control

  • Acting with long-term goals in mind

  • Controlling attention

  • Working memory

  • Integration of internal and external information

  • Generation of emotions.

In addition, resilient people have the increased ability to regulate their emotions through the ability to process and deal with negative emotions and focus on positive memories. Typically, when people try to regulate difficult emotions they either: act out, or try to suppress them. Most people aren’t aware of a third option - feel the feeling in real time. Those who are able to feel their emotions in real time experience better sleep, improved job performance and satisfaction, closer connections to loved ones, and reduced depression.

Another characteristic of resiliency is in the wake of trauma, focusing on:

• Optimism

• Cognitive flexibility

• Active coping skills

• Maintaining a supportive social network

• Attending to one's physical well-being

• Embracing a personal moral compass

Some key characteristics of resiliency in older populations (MacLeod et al., 2016):

Building resiliency

Resiliency is considered a habit and active process, not an end goal! Similar to working out a muscle, the ability to be resilient can be strengthened over time.

“The good news is that the kind of cognitive strategies that appear to be supported by having a ‘resilient brain’, such as cognitive reappraisal and focusing on positive memories, can also be learned” - Laura Moreno-Lopez, Wolfe Health Neuroscience Fellow and Research Associate at the University of Cambridge.

Some great strategies to slowly build up resiliency are:

• Practice gratitude

• Encourage positive self talk

• Keep a journal

• Identify areas of negativity

• Start everyday on a positive note

• Seek help and guidance if needed

For further reading on how improve resiliency, check out this article by Selda Koydemir, a London-based wellbeing consultant and researcher.

To book a consultation with our clinical counsellor to talk about how to encourage resiliency through your own personal hardships, click here.

Sources⁠

https://www.apa.org/topics/resilience

https://www.apa.org/topics/resilience/building-your-resilience

https://psyche.co/ideas/what-the-distinctive-brains-of-resilient-people-can-teach-us

https://psyche.co/guides/resilience-is-like-a-muscle-build-it-up-when-life-pulls-down

MacLeod et al. (2016). The impact of resilience among older adults. Geriatric Nursing, 37(4): 226-272. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gerinurse.2016.02.014.

Nugent, N.R., Sumner, J.A., Amstadter, A.B. (2014). Resilience after trauma: from surviving to thriving. Eur J Psychotraumatol. Oct 1;5. doi: 10.3402/ejpt.v5.25339.