What are some effective ways to maintain resilience when covering difficult topics?

Resilience is the capacity to normalize stressful or traumatic experiences, coping with, recovering from, and adapting to psychological trauma. It is not an innate process and often requires stress management techniques which are designed to facilitate the process. These techniques may encompass simple strategies like deep breathing, exercise, and mindfulness to more structured professional interventions such as cognitive behavioral therapy. These may reduce the risk of mental health disorders and enhance people’s overall quality of life. It is important to develop a routine of reducing stress on a regular basis and to utilize the additional resources and assistance from experienced mental health professionals and psychiatrists when needed.

Meine Erfahrung ist, dass auch bei au?ergew?hnlich hoher Resilienz die eigenen K?rperreaktionen sehr aufmerksam beobachtet werden sollten. Die Anwendung von Bew?ltigungsstrategien kann für einen überschaubaren Zeitraum unterstützend sein, führt aber nicht zur Aufl?sung der Belastung. Die Fragen, die ich mir stellen würde, w?ren: 1. ist meine berufliche Kompetenz ver?nderbar und 2. ist meine Pers?nlichkeit am richtigen Platz? Sie ist kaum ver?nderbar. Abh?ngig von den Antworten sollten L?sungen entwickelt werden.

Also be prepared to ask for help if you feel symptoms are impacting your professional and/or personal relationships. There is no shame in getting help to work through stressful periods, in fact you will be modelling best practice for those around you. There is also no shame in responding differently to experiences that others have shared. Everyone has different life experiences, backgrounds, trigger points. Be as kind to yourself as to are others.

Often, after difficult assignments, journalists may "debrief" informally amongst themselves at the pub. While this may achieve some positive things -- such as common or an improved understanding of what happened -- if alcohol becomes a regular feature of such debriefs, the risks that perspective may be lost and dependency may be a consequence are considerable. Instead, if journalists need to get together after a tough story, seek a neutral, relaxed space where people will feel comfortable and don't pressure involvement of yourself or others. Consider having a knowledgeable mentor facilitate such get-togethers. Mentors with industry experience can often bring an independent, informed perspective to tricky topics.

Die richtige Unterstützung zu finden, kann ein zeitaufw?ndiges Projekt sein. Manche Berufsgruppen haben Schwierigkeiten, wirklich offen und pers?nlich miteinander umzugehen. Vielleicht ist es eine zielführende Alternative, über Hobbys oder private Interessen einen Gedankenaustausch zu suchen. Die Distanz zum eigentlichen Problem erm?glicht andere Perspektiven.

Um Gedanken und ?ngste in der Freizeit in den Griff zu bekommen und mehr Kontrolle und Abstand zu gewinnen, k?nnen kleine Tricks helfen. Zum Beispiel erteile ich negativen Gedanken, die mich emotional schw?chen und entmutigen, bewusst ein "Haus- und Herzverbot". Das unterstützt meine Handlungsf?higkeit und die Distanz zu einer Herausforderung. So kann ich L?sungen entwickeln und meine Situation aktiv ver?ndern.

Having a growth mindset and seeking knowledge from new experiences are valuable tools in building resilience. But those things alone may not guarantee resilience 100 per cent of the time. Be prepared for ups and downs by being open to learning about different situations and your responses to those situations. With a growth mindset, you may choose to approach a similar future story or incident differently. Whatever you do or choose, know that your work remains valuable to your readers/listeners/viewers and will form part of their understanding of what transpired. It's a privilege to be given access t do this work, despite its challenges, not an automatic right because you are a member of the media.

If you already have experience doing difficult assignments, have you considered mentoring a less-experienced journalist (in or outside your newsroom)? Just listening to their concerns and retelling of what they encountered can be a salve for them but also a learning opportunity for you. At the end of the day, how you learn about and treat others, in and outside the newsroom, will dictate how well your resilience muscle is developed.