What is Resilience?

Resilience is the ability to “bounce back” from stressful or challenging experiences. It involves being able to adapt to changes and approach negative events, sources of stress and traumatic events as constructively as possible.

Being resilient doesn’t mean that a person doesn’t experience difficult life events, but rather that they are better able to cope with them when they do occur. Often resilience is built through the experience of difficult life events. It is not necessarily a fixed trait, but something all people have the potential to develop.

Developing a greater level of resilience won’t stop negative or stressful things from occurring, however it can reduce the level of disruption a stressor has on the individual and the time it takes for them to recover from it.

Resilience and mental health

Building our resilience can buffer us from developing mental illnesses such as depression, anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder. It does so by helping offset certain risk factors that increase the likelihood of experiencing a mental illness. Risk factors include lack of social support, being bullied, experiencing trauma, socioeconomic disadvantage and social or cultural discrimination. By building your resilience, you can protect your mental health and wellbeing from negative stressors like those above.

For people who already live with mental illness, resilience can help with the experience of setbacks and challenges, while promoting the development of confidence for the effective management of illness and for recovery. With resilience these developments are possible despite the limitations imposed by a mental health condition.

Come and “Replenish your Mind, Rebuild your Body & Renew your Life” at one of our Retreats Now. www.renewhealthretreat.com or call 0412 367 506.