Defining and building resilience

“Persistence and resilience only come from having been given the chance to work through difficult problems.” – Gever Tulley

When we experience disaster, trauma, or distressing psychological issues, we usually react with grief and a range of negative emotions.
This is, of course, a natural reaction to having our hopes dashed or our goals thwarted. However, such experiences are not only an inevitable part of life, but virtually required for growth and development.
These are the exact sort of experiences that build resilience. With resilience, you can work through the effects of stress and negative emotions and not only bounce back, but actually thrive.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2015) defines individual resilience as the ability to withstand, adapt to, and recover from adversity and stress. In other words, resilience can manifest as maintaining or returning to one’s original state of mental health or well-being, or reaching a more mature and well-developed state of mental health or well-being through the use of effective coping strategies.
In order to grasp and effectively develop resilience, it is critical to understand the factors contributing to resilience.

Components of Resilience is defined differently depending on who you ask; psychological researchers may have one working definition (or many!), while those who work directly with people who are struggling often see it differently.
There is no single accepted set of components of resilience, but this set of characteristics and contributing factors can provide a useful guide:

• Optimism – those who are optimistic tend to be more resilient as well, since they are more likely to stay positive about the future even when faced with seemingly insurmountable obstacles.
• Altruism – the most resilient among us often turn to helping others when they need to relieve stress and boost their self-efficacy.
• Moral Compass – people with a strong moral compass or steadfast set of beliefs about right and wrong generally have an easier time bouncing back.
• Faith and Spirituality – while not a required factor for resilience, people often find their faith helpful in surviving challenges and coming through stronger and wiser on the other side.
• Humor – people who have a healthy sense of humor and are able to laugh at their own misfortune are at an advantage when it comes to bouncing back, for obvious reasons!
• Having a Role Model – this is also not a requirement for resilience, but those who have a role model in mind can draw strength from their desire to emulate this person.
• Social Supports – unsurprisingly, social support is important when it comes to resilience; those with strong social support networks are better equipped to bounce back from loss or disappointment.
• Facing Fear – this is not so much a characteristic as an action or tendency to act, but people who are willing to leave their comfort zone and confront their fears are more likely to overcome their challenges and grow as a person. Meaning or
• Purpose in Life – it shouldn’t be surprising that those who feel they have a specific purpose in life or find a tremendous amount of meaning in their lives are more likely to recover from failure or disappointment; when you fervently believe you have a purpose, you are less likely to give up when faced with tragedy or loss.
• Training – while a portion of individual resilience may be somewhat permanent and unchangeable, there is opportunity for improvement; it is possible to improve your resilience through training (Staroverky, 2012).

These components are not present in each and every measure of resilience, but they form a good basis for understanding the nature and scope of resilience.


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(Article from https://positivepsychologyprogram.com/3-resilience-scales/)