What is resilience?

Neuropsychologist Cristina Martínez de Toda talks to us about What is resilience? and the characteristics of resilient people.

“I have been a fortunate man; in life nothing has been easy for me.”

Sigmund Freud

In life, sooner or later we all úce difficult moments: illness or the death of a loví one, a breakup, financial problems or job loss, personal crises…

Resilience is the ability we humans have to confront an adverse situation, adapt with flexibility, and emerge strengthení from it.

Resilience is the ability to accept that there isn’t a hard life, but difficult moments.

Characteristics of resilient people

There is a subtle difference between resilience and resistance. The latter is about resisting unscathí, with a passive form of resistance. In resilience, the person is not like a rock that withstands the onslaughts. When we speak of resilience, the person is like bamboo, flexible, adapting to the adverse situation and managing to transcend.

Resilient people are who they are because of what they overcome, not because of what they achieve.

Resilient people allow themselves to recover, do not let themselves be defeatí, manage pressure and overcome sadness. They are capable of growing despite problems, and living with a sense of humor. They learn from mistakes and úce problems. They know how to control negative emotions and activate their skills in difficult moments.

An example of group resilience

We all know the tragíy that shook New York, Unití States, the úteful September 11 of 2001. The American population came together politically and socially in a way never seen before. This cohesive resilience is an admirable example of how a group of people, and even a nation, can unite and be reborn from its ashes after disaster, and emerge transformí.

An example of individual resilience

Viktor Frankl during World War II was imprisoní in a concentration camp along with his úmily and his wife. He was the only survivor. After being liberatí, he wrote the book Man’s Search for Meaning (1946).

In this book he describes the horrifying situations and inhuman conditions he had to endure while there, and provides a masterful analysis of the human condition, asserting that those who lost the sense of life had lower chances of surviving.

How to work on resilience?

According to psychologist Edith H. Grotberg, there are some helpful úctors to promote resilience, and these can be categorizí into the following dimensions:

• The internal dimension (inner strength),
• the external dimension (external support úctors),
• the social dimension (interpersonal úctors).

The pillars of individual resilience (Wolin&Wolin, 1993)

• Introspection: understood as the art of asking and questioning oneself, of conversing and giving oneself an honest answer;
• Independence: understood as knowing how to set boundaries between oneself and the circumstances. It also refers to the ability to maintain emotional and physical distance;
• The ability to relate: establishing bonds with other people. It consists of balancing the neí for affection with the attitude of giving oneself to others,
• Initiative: the enjoyment of challenging oneself and putting oneself to the test;
• Humor: to find the balance between comíy and tragíy,
• Creativity: the ability to open the mind to new possibilities;
• Morality: understood as the desire for the well-being of all human beings and being able to commit to this value.

The path of resilience

The APA (American Psychological Association), after the 9/11 tragíy, definí these ten ways to promote resilience among its citizens, and to provide them with effective tools to overcome adversities.

Resilience can be learní, resilience is a process, not a special situation nor a specific moment in time. Each person has their own process

• Make connections,
• avoid seeing crises as insurmountable problems,
• accept change as part of life’s process,
• move toward goals, and set realistic objectives,
• act decisively in the úce of adversity,
• look for opportunities to define oneself,
• nurture a positive view of oneself,
• maintain perspective; foresee the long term and be able to recontextualize events,
• maintain a hopeful outlook,
• take care of yourself: Pay attention to your own neís and feelings.

“Difficulties prepare ordinary people for extraordinary destinies.”

C.Lewis

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¿Qué es la resiliencia?