Resilience and Mental Health
There are factors that influence positive outcomes in mental health, and I believe resilience is one of them. When defining the word “resilience,” what comes to mind is the ability to bounce back after a hardship or a setback. It is the capacity to carry on after a storm. But what does resilience look like from a mental health point of view, and how can it help individuals grappling with mental health issues continue to forge on?
As someone who has bounced back from trauma, I have learned a thing or two about resiliency along the way. First and foremost, resilience is a powerful and necessary tool to move forward in recovery and in life. Resilience not only teaches us how to withstand trials and tribulations but also how to forgive ourselves after we experience a downfall.
Resilience is a mechanism that allows us to adapt to adversity, stress, depression, trauma, and shame. When resiliency is continuously exercised, it can create new pathways in the brain and make way for new behavioral patterns that continue to foster more resilience, which in turn can make it easier to deal with future problems or challenges.
Given its important role, finding ways to cultivate resilience in your daily life can be a game changer. Here are a few ways to accomplish that:
1. Practice Self-Compassion
It’s difficult being kind and gentle towards yourself when you’re in the throes of anxiety and depression or undergoing some sort of stressful event. However, when we resort to self-judgment and shame, it doesn’t produce favorable results. As a matter of fact, it actually reinforces more of what we don’t want, which is more self-judgment and shame. It also thwarts opportunities for growth and change.
This is where self-compassion comes in handy. Self-compassion can become an antidote to buffer against emotional distress and shame. For instance, start paying attention to your thoughts and feelings. When you find yourself becoming self-critical or judgmental, that’s when you start applying self-compassion. If it’s difficult for you to do, imagine talking to yourself as if you were talking to a close friend.
2. Regulate Emotions
This can be challenging at times, especially when your emotions are driving your behavior. You might be so dysregulated that you can’t identify what emotion you’re feeling. That’s when you can remind yourself that everything has a beginning, a middle, and an end. Whatever you’re feeling will pass. Moving towards your emotions through inquiry could be effective too. For example, what am I feeling right now? And is this sad feeling causing heaviness in my heart? Keep in mind the more you’re able to tolerate your emotions, the more mastery you have over them.
3. Develop a Positive Mindset
I can’t stress enough the importance of cultivating a positive outlook. In 2016, I had a health problem that caused my trauma to spiral out of control and affected my ability to cope. As I navigated through it, I realized that maintaining a positive outlook was key. If I didn’t, I probably would’ve gone further down the rabbit hole. It’s important to remain hopeful even when things seem bleak.
4. Take Action
How many times have you experienced anxiety and depression in the past and felt hopeless? How many times have you experienced a trauma response and felt helpless? I know it’s difficult to push through when you’re feeling symptomatic, but shutting off or down isn’t the solution. However, taking action is. This is because you’re finding ways to work through the problem rather than being defeated by it.
5. Cultivate Gratitude
Cultivating gratitude can be a good way to develop resiliency. If you make it a point to focus on positive things happening in your life, it will help you develop a positive outlook, and a positive outlook can make it easier to bounce back.
Resilience used as a daily practice can become a powerful tool for creating more happiness, joy, and contentment in life. Above all, for creating resilience in mental health. Are you willing to give it a try?
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