Important Facts On Stress Resilience

By Eugenia Dickerson


Stress resilience describes the ability of people to cope with various levels of tension or anxiety. This is very important for persons that have experienced or are experiencing some form of difficulties in their lives. A number of persons have been seen to experience improved level of functioning following challenging events in their lives. This paradoxical occurrence is also known as post-traumatic growth. It is important to regard this attribute as a process rather than a trait.

Through this process, people exhibit positive adaptations in behaviour. Naturally, most human beings react negatively to adversity, trauma or threats. Through various psychological therapies such as positive reinforcement negative reactions can be gradually reduced and better behaviours adopted. Affected individuals are usually encouraged to maintain a positive perception of things and to continually have a high self-esteem. For this to happen, proper social support structures must be in place.

There are several factors that are said to be very vital in the development of this great attribute. Proper social support structures in the form of family and friends make it easy to cope with difficulties and encourage early recovery. Persons that are willing to share their problems and those who possess good communication skills also tend to recover faster.

It has been shown that religion is very influential in helping people rise up after tragic events. Young people who engage themselves in church activities have a higher self-esteem and better academic performance. This improvement is attributable to attendance of church events and interaction of other members of the church community and not the doctrine per se. Traditionally, the church has been known to play a major role in emotional, physical and social health.

Resilience is measured in an objective manner using what is called the resiliency quotient. In this quotient a number of different life aspects are assessed to determine the quality of life. Some of the areas that are included in the assessment include dietary habits, sleeping patterns and presence or absence of social support structures. Other areas of importance include the level of income and the amount of income raised. All these compared to a certain standard.

After the resiliency quotient has been determined, the affected person can be advised appropriately. Typically, the quotient is given a numerical value that is in turn allocated a percentile with respect to the general population. Persons that score highly are regarded as being normal while those that are given low scores require some form of assistance. Both medical and psychological support may be required for the serious cases.

Contrary to common belief, stress is not just a psychological issue. It is a condition that affects a great diversity of systems in the body. When the musculoskeletal system is affected patients will often complain of frequent muscle and joint pains. For the parasympathetic system, the main complains are in the gut and the genitourinary system. Other systems that are frequently affected are the cognition system, the sympathetic system and the endocrine system.

Stress resilience requires that one plays an active role in overcoming difficulties. One needs to challenge themselves to look at this from a positive perspective regardless of how difficult the situation is. This has to be something that is done on a daily basis. The importance of family support in this process cannot be overemphasised.




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