Resilience: Adversity Makes Me Stronger

Resilience is defined as the ability to face an adverse situation and emerge stronger from said situation. It is the basis for us to use the problems that are presented as learning that helps us improve. Resilience is tested in prolonged situations of stress or suffering, such as the unexpected loss of a loved one, surviving a natural disaster, abuse in childhood, etc.

At the other end of the resilience continuum could be the development of post-traumatic stress disorder. In the experience of a traumatic episode, each individual has different ways of dealing with what happened. In addition, the same fact can be valued differently.

According to D’Alessio, emotional resilience encompasses the set of personality traits and cognitive mechanisms developed by an individual that confer protection against adverse situations, preventing the development of a mental disorder.

Resilience from a neurobiological point of view

The brain is the center of the biological system responsible for resilience and regulates the neurobiological, psychological and cognitive mechanisms of the individual related to the response to stress. The functioning of the brain is dynamic and can modify its structure based on perceived needs thanks to neuroplasticity.

The recovery of neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus together with hippocampal dendritic remodeling constitute the main structural changes related to resilience and that can be altered during prolonged stress. The factors that make each individual react differently to the same potentially stressful stimulus have different nature: genetic, circumstantial, relational, etc.

In resilient individuals, constitutional, biological and genetic variables interact with environmental variables and learned behaviors to solve certain adverse situations. They do this by avoiding or preventing a psychiatric disorder. Thus, it is not possible to speak of a single variable that makes a subject resilient.

Influencing factors

There are numerous factors that influence resilience and the way to cope with adverse situations.

Stress is a physiological mechanism necessary for our body to start up, to carry out activities or to respond to threatening or dangerous external stimuli. But e l chronic stress can lead to harmful changes in the brain to having higher levels of stress hormones (cortisol and adrenaline).

Learning during childhood is another factor that can influence. Developing coping strategies from an early age can also help build resilience.

Adversity as learning

Resilience not only gives a way out of traumas or problems that in other people can lead to the development of serious diseases or problems. It is also characterized by giving a reinforcement that emanates from the negative experience itself. To accept what has been lived and use it to move forward, make it a meaningful experience that is not forgotten, it is transformed.

Living a traumatic experience will always have an impact on our life, and a negative implication when dealing with a highly stressful situation. It is about transforming that pain into strength to move on and have a full life. Many victims of disasters or similar experiences use their experience to help people who are experiencing the same situation.

Accepting that we cannot change what has happened and that we are not always in control of what happens to us are strategies that can help overcome different difficulties that arise. Not being afraid to ask for help from those closest to you or those who have been through the same thing and trusting in our abilities can be very effective strategies. Use them!