Psychological Resilience Essay

Resilience

Mancini and Bonanno (2006) described resiliency as an ability to maintain "relatively stable, healthy levels of psychological and physical functioning" in spite of experiencing some type of very dramatic or disturbing event such as loss of loved one or some other emotionally taxing tragedy (p. 972). The authors also make the important point that resiliency is quite different from recovery in that individuals who are considered to be resilient demonstrate more stable levels of functioning before and after such experiences and less overt distress during such experiences. According to the article there are a number of characteristics that appear to be associated with resiliency and that people who undergo more extreme levels of distress in response to a traumatic event appear to be the exception rather than the norm. An additional factor that I believe to be important is the idea that resilience does not mean being uncaring or unfeeling, certainly anyone experiencing the loss of a spouse, a horrific car accident, etc. is going to experience emotional distress; however, resilience describes the ability to "carry on" in spite of this distress (Mancini & Bonanno, 2006).

After reading this article I believe that there are several protective factors that contribute to resiliency in a person and that I can focus on to develop resiliency. One of the first of these factors would be very similar to what 12 -- step programs promote regarding controllable and uncontrollable events in one's life. Being realistic in understanding what I can control and not control is extremely important when dealing with any tragedy. This requires me to be mindful and examine my thinking. I would need to view uncontrollable events not as unbearable, but as part of living and of growing. Such an attitude requires me to adopt the notion of acceptance, particularly acceptance of things that cannot be changed, and for me to try to understand life in a broader context. This type of approach would require me to continue to concentrate on and to develop a good problem-solving skills, but also for me to be willing and to be able to disclose my feelings to significant others and friends and to be realistic and honest about how I feel regarding a particular experience.Perhaps a couple of key components associated with resilience as suggested by Mancini and Bonanno (2006) are having good healthy relationships, good social support, and also being willing to self-disclose regarding my feelings, even if it makes me feel somewhat vulnerable. I need to remember to use my social network. Possibly there is a cathartic effect to such self-disclosure that contributes to one's resiliency and provides strength and comfort in such times in addition to the obvious support and advice such a practice would produce.

A couple of other things that certainly would be quite helpful for me to develop resilience include being conscious of my health and attempting to maintain healthy habits or a healthy lifestyle. Based on the article it seems that being physically healthy would be a protective factor against stress and would also help me cope with stress more positively. When one is physically healthy one tends to have a more internal locus of control regarding how one can cope with stress; this would be a protective factor against stress. Locus of control goes back to remembering and identifying what I can and cannot control. I may not be able to control certain events in my life, but I can control how I chose to respond to them. Finally, I need to remember that developing or maintaining a spiritual outlook on life contributes to resiliency. I believe that being more spiritual will allow me to engage in all the aforementioned practices such as self-disclosure, developing more creative problem-solving strategies, understanding what I can control and cannot control in life, and not ruminating over uncontrollable events but learning to accept them and extract positive, growth -- oriented philosophies from them. A good book on this topic that I should reread is Man's Search for Meaning by….....