Main Facts Relating To Stress Resilience

By Eugenia Dickerson


Stress resilience is a term that describes the capability of a person to cope with tension or anxiety. This attribute is very important as it helps people to resume with their normal lives after experiencing some form of demoralizing event in their lives. Rather than sinking into hopelessness, some people have been reported to have improved functionality a feature commonly termed post-traumatic growth. Resilience is a process and not the trait of individual persons.

It is normal for people to react negatively when they are faced with difficulties in life. Events such as trauma, adversity and threats frequently cause negative behaviours and attitudes among the affected. Through resilience, one can overcome these negative thoughts and adopt more constructive positive attitudes. Offering psychological treatment to these persons in the form of cognitive behaviour therapy is greatly helpful. The significance of social support cannot be overlooked.

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.

Religion has been shown as one of the most important factors involved in developing a positive self-esteem in persons that are faced with challenging situations. It has been demonstrated through research that young persons that join the church improve their academic performance. The improvement appears to be related to the attendance of church and interaction with believers and not the doctrine. The church has traditionally exerted great influence on social, physical and emotional health.

Resilience can be determined objectively using what is known as resiliency quotient, SRQ. This is a measure of different aspects of life and uses them to estimate the quality of life. The main areas that have to be assessed include dietary behaviours as regards type of food and eating patterns, quality and duration of sleep and availability of family and social structures. Other aspects that have to be highlighted include physical exercise and level of income.

The resiliency quotient helps the healthcare provider determine the amount of psychological stress that the affected individual is experiencing. The individual is advised depending on whether they score well, poorly or their results are on the borderline. Those that score well or just slightly below the 90th percentile require just a little bit of moral support. Those who score poorly will require treatment in most cases.

There are many systems that are affected by stress. The systems that are commonly affected include the musculoskeletal system where joint and muscle pains are commonly experienced, the parasympathetic system and the sympathetic system. Other systems include cognitive system where there may be abnormalities in memory, decision making, judgement and learning, the immune system and the emotional system. Treatment is therefore geared at resolving all these problems.

Stress resilience needs that one takes up an active role in the recovery process. The process may take days, weeks or months depending on your personal commitment. Challenging yourself to always maintain a high self-esteem is a very important step. The role of the family in the recovery process is invaluable.




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