In difficult or stressful times, it is more important than ever to have the skills needed to weather the storm. While there is no way to totally eliminate stress or stressful events from our lives, there are ways you can learn to handle stress better when it is present, and to ‘bounce back’ faster from its impact.
Resilience is the ability to adapt to stress, tragedy or adversity. It is the ability to bounce back from the ups and downs of life. People under too much stress can experience a flood of negative emotions which can range from irritability to anger, anxiety, and depression.
Some people remain trapped in these negative emotions. Resilient people have developed the ability to more quickly bounce back to their normal
emotional state.
Resilience is especially important for couples because couples tend to rely on one another as their primary source of social support during difficult times. According to Nikhil L. Shah, DO, MPH, after a cancer diagnosis (arguably one of the most stressful times in a man’s life), the overwhelming majority of men report relying on their spouse as their primary source of support.
Below are some tips for increasing resiliency in both men and women:
• Believe that it is possible to cope. Resilient people believe that they can influence their situation. Less resilient people often have the perception
of being helpless with outside forces controlling their state of mind.
• Challenge exaggerated fears and perceptions. Resilient people evaluate whether or not their fears are justified, and often rise above their fears with positive action.
• Identify your triggers. Triggers can be situations, people, places, feelings, or thoughts that “trigger” thoughts or feelings that you may not have otherwise had. Knowing what your triggers are can help you to anticipate them so you can find ways to cope in a more effective way.
Source: MentalHelp.net. To read more about resilience and what you can do to increase your resiliency skills, go to: www.mentalhelp.net and search for Emotional Resilience.
