What is resilience & how do you get it?
More than ever before these two questions are key to surviving one of the most profound and wide-reaching social disruptions to affect modern society. The first is a lot easier to answer than the second. For us, resilience is…
The emotional rubber that allows us to “bounce back”
When it comes to the second question, what we’re really asking is:
How can we ADAPT well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, or even significant sources of threat associated with Covid-19 and the flow-on effects of social distancing?
The answer to that is much more difficult. The secret lies in the difference between those who not only survive but thrive post traumas such as child abuse, natural disasters, physical and sexual abuse, and combat, and those that don’t. Why do some survivors succeed and overcome adversity, bouncing back, and continuing on with purposeful lives, while others don’t?
It is true that some people are more resilient than others. but is this learned or biological? Can we learn the attributes of resiliency? In the book “Resilience: The Science of Mastering Life’s Greatest Challenges” by Dennis Charney M.D and Steven Southwick, the topic resilience is systematically addressed. They found that resilience is common and can be witnessed all around us.
That’s great news for all of us. Even better, they learned that everyone could learn and train to be more resilient. The key involves knowing how to harness stress and use it to our advantage. After all, stress is necessary for growth. Without it, the mind and body weaken and degenerate.
For example, studies in identical twins, where one twin has been exposed to traumatic stressors (combat) and the other twin has not have estimated an overall heritability of posttraumatic stress disorder ranging from 32-38%. It means that genes are important but that they aren’t 100% of the story.
A host of neurobiological factors and systems have been associated with resilience such as adaptations to the sympathetic nervous system and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (i.e. cortisol) that respond rapidly to stress and danger but that are well regulated and shut off once the danger has passed.
Emerging scientific research has begun to show that neurobiological systems associated with resilience can be strengthened to respond more adaptively to stress. For example, research using EEG and fMRI technology has shown that mindfulness meditation and training in cognitive reappraisal can increase activation of the left prefrontal cortex. This is important because people with greater activation of the left prefrontal cortex recover more rapidly from negative emotions such as anger, disgust, and fear.
As a second example, the limbic system, a part of the brain responsible for our fight or flight response can be affected during prolonged exposure to crisis. Within this, the hippocampus is a region that is critically involved in resilience and how we respond to stress. It is well known that unremitting stress with the prolonged elevation of cortisol can damage neurons in the hippocampus. This can result in atrophy of the hippocampus, along with associated growth of the amygdala, part of our fight or flight response.
Fortunately, recent research has found that nerve growth factors, like brain-derived neurotrophic factor, enhance the growth of brain cells, prolong cell survival, and repair damaged nerve cells. In animal studies, vigorous voluntary aerobic exercise increases levels of nerve growth factor and appears to protect against some of the negative effects of stress. This may also be true in humans where research has shown that aerobic exercise can increase hippocampal volume (as explained above), raise serum levels of BDNF, and improve spatial memory and that physically active subject show lower cortisol and SNS responses to psychological laboratory stress compared to less physically active subjects.
Other studies have shown high-quality connections to be protective during moments of crisis. Food and good quality sleep are also both crucial for our neurological health and the responsive, yet not overactive limbic system. There is a whole body of research focused on the emerging relationships associated with our connections with nature and our response to crisis.
Finally having a sense of purpose, applying meaning to our day to day lives or at the very least aligning our day to day actions with our core values will provide perspective to the challenges we face. As Nietzsche said:
He who has a “why” to live can bear almost any how
So, what does this all mean?
Well, the fact we are all being exposed to a social crisis means there is the potential for us to come out the other side stronger or with significant health concerns, both physically and emotionally. The difference lies in how we manage our perspective, the way we manage our response emotionally and physically along with increased physical activity, in particular cardiovascular exercise. Ensuring we cultivate a mindful mind, feast well and connect as best we can whilst pursuing meaning & purpose will also be predictive of our adaptation.
So in other words, in order to adapt well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, or even significant sources of threat associated with Covid-19 and the flow-on effects of social distancing try to:
BE ACTIVE where you can, raise the TEMPO when able
Seek BALANCE, find moments for SLOW LIVING
If you do drink ALCOHOL, enjoy it, don’t overdo it
Monitor your MOODS, pursue POSITIVE emotions
Allow the many benefits of NATURE to NURTURE you
FEAST from mother natures garden, fall in love with PLANTS
Allow yourself to get as much SLEEP as you need. Pursue QUALITY
Cultivate BELIEF in yourself, and in others
CONNECT
In a workplace setting, HealthStyle has developed a solution to allow workplaces to directly support their people to actively manage their health and wellbeing thus be more resilient and able to adapt to the face of the current challenges.
Article written by Manfred Wolscher April 2020
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