Resilience Articles

Medically Reviewed By: Aaron Horn, LMFT, MA

What is Resilience

Human beings can bounce back from most circumstances. When you get knocked down, you can get back up again and be even stronger than you were before. When people face failure or trauma, being resilient is an advantage. We can bounce back from tough times, and in some ways, failing can make us stronger. It might seem like failure is a negative thing, but we can learn from our mistakes and find ways to make better choices in the future. Part of being resilient is failing and moving forward after making a mistake. You don’t keep making the same errors over and over again, and you find a way to move on.

Psychological Resilience

Psychological resilience is the ability to cope with trauma or crisis-level situations. You use your cognitive processes to protect yourself from getting harmed. Sometimes you can’t prevent what happens to you. We are at the mercy of our environment, and bad things happen to good people. But you can control what you do after you experience trauma. You can develop healthy behaviors to cope with traumatic events and deal with the negative consequences in your life. Resilience is a beautiful part of the human condition, and it allows us to keep going. 

Rolling with the Punches

Resilience makes it possible for us to endure hardships and keep going. If you face a setback like losing your job, getting divorced, or the death of a family member, finding ways to get up and move each day can be part of your recovery. Rolling with the punches means that even though life takes a few swings at you, you keep dodging and ducking while looking for your chance to strike back.  It means not giving up.  

Mental Health and Resilience

Mental illness and mental health issues are challenging to live with. Resilience means that we can keep going and get help when we need it. Depression and anxiety are hard to experience. However, one of the reasons that we can make it through a severe episode of depression is that we’re resilient creatures. There are times when people don’t bounce back. Depression, if left untreated, can lead to suicide. That’s why it’s essential to get treatment if you’re experiencing depression. Living with any mental illness isn’t easy. If you’re living with a personality disorder, you might lose friends or jobs due to your condition. But always remember to take care of yourself. Maintaining your mental health is challenging, but it’s possible.

How Do We Become More Resilient?

Self-care is crucial. Take care of yourself and put on your metaphorical oxygen mask before dealing with others. Keep hope alive. Have faith that things will get better if you take an active role in the healing process. Remember that everyone goes through difficult seasons in their life. Learn from your past experiences, and remember the skills that you have learned and keep going. Use mindfulness, and stay in the moment. Don’t dwell on the past. Build a reliable support network and rely on those people when you feel vulnerable and need help. Talk to these people when you’re feeling down and need to remember that others care about you. You don’t have to figure everything out alone. That’s why your friends and family are here, to help you navigate through these hard times.

Online Therapy

Online therapy is a great place to talk about developing resilience as a life skill. You can work through some of the trauma that you’ve experienced, and find ways to process it. You’re stronger than you believe you are. Even if you’re struggling to get through a hard time, there is hope. An online counselor is there to support you when you’re finding it hard to be resilient. They can show you ways to bounce back and remind you of your strength. Online therapy is an excellent place to explore how much you’ve been through and reward yourself for how far you’ve come. You can grow and change with the help of your online counselor. Search the network of therapists here at BetterHelp and find one who fits your needs.