Tuesday 31 December 2013

Some Basics Of Stress Resilience

By Eugenia Dickerson


Stress resilience is the ability of an individual to cope with anxiety and tension. It is an attribute that helps the affected individual bounce back to a previous state of functioning following a major event in their life. The term may also refer to improved functioning after experiencing some difficulties. This is commonly known as post-traumatic growth. It is important to understand this phenomenon as a process that takes time to develop rather than a personal trait.

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.

Several factors have been shown to make it easy for people to develop this ability. Persons that have close relationships with families and friends find it easier than those who do not. Those who are always optimistic are also more likely to recover from events that could potentially cause depression. Other important factors include willingness to seek help, good communication skills and a winning mentality.

It has been shown that religion is very influential in helping people rise up after tragic events. Young people who engage themselves in church activities have a higher self-esteem and better academic performance. This improvement is attributable to attendance of church events and interaction of other members of the church community and not the doctrine per se. Traditionally, the church has been known to play a major role in emotional, physical and social health.

Resilience is measured in an objective manner using what is called the resiliency quotient. In this quotient a number of different life aspects are assessed to determine the quality of life. Some of the areas that are included in the assessment include dietary habits, sleeping patterns and presence or absence of social support structures. Other areas of importance include the level of income and the amount of income raised. All these compared to a certain standard.

Once the resiliency quotient has been determined, the affected person is advised accordingly. Results of the assessment are expressed in percentiles. Persons that have a score that falls above the 90th percentile are regarded as being psychological stable. Those that score slightly below this can be assisted through a little social and medical support to restore normalcy. Those that score very lowly almost always need comprehensive medical support.

Contrary to common belief, stress is not just a psychological issue. It is a condition that affects a great diversity of systems in the body. When the musculoskeletal system is affected patients will often complain of frequent muscle and joint pains. For the parasympathetic system, the main complains are in the gut and the genitourinary system. Other systems that are frequently affected are the cognition system, the sympathetic system and the endocrine system.

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.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment