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Thursday, 26 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.

Naturally, most of us will react negatively to trauma, threats or adversity. Through the dynamic process of resilience, affected persons learn to drop negative behaviours and adopt a positive approach to things. This may be made possible through psychological treatments such as cognitive behaviour therapy. In the psychological therapies patients are encouraged to maintain a high self-esteem that will help them tackle their challenges. Social support especially from the immediate family is also very important.

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.

The objective measure of resilience is known as the resiliency quotient or SRQ. This takes into account a number of things that reflect all the aspects of life. The areas that are highlighted include type of diet and regularity of eating. Quality of sleep is assessed based on the number of hours spent asleep and the sleeping environment. Other areas that have to be looked at include social relations and nature of social support, physical exercise and income among others.

After the resiliency quotient has been determined, the affected person can be advised appropriately. Typically, the quotient is given a numerical value that is in turn allocated a percentile with respect to the general population. Persons that score highly are regarded as being normal while those that are given low scores require some form of assistance. Both medical and psychological support may be required for the serious cases.

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 is a process that requires one to be actively involved in their recovery. It may take a long period of time or a short one depending on how committed one is. The most important thing is to develop a culture where you will strive to improve yourself on a daily basis. It is important to always have the family by your side for this to work.




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