How to Take Care of Mental Resilience?

Psychological immune system

Resilience is the ability that allows us to get over the most difficult situations and not let them burden us or impede our further development. We are like plants – we naturally strive to grow, develop and flourish. There are resources in our minds and personalities that enable us to come back to balance after difficult experiences, and sometimes even make us immune to them.

Resilience is the ability of positive adaptation, which enables us to maintain good mental health despite the fact that for many of us the world proves to be a difficult and challenging place relatively early on. A person without mental resilience deposits would not be able to survive in the reality we know. Scientists studying the issue of resilience have drawn inspiration from observing people who have done very well in life despite the unfavourable conditions in which they have lived.

The seed of resilience

However, each of us is probably also familiar with the stories of people who have failed to carry the weight of their traumatic and stressful experiences – people struggling with severe depression or addictions. Do such people lack the power of resilience that should help them face adversity? It turns out it is not the case. They are equipped with it, just like any of us. However – as with talents – having this ability is just the beginning. Resilience is like a seed – in order to enjoy its full potential, you need to nurture it and create the right conditions for its growth.

Resilience is not just a “miraculous” force that protects us from all difficulties, regardless of the circumstances. It is a much more complicated mechanism. What is certain, however, is that we can consciously contribute to strengthening our adaptability, flexibility and resilience in the face of adverse events and chronic stress, which can significantly undermine our physical and mental health.

By fostering our own mental resilience, we develop emotionally, physically, socially and spiritually, which makes us calmer in difficult moments and better able to cope with stress. Resilience contributes to improving our well-being and counteracts mental illnesses and somatic ailments. So how to nurture its deposits? Anything that supports health in a holistic way will also support our resilience potential. It is important to work on self-development, i.e. self-observation, and to maintain a stable sense of self-esteem.

Developing mental resilience over time

Research findings provide valuable insights into how to effectively strengthen one’s own mental resilience. Here are some of them:

1. Redefine your mindset. Often our own thoughts are a source of great stress for us, and excessive tension can weaken mental resilience. So it is worth learning how to think about life turbulences in a different way. A change in perspective can reduce the amount of difficult emotions we experience in the face of stress. For example, instead of focusing on the fact that you have made a mistake by not paying your car insurance on time (which has resulted in additional costs), you can think this way: “It was a very difficult experience for me, but it taught me to pay my insurance on time”. By focusing on the positives from the challenges, you can more easily get through the entire difficult event.
2. Build social ties and a support system. As humans, we live in “herds”. They are our families, friends and other people around us. The reassurance that comes from knowing we have someone to turn to when we are in trouble helps keep resilience levels high and reduces stress. The supportive presence of others in our lives gives us a sense of emotional comfort and belonging, and this replenishes the deposits of our mental resilience.
3. Develop coping mechanisms. It has been proven that people with high mental resilience have developed coping strategies that result in rapid recovery from life turbulences. So it is worth learning from your own mistakes – this will help you develop own strategies for dealing with challenges. After failure, you may ask yourself: “What can I do to do better next time?”. Finding supportive strategies for getting out of life’s twists and turns will strengthen your mental resilience deposits.
4. Take care of yourself. When you regularly engage in physical activity, get enough sleep and nurture your interests, you contribute to developing your mental resilience in the long term. This is because resilience is linked to the hygiene of life and our overall health.
5. Train emotional self-regulation. Understanding the origins of one’s own feelings and being able to recognize them significantly facilitates a conscious response to stress and the healthy expression of emotions. Breathing exercises, keeping a journal, and participating in psychotherapy are all effective methods that can help you regulate your emotions. People with this skill are more mentally resilient, as they are able to reduce the negative effects of stressful events while paying more attention to the positive emotions that arise in everyday life.
6. Nurture optimism. Optimism is a positive view of various aspects of life – including those that may pose difficulties. People with an optimistic mindset view challenges as temporary phenomena that subside over time. A key element of the optimistic approach is confidence in one’s ability to cope with everyday difficulties. Developing such an attitude in oneself can be a challenge for many people, but it is worth the effort!

Learning from experience

Although mental resilience is an innate skill, its level is not fixed. It is an ability that can develop over time through a variety of activities related to self-reflection, development and interactions with other supportive people. It is also worth remembering that mental resilience is not about avoiding stress, but about the learning process resulting from difficult experiences. It is these experiences that make us stronger. When we can learn from stressful situations, we gain confidence in our ability to handle the next crisis, making us better prepared for future challenges.  

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