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The Brainwork of Resilience

  • Writer: Patricia Faust
    Patricia Faust
  • Oct 31, 2024
  • 5 min read


No sooner did we get out of the surge of the pandemic, that we now must face inflation, job restructuring in large companies resulting in threats to workers' jobs, supply chain issues, and divisive polarity in the country.  The 2024 election has added a new layer of fear and anger.  Every day there are endless newscasts on all the problems we are facing.  Is it even possible to find some peace within this onslaught of difficult news?

 

I thought it was time to pull out this article on common resilience factors.  We need to be reminded of our own capabilities to get through these times – intact.  Take a moment and absorb this information.  It can save your day.

 

Common Resilience Factors

Through their two decades of work with trauma survivors, Dr. Steven and Dr. Dennis Charney identified 10 common resilience factors: realistic optimism, facing fear, moral compass, religion and spirituality, social support, resilient role models, physical fitness, brain fitness, cognitive and emotional flexibility, and meaning and purpose.  The following factors are the ones they singled out as the most commonly identified as being critical for managing stress and trauma by the resilient individuals they interviewed. 

 

Positive Emotions and Optimism

A large body of research has shown that optimism and positive emotions have a robust association with physical and mental health.  This is a realistic optimism where close attention was paid to both positive and relevant negative information but filtered out or disengaged from irrelevant negative information.  Realistic optimists use relevant negative stimuli to inform their decisions, but not dwell on it.

 

Moral Compass

Many resilient people embrace a core set of moral and ethical principles that help to build character and guide them during times of high stress.  These principles focus on self-control, discipline, perseverance, endurance, the moral courage to stand up for what one believes to be right, and altruism.  That is quite the collection of attributes to follow.

 

Social Support

Having a strong social network is associated with resilience. Close supportive relationships may enhance resilience as well as mental and physical health by increasing self-confidence, fostering the use of more effective action-based coping strategies, and reducing high-risk behaviors.

 

Role Models

Connectivity to other human beings is a hard-wired trait passed to us from our prehistoric ancestors.  One method of capitalizing on role-model connections is to observe and then imitate how the role model reacts in times of high stress.  Noticing if the role model takes an active approach (assessing the situation, solving problems, reaching out for social support) rather than a passive one (waiting for the dust to settle, procrastinating, blaming others, drinking alcohol) allows for a principle to follow that will enhance resilience.

Researchers have discovered that we have mirror neurons.  When humans observe the behavior or emotion of another person, the same brain regions that are activated in the observed person are also activated in the observer.  It is possible that mirror neurons play an important role in empathy and social competence.

 

Physical Fitness

Physical exercise improves physical health.  But exercise can also have a strong positive effect on mental health and resilience.  Exercise reduces symptoms of depression, stress, and anxiety, elevates mood, and improves brain function and cognition.  Besides exercise having positive effects on health and enhances resilience to stress through a number of neurobiological mechanisms: increased cerebral blood flow; increased perfusion of the hippocampus; increased release of chemicals known to lessen depression  (e.g. serotonin, dopamine) and improve mood (e.g. endorphins); dampening the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal response to stress, which may protect the brain from the damaging effects of prolonged cortisol exposure; and enhanced expression of genes associated with neuroplasticity and neurogenesis, which may help repair and promote the growth of neurons in a number of brain regions.

(Southwick,S., & Charney,D. (June 25, 2019). Resilience: How Your Brain Helps You Bounce Back)

 

Practical Ways to Increase Your Resilience

According to the American Psychological Association, here are some ways to increase resilience.

 

Make Connections: Good relationships with close family members, friends, or others are important.  Accepting help and support from those who care about you and will listen to you strengthens resilience.  Some people find that being active in civic groups provides social support and can help with reclaiming hope.  Assisting others in their time of need also can benefit the helper.

 

Avoid seeing crises as insurmountable problems:  You can’t change the fact that highly stressful events happen, but you can change how you interpret and respond to these events.  Try looking beyond the present to how future circumstances may be a little better.  Note any subtle ways in which you might already feel somewhat better as you deal with difficult situations.

 

Accept that change is a part of living:  Certain goals may no longer be attainable as a result of adverse situations.  Accepting circumstances that cannot be changed can help you focus on circumstances that you can alter.

 

Move toward your goals:  Develop some realistic goals.  Do something regularly – even if it seems like a small accomplishment – that enables you to move toward your goals.  Instead of focusing on tasks that seem unachievable, ask yourself, “What’s one thing I know I can accomplish today that helps me move in the direction I want to go?

 

Take decisive action:  Act on adverse situations as much as you can.  Take decisive actions rather than detaching completely from problems and stresses and wishing they would go away.

 

Look for opportunities for self-discovery:  People often learn something about themselves and may find that they have grown in some respect, as a result of their struggle with loss.  Many people who have experienced tragedies and hardship have reported better relationships, a greater sense of strength even when feeling vulnerable, an increased sense of self-worth, a more developed spirituality, and a heightened appreciation for life.

 

Nurture a positive view of yourself:  Developing confidence in your ability to solve problems and trusting your instincts helps build resilience.

 

Keep things in perspective:  Even when facing very painful events, try to consider the stressful situation in a broader context and keep a long perspective.  Avoid blowing the event out of proportion.

 

Maintain a hopeful outlook:  An optimistic outlook enables you to expect that good things will happen in your life.  Try visualizing what you want, rather than worrying about what you fear.

 

Take care of yourself:  Pay attention to your own needs and feelings.  Engage in activities that you enjoy and feel relaxed.  Exercise regularly.  Taking care of yourself helps to keep your mind and body primed to deal with situations that require resilience.

 

Additional ways of strengthening resilience may be helpful:  For example, some people write about their deepest thoughts and feelings related to trauma or other stressful events in their life.  Meditation and spiritual practices help some people build connections and restore hope.

 

Mindfulness, visualization, and cognitive behavioral therapy have also been proven to increase resiliency.

(Hampton,D. (August 5, 2015). The neuroscience of building a resilient Brain. The Best Brain Possible)

 

 

References:

Hampton, D. (August 5, 2018). The neuroscience of building a resilient brain.  Retrieved from www.thebestbrainpossible.com/neuroscience-resilient-brain-stress/

 

Southwick,S. & Charney,D. (June 25, 2019). Resilience: how your brain helps you bounce back. Retrieved from https://brainworldmagazine.com/resilience-brain-helps-bounce-back/

 

 
 
 

Comments

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March was an unusual month for me.  Normally I work on articles, give presentations and generally just stay tuned to what is going on in the field of aging.  This month I “learned” a lot.  Last year I learned how to write a book.  At the time I took the course I thought it would just be a natural extension of all the writing I had done over the years.  WRONG!!  The actual writing of the book was the easy part.  Putting it together into a book was difficult for me.  The course gave me step by step lessons on constructing a book.  Then editing and formatting were just as challenging.  On June 7 last year the book was published!  It was one of the most satisfying days of my writing career. 

Naturally, when you self-publish, you do not have a publisher promoting the book and getting it in the right categories for best sales on Amazon.  That was crushing because I really didn’t know to appropriately market it.  I am a brain health person!  In December of last year, I purchased a marketing program that is based on statistics.  I am technical minded and so this approach made sense to me.  The course is almost completed.  Can’t wait to see if it improves sales!

The next step I am looking at is recording an audiobook.  This is another venture I knew nothing about.  But I am already tagged on Facebook for marketing of audio book programs.  Facebook picks up everything.  Now my husband was creative director for an advertising agency and when I told him I purchased another class – he couldn’t believe it.  “This was my business.  I know how to do recordings, why didn’t you ask me?” Well, I knew he was an expert in that business, but this audiobook needs to meet all the criteria that Amazon requires for publication.  So, he can take care of the recording part of this audiobook, and I will navigate the process of meeting Amazon’s requirements.  We worked on the book together like this. 

Then I talked with some coaching experts on the viability of starting group teaching programs.  Reading The Boomer Brain book and implementing the Brain Healthy Lifestyle have two entirely different outcomes.  This lifestyle is important to maintaining high cognitive function throughout the later years of our lives.  Look for updates as to when I will roll this program out.

My last learning endeavor was attending a two-day bootcamp for Speakers.  I am really excited about what I learned there.  That is a late this year or next year project, but it is one I am really looking forward to.

 

What Is Happening in April?

The American Society on Aging is having their annual conference in Orlando Florida April 21-24.  This is the largest multidisciplinary conference on aging and the annual conference for Members of ASA.  I have attended a number of these conferences throughout the years, and it is consequential.  Keynote speakers and special events are focused on combating ageism in our society.  Although this is a professional meeting, the attendees come from all aspects of aging services.  They have their work cut out for them this year!

April is Stress Awareness Month.  We should be aware of stress every month and understand how we can break the stress cycle.  These are stressful times, and we need to protect ourselves

Here is a positive one “April is National Volunteer Month”.  When I am working with new retirees who don’t know what to do, I talk to them about volunteering. It is important to have a purpose after you leave the workforce.  There are so many nonprofits who need help in all aspects of their organizations.  It is a perfect way to give back.

Finally – It was Opening Day for the Cincinnati Reds – the oldest major league team in the nation.  Cincinnati takes that responsibility seriously.  There is always an Opening Day Parade through downtown to the Ball Park.  Huge crowds line the streets and every year there is talk of making it an official holiday.  Schools and employers look the other way when there is an empty desk.  No matter what the outcome of the game is, there is so much joy, and you can feel that energy.  I am fortunate that I get to experience that.  We all need some joy right now. 

Enjoy your April.

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