Overcoming crises with more resilience

We experience crises in life that affect us all differently in our everyday lives. This was the case during the corona pandemic, for example. In addition to fear for our own health and that of others, many people are also worried about their economic existence. We still have to manage our workload in our makeshift home office, but also teach the children at the same time. But there are also people who seem to be able to handle the stress with ease. How can that be? The magic word is resilience - and you can learn it.

Resilient people have a toolbox to strengthen their own resources.

What is resilience?

Resilience is something like the immune system of our psyche. Resilience describes our resistance, i.e. our ability to deal with adversity. The origin of the term lies in the Latin word “resilire”, which can be translated as “to bounce back” or “to rebound”. In this sense, resilience is also used in the technical field. Materials or entire technical systems that return to their original state after a disruption and continue to function are described as resilient. A ball that is shot against a wall deforms at the base, then deforms again at the wall and finally lies on the floor as a spherical ball. Psychological resilience describes less the simple resistance to the wall than the reaction of the ball: it is about the skills that are necessary to return to normal after a stressful situation.

What is resilience research about?

Resilience research goes back to the question of which psychological factors and structures are responsible for a person being able to deal with a psychological setback without serious consequences. Resilience has now become a buzzword in psychological research. The concept of resilience is used particularly in prevention work: How can we reduce the number of illnesses and enable self-development? Is there a key that enables us to stay healthy despite experiencing crises? Resilience questionnaires and training courses promise a rapid improvement in mental health. The focus is not on a person's deficits or stresses, but on their resources and abilities to deal with them. A resilient person is capable of making a difference themselves - instead of seeing themselves as a "victim" of their situation. The resilience concept is based on the fact that people can react competently and independently to their environment - and find solutions to their problems themselves.

What makes you resilient?

The ball owes its resilience primarily to an air-filled rubber bladder. The factors that determine people's resilience were first described by the American psychologist Emmy Werner in the 1970s. In a long-term study, she observed almost 700 Hawaiian children over several decades. The children all came from difficult backgrounds. Contrary to the prevailing assumption at the time, however, a third of the children managed to lead a fulfilling life. Emmy Werner attributed this to the fact that these children had a lasting, stable and reliable bond with another person. Be it a parent, a close relative or a close friend. The children had also learned that they themselves can change their lives for the better - through their own actions. In other words, they had learned self-efficacy. Social skills, relationship skills and self-efficacy are factors that contribute to resilience.

A toolbox with strengths

In psychology, we talk about so-called "resources" that are available to a person. Resources are skills, sources of energy or points of contact that a person can draw on to overcome a crisis - their "toolbox", so to speak. It is rare that a person is completely lacking in resources - everyone has their own strengths. In moments of hopelessness, it is often difficult to remember to actually use these strengths for yourself. Resilience can therefore also be understood as the ability to know your own toolbox and to use it at the right moment.

Good self-awareness helps build resilience.

self-perception and creative thinking

The World Health Organization (WHO) also calls these resources “core life skills” that can help you go through life stronger: These include, for example, good self-awareness, creative thinking, managing your own feelings or communication skills. Self-awareness enables you to recognize your own abilities, strengths and weaknesses. With creative thinking, even unknown challenges can be approached in new ways. Those who have learned to manage their feelings can also deal appropriately with anger, sadness or hopelessness in stressful situations. Communication skills or interpersonal relationship skills represent the social component of stress management: those who want to cope with a stressful situation do not have to do it alone. The ability to get help at the right moment also increases your own resilience!

Can resilience be learned?

Resilience is not the ability to be a rock in the surf. Resilience is an active process. To free yourself from stressful situations or crises, you need to take action yourself. The more accessible your own resources are, the easier it is. In this sense, resilience is not a protective shield, but a form of activity. Just as a rubber ball deforms to cushion the impact on the wall, people can also adapt flexibly to situations. The key is often in the assessment of your own situation. If a person manages to find a glimmer of hope even in stressful situations, they remain active instead of giving up. This belief that they can bring about change themselves is known as the "positive assessment style". People with a positive assessment style do not have any illusions, but tend to assume that things will turn out positively. They focus on the options available to them to improve the situation.

development of strategies

Competencies and assessment styles can be trained. Children in particular are very good at acquiring the necessary competencies, which is why the WHO is encouraging programs worldwide to promote these core competencies. But even in adulthood, you can still work on your own resilience. You can relearn your own assessment style by making new associations. For example, you can practice not automatically assuming the worst in critical situations, but asking yourself: "What can I do here and now to make the situation a little bit better?" In this way, you can develop strategies that help you to work your way out of crisis situations step by step, looking ahead. However, researchers assume that this relearning is a rather long-term process that you have to get involved in. A stress management seminar at work can provide some good ideas - but simply sitting through it will hardly increase long-term resilience.

Resilient people can deal with stressful situations particularly well.

What does resilience look like in everyday life?

You may now be wondering what you can specifically do in everyday life to increase your resilience. It's all about strengthening your own resources - in other words, preparing your toolbox so that you can fall back on it in stressful situations. During the Corona crisis, you may have noticed that many people have found it more difficult to maintain habits that are normally good for them. The Leibniz Institute for Resilience Research (LIR) has therefore collected various tips that can strengthen mental health during the crisis. Here we present three tips that can be helpful in the current situation.

take information breaks

Although it is important for most people to stay up-to-date with the latest developments, it can be helpful to limit yourself to a few trustworthy sources and to take a break from information every now and then. For example, when surfing the Internet, you can set a stopwatch to give yourself a time frame.

Routine, Routine, Routine

For many people, routine sounds like everyday stress. But it has been shown that fixed times and processes can relax us. Keeping a fixed lunch break when working from home is not that easy, but it helps to consciously distance yourself from work. Small morning rituals, fixed appointments for phone calls or evening walks can give the week structure. If you get used to a schedule, you have more energy to think about other (nicer) things.

Take care of yourself

In stressful times, the simplest things are often the most difficult. It is amazing what effect sleep, exercise and nutrition have on our mood. Instead of trying to get in top shape overnight, even small steps can help. The next time you are in a stressful situation, it can be useful to go through this checklist in your head: When was the last time I got enough sleep? Have I been active today? Is it perhaps time for a balanced meal? The stress trigger may not disappear as a result, but if you are well rested, balanced and full, you can face the challenge much better.

Can you prepare for crises?

The tips mentioned above can be practiced in everyday life. Time outs, routines and physical well-being provide stability and thus promote resilience. Once you have acquired these habits, it is often easier to stick to them even in a crisis situation. However, that does not mean that stressful situations cannot still shake up previous routines. Sometimes new challenges can also require new routines - and teach us to take completely new paths. We can also learn something from the crisis itself. Those who have survived a challenging life situation are more likely to trust in their self-efficacy and that they can also handle the next crisis. It is therefore not advisable to try to avoid any kind of stress from the outset - a certain amount of stress trains you to deal with future challenges.

Sometimes resistance is needed to take action against unfair situations.

What does resilience have to do with resistance?

The term resilience is generally met with great enthusiasm: after all, it focuses on people's resources and their self-healing powers. However, there are now also increasingly critical voices who see a tendency to shift responsibility for mental health onto the individual. The conditions in which people find themselves that make them ill are rarely challenged. Those affected are encouraged to increase their own resilience instead of changing the conditions under which stress arises. Criticism of working conditions or social inequalities is often neglected. Wouldn't it be better to reduce stress than to make people more stress-resistant? Finding a balance between adaptation and resistance can help here. Adaptation means adapting creatively to the circumstances in stressful situations and finding individual solutions. But sometimes there are also circumstances that are unfair or place a long-term burden on many people (e.g. unfair working conditions). Resistance would then mean wanting to change these circumstances or recognizing that there are structures that one cannot change alone. Resilience is therefore a multifaceted term. It shows us how important our own self-healing powers are, but it should not suggest that in the event of a crisis it is always a matter of "making the best of everything". Let us remember, for example, the rubber ball that bounces off the wall. Although it is able to deform, we can also ask ourselves: Why is there a wall in the way?

External sources

• Resilience can be learned (Psychology today)
• Resilience and Protective Factors (Federal Center for Health Education)
• The 10 most important recommendations for strengthening mental health during the coronavirus pandemic (Leibniz Institute for Resilience Research)
• Resilience: Armed against Stress (quarks)