2. Stress resilience is a term that describes the capability of
a person to cope with tension or anxiety. This attribute
is very important as it helps people to resume with their
normal lives after experiencing some form of
demoralizing event in their lives. Rather than sinking
into hopelessness, some people have been reported to
have improved functionality a feature commonly termed
post-traumatic growth. Resilience is a process and not
the trait of individual persons.
3. Through this process, people exhibit positive
adaptations in behaviour. Naturally, most human beings
react negatively to adversity, trauma or threats. Through
various psychological therapies such as positive
reinforcement negative reactions can be gradually
reduced and better behaviours adopted. Affected
individuals are usually encouraged to maintain a positive
perception of things and to continually have a high selfesteem. For this to happen, proper social support
structures must be in place.
4. There are several factors that are said to be very vital in
the development of this great attribute. Proper social
support structures in the form of family and friends
make it easy to cope with difficulties and encourage
early recovery. Persons that are willing to share their
problems and those who possess good communication
skills also tend to recover faster.
5. Religion has been established to important factor in
dealing with life challenges and raising the self-esteem
of affected persons. Research shows that youths that
join the church tend to have an improvement in their
academic performance. This improvement is
attributable to the mere attendance of church and the
interaction with the religious community rather than
doctrine. The church is believed to have a great
influence on emotional, social and physical health.
6. Resilience can be determined objectively using what is
known as resiliency quotient, SRQ. This is a measure of
different aspects of life and uses them to estimate the
quality of life. The main areas that have to be assessed
include dietary behaviours as regards type of food and
eating patterns, quality and duration of sleep and
availability of family and social structures. Other aspects
that have to be highlighted include physical exercise and
level of income.
7. 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.
8. Stressful situations affect diverse systems in the body
and often lead to serious dysfunction. One of the areas
that are commonly affected is the musculoskeletal
system. In this system, the main symptoms that are
experienced include muscle and joint pains. The effects
on the parasympathetic system are manifested in the
gut and the genitourinary system. Other areas that are
affected include the sympathetic, emotional, cognitive,
endocrine and the immune system.
9. 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.