Everyone goes through tough times in life. But many things can help you survive—and even thrive—during stressful periods. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach. Learning healthy ways to cope and how to draw from resources in your community can help you build resilience. “Resilience is the extent to which we can bounce back from adverse events, cope… Continue reading Becoming More Resilient
Tag: resilience
Psychosocial Well-Being May Help Heart Health in Black Adults
Feeling optimistic, that you have a sense of purpose in life and that you are in control of your environment – characteristics of psychosocial resilience – are associated with having better cardiovascular health among Black adults, independent of neighborhood context, according to a study published in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, an American Heart Association… Continue reading Psychosocial Well-Being May Help Heart Health in Black Adults
How to Become Resilient, Not Bitter, When Life Is Challenging
Over the past five years or so, words like “grit” and “resilience” have become trendy buzzwords that aim to provide a map for how to be successful, grow, and change for the better. The thinking goes: if you push out negative thoughts and keep your chin up, chipping away at whatever is difficult for you,… Continue reading How to Become Resilient, Not Bitter, When Life Is Challenging
It’s OK When You’re Not OK: A Look at Emotional Resilience
Research on how adults deal with adversity has been dominated by studies claiming the most common response is uninterrupted, stable psychological functioning. In other words, this research suggests that most adults are essentially unfazed by major life events such as the loss of a loved one. These provocative findings have also received widespread attention in… Continue reading It’s OK When You’re Not OK: A Look at Emotional Resilience
How to Thrive After Personal Tragedy
Most people have experienced something earth-shattering at some point in their lives, be it the death of a loved one, a painful breakup or divorce, or even the deep emptiness that can come from being an empty nester. Whatever personal hardship you’ve gone through in the past, I have discovered a unique and unlikely method that… Continue reading How to Thrive After Personal Tragedy
Changing How We Talk about Alzheimer’s
New research recommends talking about Alzheimer’s in a new way: avoiding war metaphors and focusing on messages of resilience. Framing a health issue through comparisons to warfare – “battle,” “victory,” “fight” – is common in popular media and medical and research communities. While it can motivate efforts to deal with the issue, this type of… Continue reading Changing How We Talk about Alzheimer’s
Positive Attitude Toward Aging Helps with Stress
A positive attitude toward aging gives older adults more resilience in stressful situations, according to new research from North Carolina State. “There has been a lot of research on how older adults respond to stress, but the findings have been mixed: some studies have found that older adults are less resilient than younger adults at… Continue reading Positive Attitude Toward Aging Helps with Stress
The Secrets of Fulfilled People
Are there real tricks to becoming fulfilled in life? You bet. My research and that of others suggests that there are key street-smart actions that those who are most fulfilled use every day in their professional and personal lives. I interviewed over 100 successful people—some who were fulfilled and others who were not—to understand why… Continue reading The Secrets of Fulfilled People
Finding Beauty in the Broken Pieces
“Heartbroken”. “Shattered”. “Fall apart into a million pieces”. “Fractured”. “Broken spirit”. These are just a few of the many commonplace metaphors that we all use when life-altering circumstances touch us – and curiously, all of them involve breakage. But what happens to these broken pieces that comprise our lives? How do we begin to recover… Continue reading Finding Beauty in the Broken Pieces
Becoming Resilient: The Ability To Bounce Back and Thrive
How a person deals with stress can mean success or failure throughout their life. When faced with a stressful situation, a personal setback or trauma, do they feel confident that they can both face and work to resolve the issue? Or do they react to life’s stressors through a lens of frustration, fear and self-doubt.… Continue reading Becoming Resilient: The Ability To Bounce Back and Thrive
Resilience May Be Overrated
Natural resilience – the ability to bounce back from major life stressors – may not be as common or as easy as once thought, according to new research from Arizona State University. The study questions prior claims that resilience is the “usual” response to major life stressors by looking at longitudinal data in a more… Continue reading Resilience May Be Overrated
Major Stress Makes Some Older Adults More Resilient
Dealing with a major stressful event appears to make some older adults better able to cope with the ups and downs of day-to-day stress, according to research done at North Carolina State University and published November 18th 2015 in the Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences. A release from the university quotes co-author Shevaun Neupert, an… Continue reading Major Stress Makes Some Older Adults More Resilient
5 Behaviors That Help Teens Learn To Bounce Back
As a parent or grandparent of teens, you know that adolescence is a time of high stress for many youngsters. Although some young people navigate these difficult years with reasonable aplomb, many struggle and are unable to cope as they run into troubles in school, at home or in their neighborhoods. That’s where adults can… Continue reading 5 Behaviors That Help Teens Learn To Bounce Back
The Aftermath of Caregiving
About a decade ago, Melvin, a long-time family friend, died of cancer. Catherine, his wife of more than 50 years, had cared for her husband during his many treatments and declining health. After Melvin’s death, Catherine fell into a deep depression. When she was her husband’s caregiver, Catherine’s days were hectic, but after Melvin’s funeral… Continue reading The Aftermath of Caregiving
Five Secrets of Resilience
Those of us who have a pulse also have risks … risks of bad things happening at anytime, anyplace. Illness, loss, impairment, or accidents can suddenly be a major part of our day or even our life. It’s like we have buzzards circling overhead wherever we go. When we’re young, those buzzards are high above… Continue reading Five Secrets of Resilience