Psychological Resilience: The Power of Coping with Challenges
When we talk about psychological resilience, negative events usually come to mind first. However, throughout life, despite experiencing many events that cause anxiety, stress, and concern, these are not always negative or unwanted situations. Sometimes, even when eagerly awaited, certain situations can be challenging when they occur. Therefore, psychological distress does not only lead to feeling sad and sorrowful but can also be psychologically challenging when anxiety and stress are strong or prolonged.
One of the most important requirements for an individual’s psychological resilience is to have cognitive flexibility. This is the ability to look at events from a different perspective, try to see the existing situation with a broader perspective without being stuck in a certain thought, and the ability to think about alternatives. Our minds expect everything to be in a certain way to cope with anxiety. Flexibility, on the other hand, is the ability of our minds, which are sure of what they think is right, to ask the question ‘what if?’ and to question whether another explanation or another way is possible.
Usually, we see the events we encounter as they pass through our own mental filter. The effect and the emotions and behaviors that the event creates on us vary according to the meaning we attribute to the event. If our way of thinking is rigid, if we have certain unchanging, absolute truths in our relationship with the world, this situation weakens our psychological resilience and can make our lives more difficult.
However, having a flexible structure in our minds facilitates our adaptation. Everyone has certain needs, and when these needs are not met, it is normal to experience feelings of anxiety, disappointment, stress, and disruption of well-being. However, how we cope with these challenging experiences and how we are affected is closely related to our psychological resilience. We often think that if we are psychologically healthy, we should not be affected by challenging experiences, but being psychologically resilient does not mean not being affected by an event or continuing life as if nothing has happened when we are very scared or sad.
Sometimes during our life, there may be times when our resources are insufficient, and we feel that our coping power is exceeded. The intensity and duration of these difficulties can vary from person to person, and even the coping ability of the same person may differ with similar events. There is no single way or method to deal with psychologically challenging situations, just as there is no single form of psychological distress. However, it is necessary to think about what will make it easier for us to get up again in the difficult times and how we can be more psychologically resilient. At this point, it is important to reconsider our way of thinking, our behaviors, our emotions, and our relationship with the world.
Psychological resilience should be thought of as a set of characteristics that can be developed rather than a personality trait. As your psychological resilience increases, you become able to meet your own needs in the face of life’s challenges and, as a result, achieve more well-being. Psychological resilience is not a result, but a dynamic process, and since it has a structure that can be reviewed, developed, and activated over time, it is always possible to increase psychological resilience.
REFERENCES
Resilience, Dr. Rick Hanson Psychological Resilience,
Prof. Dr. Ayşe Bilge Selçuk
Tuğba İNCEKARA
Clinical Psychologist
University: Haliç University, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Department of Psychology
Specialization: Haliç University, Graduate School of Social Sciences, Department of Clinical Psychology (Thesis)
Uzman Bilgisi
Psy. Tugba INCEKARA
Clinical Psychologist
- Üniversite : Faculty of Science and Letters, Department of Psychology, Haliç University
- Uzmanlık :
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Psychological Resilience: The Power of Coping with Challenges
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