Have you ever heard of the concept of resilience? Widely used in psychology, resilience makes it possible to overcome hardships by succeeding in overcoming negative experiences. Good news, in the face of hardships, seeing life in pink is always possible! How to define the concept of resilience and put it into practice to get better? Discover all our tips!
Originally borrowed from the physical sciences, the term "resilience" describes the ability of a metal to resist pressure and to be able to return to its initial state afterwards.
Thus, psychology has taken up this rather telling image to create a concept in its own right. In this discipline, resilience is defined as the ability to overcome psychological trauma (mourning, abandonment, aggression, sexual violence, etc.) by emerging from this ordeal. Learning to live with your injuries and knowing how to bounce back in a positive way by managing to change perspective, this is how the concept of resilience allows you to move forward and feel better. The notion of resilience carries a message of hope:even in misfortune, nothing is written. There is always the possibility to get out of every situation and learn from it positively.
Did you know?
If the concept of resilience was discovered in 1982 by the American psychologist Emmy Werner, it was the psychiatrist and neurologist Boris Cyrulnik who developed it extensively in France. His book A wonderful misfortune1 had the effect of a real spotlight on this notion that has now become essential in psychology.
Hide everything, bury everything to move forward, what if it was more complicated than that? To protect itself against trauma, our mind tends to put in place certain internal defense mechanisms. Thus, splitting allows our ego (one of the three elements that constitute the personality in psychoanalysis, with the superego and the id) to split into two parts:one socially acceptable and the other desired. remain secret. Denial also makes it possible to refuse to see a reality that is too harsh or even to trivialize injuries that should not be trivialized. Humor, reverie or even abstraction help to put aside traumatic events to avoid suffering from them. However, they can have a detrimental effect in the long run. The shock or the injury cannot be "digested" and prevents you from moving forward freely in the future. The only way forward? Heal to feel even stronger!
After experiencing a traumatic situation, the ability to bounce back is not innate in all individuals. It may indeed be easier for some to bury their painful memories than to face them and use them in a positive way. In psychology, we often evoke the theory that adults who had the chance to live in a reassuring relationship with their parents when they were children will more easily find the strength to get by. To overcome hardship according to the concept of resilience, it is essential to mobilize one's own resources. Some will prefer to rely more on the support of those close to them while others will focus more on their willpower. Resilience can also be made possible thanks to therapy or analysis carried out by a professional (psychologist, psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, etc.), but also by choosing personalized support in the event of a hard blow.
When resilience wins the individual, it brings self-positivity, self-assessment or even a balance in the face of tensions.
Post-Traumatic Stress on a Global Scale
According to a study conducted in nearly 21 countries, 10% of respondents said they had already witnessed violence. Thus, nearly 3.6% of the world's population have already suffered a state of post-traumatic stress.
After experiencing traumatic events, resilience can allow an individual to cope with a situation generating significant stress and bounce back in a positive way to be able to move forward. Despite the implementation of self-defense mechanisms, it is always possible to draw on one's own resources or to be accompanied via therapy so that resilience is made possible.
Source:
1- A marvelous misfortune by Boris Cyrulnik, edited by Odile Jacob, 1999
2- WHO
