Table of contents Resiliency overview 3
What is resiliency and why is it important?
Resilience & stress 4 5
Resiliency and your stress response How your brain responds to stress
Building resilience 6 7-9
How do we become resilient? Ways to build resiliency
How to become more resilient 10 Resources
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What is resilience? Resilience is the capacity to positively adapt in the face of risk and adversity.1 There is a wide range of adverse experiences: from the loss of a loved one, a physical illness, or even civil unrest. If you are resilient, you will still experience anger, grief or pain when stress or trauma strike, but you will still be able to continue functioning optimally.2
Why is resiliency important? Resilience enables you to prepare for stressful situations by being proactive versus reactive. It helps you see failure as a form of helpful feedback that allows you to adjust and move forward. Additionally, resiliency improves your ability to cope with difficult situations.
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Fletcher D, Sarkar M. Psychological resilience. A review and critique of definitions, concepts, and theory. European Psychologist. 2013;18:12-23
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http://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/resilience-training/in-depth/resilience/art-20046311
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Resiliency and stress Having resilience allows us to more quickly manage stress symptoms.
When you are stressed and lack resilience, it is difficult to focus or have an appropriate emotional response which causes stress to continually build. Without resilience, your stress response is unable to effectively turn off.
Stress symptoms
Non-resilient response: You are in an argument with your partner, you feel overwhelmed with intense emotions, making it difficult to think clearly or communicate calmly. This leads to a more difficult and tense conversation overall.
When you are resilient, you experience the stressor, then easily return to your baseline physically, emotionally and psychologically. This allows you to appropriately respond to situations as they arise.
Time Individual lacking resilience
Individual with resilience
Resilient response: In that same argument, you do not feel overwhelmed by your emotions, you can think clearly and calmly, resulting in a more productive conversation where you are fully able to listen and respond to your partner. 4
Your brain’s response to stress Three key players in resilience Amygdala
fight/flight/freeze response
Hippocampus
learning and memory
Prefrontal cortex
Responsible for the automatic fight or flight response, which is okay in immediate need, but negatively impacts your health long-term.
Information and learning is stored here. Everything we learn, read, do, understand or experience counts on the hippocampus functioning correctly. Chronic stress negatively impacts learning and functioning.
This is where resilience lies and can combat the amygdala’s ability to override the brain. Resilience can be built overtime with practice.
complex thinking
In the event of a stressful situation
Fight or flight response is activated within the amygdala, which overrules the prefrontal cortex (our thinking portion of the brain), and the hippocampus (our learning portion).
Without resilience The amygdala takes control of the brain and body — impacting our ability to stay calm under pressure, think clearly, and learn from the situation.
With resilience Your amygdala’s response is less intense — allowing your pre-frontal cortex and hippocampus to be in control. This allows you to stay calm and respond appropriately to the event.
http://www.colliderwgtn.com/blog/2016/12/7/collider-talks-7-aftershocks-resilience-the-science-behind-your-stressed-staff
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b e e come resi w o d w o lient? H
Resilience is a learned behavior that can be improved and challenged over time. It is important to continually work to develop resiliency so you are prepared when difficult life events arise. Resiliency is not the same for everyone. Some people are naturally more resilient than others due to a variety of factors including genetics and childhood experiences.
d e t c e n n o c : e r a s Several factor cluding to resilience, in • Cultivating strong, supportive relationships that create love, trust and encouragement. • A strong sense of safety and belonging in your community. • Setting and achieving realistic goals. • Maintaining a positive self-image and confidence in your abilities. • Developing strong communication skills. • Fostering the skills necessary to manage emotions & impulses. • Engaging in positive social interactions. • Feeling as though you have a strong purpose in life. http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/road-resilience.aspx
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Ways to build resiliency Exercise & nutrition Regular exercise has been shown to help with stress and coping while a healthy well-balanced diet promotes optimal function. Check out Healthe at Cerner’s Nutrition Support pages and on-demand fitness classes.
Positivity Build your self-confidence by trusting your instincts. Practice positivity to allow you to reframe negative situations into something you grow from instead of something you react to. Learn more in our toolkit.
Self-discovery
http://sciencefocus.ust.hk/stress-and-resilience
Use past struggles as an opportunity to learn more about yourself. For example, let’s say you set a goal for yourself to eat more balanced meals throughout the day, but you’ve been unable to incorporate more nutritious food. Rather than focusing on the negative, reframe your thinking to focus on what you have learned through this process. Did you find that your cooking goals were too ambitious? Were there new foods you found that you liked more than others? What could be done differently in the future to get closer to your goal? 7
Set goals Ways to build Set realistic and resiliency attainable goals, while giving your-
self credit for small accomplishments. continued Rely on SMART goals: Specific, Measurable, Action oriented, Realistic & Timely. If you don’t know what you are trying to do, chances are small that you will achieve your goal. Spend time considering what it is you want to achieve and set yourself up to be successful by Being “SMART” about it. Consider these factors as well: • What is your motivation to change? • How important is this goal? • How confident are you that you can achieve this goal? • What barriers might you encounter?
Positively adapt While we can’t control when a crisis occurs, we can begin to positively adapt to control our response. Under pressure, our amygdala (fight/flight/freeze) takes over and we are not able to think as clearly as we need to. This can result in hasty decisions or reactions that might not be the best for the long-term. When we regulate our emotions, we can keep our amygdala calm and allow our prefrontal cortex (higher thinking) to do all the heavy lifting of making wise decisions based on all available information. Using mindfulness in the moment can help us to regulate our emotions and positively adapt to stressors.
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Ways to build resiliency
Be agile
Practice accepting that situations and goals may change. continued It is not possible to control the world around us, and there are a lot of conflicting and competing factors that drive our work and our personal lives. Remaining flexible and understand that you may be able to positively influence the direction things go will help reduce your stress response and negativity.
Take decisive actions Strive to deal with stressors and problems head on, rather than being tempted to put them off and avoid conflict. Dealing with issues as they occur might allow you to decrease the negative feelings associated with the problem and allow you to find a helpful and positive solution. It will also decrease your stress response as you are allowing your brain and body to move on from that event or problem.
Build relationships Build strong relationships, seek support, and be active within your community. Research shows that the most happy, positive, and resilient humans have strong personal relationships that foster a sense of belonging and safety. It is a leading indicator for long term success in achieving your goals and leading your best life. Take the time to nurture those relationships that are important to you. 9
Road to resiliency how to become more resilient: • Listen to Mindful Minutes or a Serenity Session • Visit Total Brain for online brain exercises • Call My Life Resources: • U.S.: 1-855-629-0554 • Outside the U.S.: Country-specific phone numbers • Seek professional assistance when needed, such as behavioral therapy • Participate in a yoga class, such as the classes offered through the Healthe Fitness Center, or watch an on-demand video • Work with a dietitian or fitness specialist • Check out Healthe at Cerner’s nutrition support resources
How are you becoming more resilient? SHARE YOUR ROAD TO RESILIENCY USING
#HOWITHRIVE @healtheatcerner
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