The author Jaeda Dewalt once said, “When we learn how to become resilient, we learn how to embrace the beautifully broad spectrum of the human experience.” Being resilient is not just overcoming problems and fear, but it is an opportunity to learn how to further better one’s self and to grow the ability to never give up. It is the fact that one does not give up, that allows for individuals to obtain their goals. The greater the resilience capacity, the greater the ability for one to stay in charge of their emotions and to control their actions, thus allowing for one to become successful. There are individuals that have the ability to solely overcome a situation, however, in those that lack the foundation of resilience, it is important to foster the ability early in life to give the tools to one for a successful life.
In the article, How People Learn to Become Resilient, Maria Konnikova, New Yorker journalist, takes a closer look at personal resilience. The article discusses the psychological reasons why some people are more resilient than others and shares how individuals can become resilient. Norman Garmezy, the first to study resilience, looks into why children with adversity and trauma are succeeding despite their situation. Later in life Garmezy would contract alzheimers and Emmy Werner, a developmental psychologist, continued his work. Werner studied 698 children, two-thirds of which lived stable lives, while the rest of the kids had less opporunities. Within the group of high adversity, two-thirds developed serious learning and/or behavior problems, however, according to Werner, “The remaining third developed into competent, confident, and caring young adults.” Werner concludes that the children that grew up in a harsh environment had used any tools they were given to get ahead. Not only that, Werner emphasizes that these children would see their misfortune not as a trauma, but an opportunity to grow. Although many are surrounded by a difficult environment, many individuals, and like the children Werner studied, did not let it affect their persistence or dedication into living successful, happy lives.
One individual that does not allow her trauma to consist of her preserverance or happiness is Elizabeth Ebaugh. In the news article, Roots of Resilience, Virginia Hughes looks at the more in depth aspect of the biology of stress, the roots of resilience, and factors that can help many escape their trauma. Hughes introduces, Elizabeth Ebaugh, a woman 30 years young suffering from PTSD after being kidnapped, raped, and thrown into a river to die. Hughes reminds us that. “A traumatic experience elicits an immediate physiological response, and has long-term effects on the brain.” In other words, as soon as Ebaugh had seen her attacker with a knife, her brain’s pituatary gland sent out high levels of cortisol to her body, and so recovering from those levels affected Ebaugh’s body negatively. This shows that chronic stress can cause or exacerbate many serious health problems. After that incident, Ebaugh suffered from PTSD, but she overcame the trauma. Hughes suggests that, “Social support is a strong buffer against PTSD and other psychological problems.” This proves that being around family and friends can help diminish stress, fear, and even psychological problems. Lucky for Ebaugh, she had many caring people in the beginning of her recovery and no longer suffers from PTSD. In the end, Elizabeth Ebaugh now visits the plaza she was abducted and sees her experience as a learning opportunity. While social support can help individuals recover from trauma, it is important to promote resilience in young children.
Promoting nurturing relationships will allow children to have resilience and become successful. In the novel How Children Succeed, Paul Tough, Canadian writer and previous Ted Talk guest, discusses how resilience should be instilled in children through the parents and/or caregiver. The novel talks about how in early childhood, children are more vulnerable to the effects of stress and trauma. Tough states, “Parents and other caregivers who are able to form close, nurturing relationships with their children can foster resilience in them that protects them from many of the worst effects of a harsh early environment” (Tough, p. 28). This proves that admist the relative chaos of an impoverished family’s life, one can support and encourage resilience to a child by the enhancement of loving and nurturing relationships. Not only that, but Tough looks back at the Minnesota Experiment where 267 mothers and their children were studied. Researchers judged the mothers as being engaged or disengaged and then followed their child throughout their senior year of high shool. Those with engaged parents had secured attachment and succeeded in school and extracurricular activities. Those with disengaged parents were antisocial, mean, dropped out of highschool and/or had one or more behavior problem. One researcher shares that, “Attention from parents led to powerful and long lasting effects on children’s outcome” (Tough, p.37) This shows that parents that are present, despite all the bad stuff one has faced in life, can make you more of a resilient being and give the ability to succeed in many aspects of life. However, if a parent is not present and a child is confronted with hardship, they may find it more difficult to overcome that situation. Encouraging parent and/or caregiver relationships with the child is the first step in building resilience. Through early intervention, child outcomes improve despite their adversity.
Promoting mental wellness at schools will allow children to become more resilient and higher a chance in becoming prosperous. In the publication, Attachment and Emotional Development in the Classroom: Theory and Practice, David Colley and Paul Cooper claim that schools can promote resilience through increasing mental health and creating ongoing meetings for the school’s staff. Colley and Cooper begin by talking about how promoting resilience is an important job for teachers and schools. They argue that schools are already an emotionally intense environement and by fostering resilience in the school setting, students will build skills that will help their adult life. Colley and Cooper specificy methods that teachers can use in the classroom to build mental strength in order to nurture resilience in students. For example, teachers should lead routined breathing exercises, in which students are encouraged to practice when faced with difficulty. Second, teachers should facilitate group discussions on bettering certain situations to allow students to generate ideas and come up with positive solutions. Lastly, teachers should share metaphors and allow writing time in order for students to become more curious and allow them to reflect on their thinking. According to Colley and Cooper, “The development of mentalisation-based approaches is a growing area in mental health promotion and research, as well as clinical practice” (Colley and Cooper, p. 107). This is important because school settings will always have challenges involved, therefore resilience allows students to achieve their goal, to learn. These approaches that the students practicipate in will help their mental wellness, for that reason, will allow for students to build resilience. Another method according to Colley and Cooper is to have, “Provisions for time and space for teachers and adult in schools to share their observations, emotional experiences, reflections, thoughts and ideas, in order to develop specifically tailored approaches for working in particular situations” (Colley and Cooper, p.114). This is important because school settings can be difficult and usually are the receiving end of feelings being projected by students and parents. Therefore, having time for teachers to train and become aware of student behavior can help students feel less secure about the world. This is a way teachers and school staff can discuss on their experiences and promote resilience within the team and thus the school as a whole. Colley and Cooper concedes that mental stability and continuing training and examinations by teachers will nurture resilience in students and the school. While very informative, Colley and Cooper did not look at communities at a wider scale.
Promoting strong communities can allow those in natural disasters to become resilient, recover quick, and be more successful as a unit. In the article, Conceptualizing community resilience to natural hazards – the emBRACE framework, scientist, Sylvia Cruz looks into ways to promote community resilience. She begins by explaining that making communities resilient can allow for victims to recover quicker and devolve natural disaters from a national level to a local level. Cruz proposes that, “The framework of resilience within communities consists on maintaining accesible resources, providing social action, and encouraging learning from their experiences.” Cruz first point focuses on having accesible resources. For example, communities should protect the ecosystem, like forests and fisheries, because they indirectly provide personal well being to community members. Second, social actions will provide different kinds of services within the disaster in order to, ultimately, not depend on any external sources of assistance. This is a main component because communities can show their resilience through their capacity to deal with and adapt to natural disasters. Third point cruz mentions is that by encouraging learning, indiciduals can help their communities to determind risks and reflect on situation. Their new knowledge can spread and help overcome disaster, while growing resiliene in the communities. Building the level of community is considered to be vital for building disaster resilience. Community resilience is influenced by these integral elements, as well as extra community forces, to bounce back to the predisturbed state. Cruz also explains that resilient communities are better able to get over and recover from adverse events, compared to more vulnerable communities. Community resilience is both a challenge and an opportunity to aid disaster risk reduction.
In conclusion, resilience is vital virtue and must be nurtured within a person in order to succeed in their life or as a unit. Although many people will encounter a problem or stress in life, promoting resilience through parents, teachers, and community member will be a factor to allow individuals to take control of their lives. Therefore, those that teach resilience and help grow that skill will give the foundation for one to utilize as a way of to enhance the quality of life to children, students, and community members. Resilience is only a contribution for one to become stronger, learn to never give up, and to better themselves in many aspects of their lives.