We've heard countless stories of defeat and survival. We've also witnessed numerous life threatening dangers and how people bounced back from lots of adversities & difficulties. We also have experienced traumatic episodes of tragedies & pain that changed our lives affecting how we deal with our inner monsters and external issues. Facing dangerous situations & significant amounts of stress can either build or destroy our psychological make-up. The way we adapt to certain life stressors & situational disadvantages plays a huge role in being emotionally & mentally strong.

The way we bounce back from certain life challenges could reflect how we deal with our family,relationship,professional,financial and personal conflicts.

On the 8th of November 2013,Philippines was hit by a super typhoon named Haiyan or known as "Typhoon Yolanda". It caused a massive damage to the Western Visayas Region particurly in Tacloban,City Leyte. The people who were affected by this super typhoon ranges from 14.4 million and killed almost 4,460 residents. It brought widespread devastation causing immense damage on livestocks,power lines,buildings and infrastractures. Typhoon Haiyan was considered by many as a very powerful typhoon in the country's recorded history. Though I am from Cebu which is a neighboring island of Leyte I have felt the power & destruction Yolanda brought to the country.

In this terrible disaster that my countrymen have experienced, there are also numerous testimonies on survival and resilience that only proves how powerful positivity is on the individual and collective psyches'.

In an article written by Kieran McConville on CNN website "Stories of Resilience After Typhoon Haiyan", he have shared his experiences during his visit in Concepcion,Iloilo which also experienced Haiyan's wrath during it's landfall. One particular story broke my heart but strengthened my undying spirit for hope and resilience. Johnny Franco who was appointed as the community's local councilor and the Fisherman Association's president lead Kieran & his team to a poor fishing village called Sitio Puntalouis. He introduced them to amost all the families in the village and showed how the typhoon destroyed their homes & livelihood but what surprised them later that day was he did not share his own loss that same morning he accompanied them.

Johnny and his family lived on a tarpaulin and relied mostly on relief goods. Despite of his own loss,he still managed to laugh and smile while he was being interviewed. His fish drying business was also destroyed by the typhoon same with others but he was very confident in saying that life must still go on.

In times of these unfortunate calamities the Filipinos spirit remained strong and unbreakable.

The Psychology of Resilience | Rising Above the Ashes

Positive Psychology is a fascinating topic to talk about in a world of how human mind and behavior works. It is a new scientific study in Psychology that focuses on a complete overhaul flourishing of an individual's biological,emotional,relational & mental states. It highlights concepts on living a meaningful and good life through cultivating our strengths & positive human functioning. It is pretty common for Psychology to be heavily associated with psychological dysfunctions & mental behaviors but what people tend to forget is that we need to give huge emphasis on how we can eliminate these mental challenges to live a positive life. Resiliency is attached to Positive Psychology ( A new contender) in the science of mind and behavior.

What is Resiliency?

Resiliency in Psychology is all about how people bounce back from certain life challenges and comes back more powerful than ever. Resiliency can be present on all life trials that we have or we may encounter: Financial problems, relationships conflicts, work-related stress and even anxiety issues. These problems can only be resolved and will be solved in the future if the individual is willing to embrace these trials as challenges and never gives up on life. It maybe easier said than done but we need to be resilient in life, in doing so we are fully armored to face the complexities of life with a brave upfront.

It is uncontrollable that we get too emotional and even irrational in times of difficult life challenges since it could affect us psychologically but I believe that being resilient is a choice thus you can dictate your mind to be resilient. Some people may break down or give up getting drowned on suicidal thoughts or feelings of hopelessness but some people also would accept and move on. These type of individuals would adapt to these stressful situations over time & deals with hardship in a positive way.They are practically the winners of life aiming to recover their broken pieces and rises above through the debris and ashes of disappointment & struggles.

The Mutual Bond Between Cognition & Resiliency

In the book, "Treating Traumatized Children: Risk,Resilience & Recovery"(Brom,Pat-Horenczyk & Ford 2009)emphasized on their work the influence on an ongoing discourse on children's trauma and resilience. They have described a model of cognitive processing that undergoes three phases:

1. Immediate interpretation of danger or event
2. Giving interventions to give meanings to events
3. Providing optimal conditions for effective processing

All of these cognitive interventions can help a child recover from suffering traumatic experience. Letting our children assess the gravity of a difficult experience, encouraging them to face off life challenges and supporting the child's capacity to understand and control his/her emotions to unfortunate circumstances can all help in the healing process but then again it is still subject to changes on children's developmental phases.

If I may connect all of these findings to Cognitive Resilience, this is how our minds can be flexible in terms of coping up with adversities. It is not impossible for our brain to rewire itself to heal from traumas and difficult experiences since it is proven through scientific studies that the brain controls physiological aspects & emotional and psychological states. Cognitive resilience definitely portrays a huge role in bouncing back from traumas & mishaps.

The Importance of Resiliency

To psychologically flourish in life we should recognize the vitality of resilience individually or collectively. Our physical,emotional and mental health are always threatened by tons of stressors so it is important to possess a positive outlook in life. We always knew that life wouldn't be as easy as taking a candy from a baby. In order to achieve our goals in life as we strive to develop our personal assets we should brace ourselves with numerous setbacks,challenges,uncertainties and a lot of sacrifice. We need to understand & realize that the most important key to achieve our rise to power is to be resilient.

It is a common misconception that resilience is a trait. Well,as for me I also dont think that it is.

Trait is defined as a genetically determined attribute or characteristic or a distinguished characteristic specifically assigned to each individual. Anyone can develop or acquire resiliency depending on your will and motivation to survive the hardships of life. It can be a dynamic learning process which means that you can learn how to be resilient though you were not genetically assigned to have one or you weren't brought up in an environment that fosters resilience. Any individual is capable of working on his inner strengths and developing his chance for growth.

Building Your Psychological Resilience

It is very difficult to change your ways if you are already used to doing it almost every day. But as what I have mentioned above we can always learn and develop our strengths & positive attitude one step at a time. Do not rush, since you can achieving anything at your own given pace. How do we build & develop resiliency?

First is we need to establish connections.

Instead of burning bridges like we usually do if we are faced with disappointments, we tend to destroy our relationships with others . We should build bridges instead of destroying it. These social connections could help us develop our capacity to move on and fight with certain hard knocks of life.

Second, we should treat problems as challenges.

The more we linger with the fact that these problems are considered as dilemmas it would make us feel desperate and hopeless. Changing how we interpret experiences by responding positively to it could pave our way to greatness.

Third, we should always put in our minds that even if we sulk up and cry or give up on life nothing will ever change.

It cannot revive the ones that we lost,rekindle broken ties or to prevent difficult events from happening. The only thing that we can do is to develop acceptance and to move on. We should accept things as they are & move on with life on a positive attitude. It's okay to be hurt,to feel agitated or to lose something. What's not okay is if you gave up on life without even attempting to fight first.

References:
1. Philippines: Typhoon Haiyan
2. Stories of Resilience After Typhoon Haiyan
3. The Road to Resilience
4. Resilience in Positive Psychology: Bouncing Back & Going Strong
5. Resilience & Positive Psychology: What Exactly is Resilience and Why is it Important?
6. Cognitive Resilience:What is it? How do I build it?

Further Reading:
Brom D.,Pat-Horenczyk R., Ford J. (2009)Treating Traumatized Children: Risk,Resilience & Recovery,Routledge: Taylor & Francis Group,London and New York

Images:
1,2,3,4,5,6

Love & Light,
@sakura1012

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