There are lots of things you can do to build resilience.
"Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light."
J.K.Rowling, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Click the + icons below to find out more.
Good relationships with close family members, friends or others are important.
Accepting help and support from those who care about you and will listen to you strengthens resilience.
Some people find that being active in community groups, religious organisations, or other local groups provides social support and can help with reclaiming hope.
Assisting others in their time of need can also benefit the helper.
Pay attention to your own needs and feelings.
Take part in activities that you enjoy and find relaxing.
Exercise regularly.
Taking care of you helps to keep your mind and body ready to deal with situations that require resilience.
3. Maintain a hopeful outlook
An optimistic outlook enables you to expect that good things will happen in your life.
Try imagining what you want, rather than worrying about what you fear.
4. Keep things in perspective
Even when facing very painful events, try to consider the stressful situation in a broader context and keep a long-term perspective.
6. Look for opportunities for self-discovery
People often learn something about themselves and may find that they have grown in some way as a result of trauma or stress.
Many people who have experienced tragedies and difficulties have reported better relationships, greater sense of strength even while feeling vulnerable, increased sense of self-worth, a more developed spirituality and heightened appreciation for life.
Act on difficult situations as much as you can: take decisive actions, rather than detaching completely from problems and stresses and wishing they would just go away.
8. Avoid seeing crises as impossible problems
Try looking beyond the present to how future circumstances may be a little better.
Note any subtle ways in which you might already feel some what better as you deal with difficult situations.
9. Move towards your goals
Develop some realistic goals. Do something regularly – even if it seems like a small accomplishment – that enables you to move toward your goals.
Instead of focussing on tasks that seem unachievable try and identify a step you can take to set you on your way.
See the Recovery College Online course “Goal Setting and Recovery” for further information.
Reflect on how you have coped and survived in the past.
Consider how you can use this knowledge to help you now
The more resilient you are, the more able you are to deal with difficulties that come your way. Even if you are experiencing difficulties now, you can still work towards becoming more resilient, now and in the future.
“Bounce Back!” is an acronym for some of the foundational principles of resilience, specifically:
B – Bad times don’t last, and things get better.
O – Other people can only help if you share with them.
U – Unhelpful thinking only makes you feel worse.
N – Nobody is perfect – not you, not your friends, not your family, not anybody!
C – Concentrate on the good things in life, no matter how small.
E – Everybody suffers, everybody feels pain and experiences setbacks; they are a normal part of life.
B – Blame fairly – negative events are often a combination of things you did, things others did, and plain bad luck.
A – Accept what you can’t change and try to change what you can.
C – Catastrophising makes things worse – don’t fall prey to believing in the worst interpretation.
K – Keep things in perspective. Even the worst moment is but one moment in life.
Source: Professor Helen McGrath’s Bounce Back! program.
