November Medica HealthE Newsletter: Tips to build resilience in the face of hardships
The importance of building resilience
Resilience
is the ability to recover from challenging life events like losing a loved one,
job loss, life changes, or other difficult situations. Building resilience
includes being mindful of how you view and engage with the world, building a
quality network of social resources, and developing and practicing healthy
coping mechanisms.
Tips to strengthen resilience
- Build
social resources. Volunteering, participating in a hobby, or joining a
spiritual community can behelpful ways to build a strong and positive social
group.
- Find a
sense of purpose. Get involved in your community or choose skills and talents
you’d like to improve — focus
on accomplishments and progress.
- Be
flexible. Embrace change and the positives it can bring instead of
the stress.
- Learn
from experience. Reflect on how you’ve reacted to difficult events in the
past and what helped you recover; journaling can be useful for this — remember that you can’t
change the past, but you can use it for improvement.
- Practice
self-care. Ensure that you’re getting enough sleep, eating a healthy
diet, taking time for enjoyable activities and hobbies, and being physically
active on a daily basis.
- Practice
stress management and relaxation techniques. This can include
meditation, deep breathing exercises, guided imagery, yoga, or relaxing to
music.
- Take
action. Don’t ignore your problems or struggle through them alone — think of steps to
resolve the issue, and focus on progress instead of an immediate result.
More ways to find help
If
you’re struggling with building resilience or working through a difficult
situation, consider contacting a mental health professional to help you along
the process. Check out this National
Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) page for tips on connecting
with a mental health professional. If you’re experiencing a crisis, you can
call or text 9-8-8 to connect with the suicide and crisis lifeline