Resilience Bolstering

Resilience to Stress

Theories of resilience differ from many theories in psychology in that theories of resilience consider positive factors that lead to resistance to or recuperation from stress, not just the negative consequences of stress. Pioneers such as Walter Cannon in the 1930s, followed by Hans Selye in the 1950s, described positive outcomes that occur in response to stress. Selye used the term eustress to denote positive responses to a challenge, as distinguished from distress, which leads to more unhealthy outcomes. In the face of transient stress, sympathetic activation of one's autonomic nervous system is highly adaptive. Further, we require environmental challenges to continue to adapt and grow. Thus, a challenge is often beneficial to us when we rally to meet the challenge and downregulate once the challenge has subsided. However, in the case of trauma, the challenge can be so overwhelming that one is unable to adapt to the situation and downregulate following the cessation of the event. Physiological studies that followed have shown the detrimental effects on one's brain and body of ongoing stress response to trauma mediated by hyperactivation of the hypo-thalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) without sufficient restorative recuperation. Current research shows that long-term dysregulation of the HPA axis is associated with initial high levels of cortisol and alterations in hippocampal and limbic morphology. This leads to increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, substance use disorder, chronic pain syndromes, and emotional dysregulation such as depression and anger. Therefore, skills that assist in balancing autonomic activity are important for maintaining a healthy mind and body.

Richard S. Lazarus and his colleagues explored behavioral and attitudinal variations in people's responses to stress, distinguishing between adaptive and maladaptive enduring personality styles and more context-specific coping strategies that might be uniquely employed in response to specific situations. This line of research has led to some psychologists studying the effects of comprehensive enduring personality styles (such as neuroti-cism, extroversion, openness, etc.) through the use of personality measures including the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF), and the NEO Personality Inventory, whereas others focus on strategic responses to specific situations (using active-passive, internal-external, cognitive-emotional approaches) with such instruments as the Ways of Coping Questionnaire.

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