The Wonderful Emotional Brain Of Resilient People

Resilient people know that no one is immune to suffering, adversity. They know that when moments of darkness or despair arise, they have two options: to let themselves be dominated or imposed, to struggle with all the strategies they possess, because life is wonderful if you don’t fear it.   

The term “resilience” comes from the field of physics. It refers to the ability of some materials to resist pressure and flex flexibly, and then return to their original shape. Well, resilience applied to psychology presents another more interesting existential dynamic: that of making us grow.  

The concept of resilience began to be used 40 years ago in the field of child psychology. It sought to understand how the children coped with family problems and the adversities of their surroundings.

For a long time, the idea was maintained that resilience had genetic origins,  that is to say that a person who had suffered from post-traumatic stress during his life transmitted this gene to his children, making them more vulnerable and with greater difficulty in ‘ face complex experiences.

The genetic origin of resilience ended up being put aside over the years, to orient itself more on psychosocial and neurological factors.   

An example of this is the study by Dennis Charney, of Icahn and Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and Steven Southwick of Yale School of Medicine, which determined how the brains of resilient and non-resilient people work. they are not. These are the main data to take into consideration:    

Neurological origins of resilience

There are people who are much better adapted than others to stress or pressure.

• The origin of this would lie in a more effective neurological control of hormones such as adrenaline, noradrenaline and cortisol. 

When faced with a threat, these three neurotransmitters appear in the brain, and when the threat disappears, resilient people will make these three hormones disappear instantly. Conversely, a non-resilient person will continue to experience a persistent psychological threat, because cortisol, adrenaline and noradrenaline continue to be present in their brain.

• The brains of resilient people are characterized by a balanced use of dopamine.  This neurotransmitter, related to reward and gratification, is useful for us to face adversity.

It must be taken into account that, when in a state of chronic stress or anxiety, our brain releases dopamine, the neurotransmitter of pleasure, and this is why in these moments we feel helpless and have difficulty acting with resilience.

Key points for learning how to develop resilience

One aspect that we must not forget is that resilience is a skill and, therefore, a capacity that we can develop and train. In order for our brain to reach neurochemical balance, it is necessary to properly manage our emotions.

Being able to be resilient is a process and a teaching that should also be taught at school. In this regard, Martin Seligman, father of positive psychology, has created an interesting program in various middle schools, with excellent results.

To summarize, these are the key points for learning to be resilient:

• Never let yourself be overwhelmed by your emotions, as if they were handcuffs that paralyze you. Imagine that you always have an internal emotional compass with you, which allows you to keep control over your mind,  to gain attention and effectiveness.

• Be yourself,  do not continually seek the approval of others or please everyone. All this takes you away from your interests, from your balance.

• Do not be carried away by fanaticism or by an unrealistic positivism.  It is about seeing things objectively while also understanding that adversity is part of life.

• Concentrate on the here and now,  on what is important in the present: do not anticipate things that have not happened and do not complain about things that have already passed.

• Help and let them help you.  Maintain your social relationships and build positive bonds that are worth investing time in, that you can trust and grow as people in freedom and integrity.