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Is Resilience the Result of Biology or Behavior?
By Neil Peterson | November 17, 2008
resilience: 1 : the capability of a strained body to recover its size and shape after deformation caused especially by compressive stress 2 : an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change
- Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Resilience is generally a quality we admire in others and hope we have when circumstances call for it. In some people, resilience seems to be available in heroic proportions. Others don’t respond as well to difficulties and may be overwhelmed by stressful events.
Our country is currently going through what many believe to be the most serious financial and economic crisis since the Great Depression. The fear, anger and depression this it is causing is evident in many of the news stories and statistics we read about in newspapers or hear on television. For example, USA Today recently reported that 74% of law enforcement officials surveyed by the Police Executive Research Forum had reported an increase in one or more categories of property crimes since the financial crisis began. The Los Angeles Times also reports that suicides are also on the increase.
But is resilience innate or something we learn? Lately, there has been growing interest in the biological basis of resilience. One study entitled “Mental Capital and Wellbeing: Making the most of ourselves in the 21st century” by a team of researchers summarized the factors that contribute to resilience. These factors include:
- Cognitive - Especially important are cognitive flexibility and coping strategies used by individuals to handle stressful or traumatic situations.
- Neurochemical- For example neuropeptide Y and dehydroepiandrosterone appear to play a role in the mediation of stress and resilience.
- Brain structure – Brain imaging studies have shown that the functioning of the extended limbic system may be key to determining resilience.
- Genetic markers – Several genes have been implicated in the way that individuals respond to stress and whether they are more or less likely to experience debilitating depression and fear. When these genes malfunction, enzymes critical for an adaptive stress response may be shut down.
These factors interact in a complex way with environmental triggers to determine how each of us responds to stressful or traumatic situations.
Are there lessons about human resilience for policymakers to keep in mind while trying to deal with our current economic crisis? According to an interesting post on Demos: The Think Tank for Everyday Democracy there is. It cites another study which indicates the foundations of human resilience are based on:
- Control - individuals having the belief that they are in control of their lives and of the response to a particular crisis.
- Coherence - having structures and processes in place that provide clarity and promote understanding, thereby decreasing uncertainty among individuals.
- Connectedness - linked to the above two, supporting the ‘social bonds’ that form the basis of established relationships and social capital, which are so important in strengthening resilience.
Both of these studies seems to indicate that while our initial set point for handling difficult situations may be biologically determined, we can increase our “resilience quotient” through cognitive and psychological strategies. This is comforting news as we face the impacts of the global financial meltdown and the other challenges that will face us as we move deeper into this century.
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Topics: Business, General, Management, Perseverance, Self-improvement | No Comments »