I Can’t Sleep - Psychological Resilience | Gentle Sleep Reading

Episode Date: August 20, 2020

Drift off with this calm bedtime reading on psychological resilience, a peaceful way to ease insomnia and find rest. Benjamin’s soothing voice explores what resilience means, how humans adapt to stress and adversity, and the ways culture, science, and psychology understand inner strength. His gentle cadence transforms an important mental health topic into soft, fact-filled narration that calms the mind. This is not whispering or hypnosis—just relaxing storytelling and education designed to reduce stress, quiet anxiety, and help with sleepless nights. Press play, close your eyes, and let thoughts of resilience carry you into dreams. Want More? Request a Topic: https://www.icantsleeppodcast.com/request-a-topic Ad-Free Episodes: https://icantsleep.supportingcast.fm/ Shop Sleep-Friendly Products: https://www.icantsleeppodcast.com/sponsors Join the Discussion on Discord: https://discord.gg/myhGhVUhn7 This content is derived from the Wikipedia article on Psychological Resilience, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) license. Read the full article: Wikipedia – Psychological Resilience. Happy sleeping! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You're listening to a Glassbox media podcast. What if I told you that most of the modern day self-help advice you've been hearing could actually make you worse? The key to a better life isn't about feel-good gimmicks that sound catchy. The Mentally Stronger Podcast gives you access to a licensed therapist who shares science-backed tools that will actually change your life. Hi, I'm Amy Morin, psychotherapist, mental strength trainer, and international best-selling author. In each episode, we cover research-back strategies, like how to stop relying on willpower and start creating habits for lasting change. And the five mental strength-building exercises you can do from your couch.

I also speak to world-class experts like Dr. Nicole Kane, who shares how to permanently heal anxiety by addressing the root cause. With over 200 episodes in our catalog, this podcast is for you if you're ready to crush self-doubt, conquer challenges, and become stronger than ever with therapist-approved strategies that can change your life. Listen to Mentally Stronger with Therapist Amy Morin, wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to the I Can't Sleep podcast, where I read random articles from across the web to bore you to sleep with my soothing voice. I'm your host, Benjamin Boster. Today's episode is from a Wikipedia article titled Psychological Resilience.

psychological resilience is the ability to mentally or emotionally cope with a crisis or to return to pre-crisis status quickly resilience exists when the person uses mental processes and behaviors in promoting personal assets and protecting self from the potential negative effects of stressors in simpler terms psychological resilience exists in people who do develop psychological and behavioral capabilities that allow them to remain calm during crisis chaos and to move on from the incident without long-term negative consequences. Background

Resilience is generally thought of as a positive adaptation after a stressful or adverse situation. When a person is bombarded by daily stress, it disrupts their interoperable. and external sense of balance, presenting challenges as well as opportunities. However, the routine stressors of daily life can have positive impacts which promote resilience. It is still unknown what the correct level of stress is for each individual. Some people can handle greater amounts of stress than others. According to Germain and Gitterman, 1996, stress is experienced in an individual's life course

at times of difficult life transitions involving developmental and social change, traumatic life events including grief and loss, and environmental pressures encompassing poverty and community violence. Resilience is the integrated adaptation of physical, and spiritual aspects in a set of good or bad circumstances, a coherent sense of self that is able to maintain normative developmental tasks that occur at various stages of life.

The Children's Institute of the University of Rochester explains that resilience research is focused on studying those who engage in life with hope and humor, despite devastating losses. it is important to know that resilience is not only about overcoming a deeply stressful situation, but also coming out of the said situation with competent functioning. Resiliency allows a person to rebound from adversity as a strengthened and more resourceful person. Aaron Antonowski in 1979 stated that when an event is appraised as comprehensible, predictable, manageable, controllable, and somehow meaningful, explainable, a resilient response is more likely.

History The first research on resilience was published in 1973. The study used epidemiology, which is the study of disease prevalence, to uncover the risks and the protective factors that now help define resilience. A year later, the same group of researchers created tools to look at systems that support development of resilience. Emmy Werner was one of the early scientists to use the term resilience in the 1970s. She studied a cohort of children from Kauai, Hawaii. Kauai was quite poor, and many of the children in the study grew up with alcoholic or mentally ill-timore.

parents. Many of the parents were also out of work. Werner noted that of the children who grew up in these detrimental situations, two-thirds exhibited destructive behaviors in their later teen years, such as chronic unemployment, substance abuse, and out-of-wedlock births in case of teenage youth. And out of wedlock births in case of teenage girls. However, one-third of these youths, youngsters did not exhibit destructive behaviors. Werner called the latter group resilient, thus resilient children and their families were those who, by definition, demonstrated traits that allowed them to be more successful than non-resilient children and families. Resilience also emerged as a major theoretical and research topic from

the studies of children with mothers diagnosed with schizophrenia in the 1980s. In a 1989 study, the results showed that children with a schizophrenic parent may not obtain an appropriate level of comforting caregiving compared to children with healthy parents, and that such situations often had a detrimental impact on children's development. On the other hand, some children of ill parents thrived well and were competent in academic achievement, and therefore led researchers to make efforts to understand such responses

to adversity. Since the onset of the research and resilience, researchers have been devoted to discovering the protective factors that explain people's adaptation to adverse conditions, such as maltreatment, catastrophic life events, or urban poverty. The focus of empirical work then has been shifted to understand the underlying protective processes. Researchers endeavor to uncover how some factors, e.g. connection to family, may contribute to positive outcomes. Process. In all these instances, resilience is best understood as a process. However, it is often mistakenly assumed to be a trait of the individual, an idea more typically referred to as resiliency. Most research now shows that resilience is the result of individuals being able to interact with their environments

and the processes that either promote well-being or protect them against the overwhelming influence of risk factors. It is essential to understand the process or this cycle of resiliency. When people are faced with an adverse condition, there are three ways in which they may approach the situation. One, erupt with anger. Two, implode with overwhelming negative emotions go numb and become unable to react. Three, simply become upset about the disruptive change. Only the third approach promotes well-being. It is employed by resilient people who become upset about the disruptive state

and thus change their current pattern to cope with the issue. The first and second approaches lead people to adopt the victim role by blaming others and rejecting any coping methods even after the crisis is over. These people prefer to instinctively react rather than respond to the situation. Those who respond to the adverse conditions by adapting themselves tend to cope, spring back, and halt the crisis. Negative emotions involve fear, anger, anxiety, distress, helplessness, and hopelessness, which decrease a person's ability to solve the problems they

face and weaken a person's resiliency. Constant fears and worries weaken people's immune system and increase their vulnerability to illness. These processes include individual continuous coping strategies, or may be helped by a protective environment like good families, schools, communities, and social policies that make resilience more likely to occur. In this sense, resilience occurs when there are cumulative protective factors. These factors are likely to play a more important role that greater the individual's exposure to cumulative risk factors.

Biological models. Three notable bases for resilience, self-confidence, self-esteem, and self-concept all have roots in three different nervous systems, respectively the somatic nervous system, the autonomic nervous system, and the central nervous system. An emerging field in the study of resilience is the neurobiological basis of resilience to stress. For example, neuropeptide Y and 5 dehydroepidopiandrostrone are thought to limit the stress response by reducing sympathetic nervous system activation. and protecting the brain from the potentially harmful effects of chronically elevated cortisol levels respectively.

In addition, the relationship between social support and stress resilience is thought to be mediated by the oxytocin system's impact on the hypothalmic pituitary adrenaline axis. Resilience conceptualized as a positive biopsychological adaptation, is proven to be a useful theoretical context for understanding variables for predicting long-term health and well-being. There is some limited research that, like trauma, resilience is epigenetic. That is, it may be inherited, but the science behind this finding is preliminary. Related factors. Studies show that there are several factors which develop and sustain a person's resilience.

One, the ability to make realistic plans and be capable of taking the steps necessary to follow through with them. Two, confidence in one's strengths and abilities. Three, communication and problem-solving skills. Four, the ability to manage strong impulses and feelings. Resilience is negatively correlated with personality traits of neuroticism and negative emotionality, which represents tendencies to see and react to the world as threatening, problematic, and distressing, and to view oneself as vulnerable. Positive correlations stands with personality traits

of openness and positive emotionality, that represents tendencies to engage and confront the world with confidence and success and a fair value of self-directedness. Positive emotions There is significant research found in scientific literature on the relationship between positive emotions and resilience. Studies show that maintaining positive emotions whilst facing adversity promote flexibility and thinking and problem solving. Positive emotions serve an important function in their ability to help an individual recover from stressful experiences and encounters. That being said, maintaining a positive emotionality aids in counteracting the psychological effects of negative emotions. It also facilitates adaptive coping, builds enduring social resources, and increases personal well-being. The formation of conscious perception and the monitoring of one's own socio-emotional factors

is considered a stable aspect of positive emotions. This is not to say that positive emotions are merely a byproduct of resilience, but rather that feeling positive emotions during stressful experiences may have adaptive benefits in the coping process of the individual. Empirical evidence for this prediction arises from research on resilient individuals who have a propensity for coping strategies that concretely elicit positive emotions, such as benefit-finding and cognitive re-appraisal, humor, optimism, and goal-directed problem-focused coping. Individuals who tend to approach problems with these methods of coping

may strengthen their resistance to stress by allocating more access to these positive emotional resources. Social support from caring adults encourage resilience among participants by providing them with access to conventional activities. Positive emotions not only have physical outcomes, but also physiological ones. Some physiological outcomes caused by humor include improvements in immune system functioning and increases in levels of salivary immunoglobulin A, a vital system antibody which serves as the body's first line of defense and respiratory illnesses. Moreover, other health outcomes include faster insulin.

injury recovery rate, and lower readmission rates to hospitals for the elderly, and reductions in a patient stay in the hospital, among many other benefits. A study was done on positive emotions and trait-resilient individuals, and the cardiovascular recovery rate following negative emotions felt by those individuals. The results of the study showed that trait-resilient individuals experiencing positive emotions had an acceleration. in the speed and rebounding from cardiovascular activation initially generated by negative emotional arousal, i.e. heart rate and the like. Forgiveness is also said to play a role in predicting resilience among patients with chronic pain, but not the severity of the pain. Other factors.

A study was conducted among high-achieving professionals who seek challenging situations that require resilience. Research has examined 13 high achievers from various professions, all of whom had experienced challenges in the workplace and negative life events over the course of their careers, but who had also been recognized for their great achievements in their respective fields. Participants were interviewed about everyday life in the workplace, as well as their experiences with resilience and thriving. The study found, six main predictors of resilience, positive and proactive personality, experience and learning, sense of control, flexibility and adaptability, balance and perspective, and perceived social support.

High achievers were also found to engage in many activities unrelated to their work, such as engaging in hobbies, exercising, and organizing meetups with friends and loved ones. Several factors are found to modify the negative effects of adverse life situations. Many studies show that the primary factor for the development of resilience is social support. While many competing definitions of social support exist, most can be thought of as the degree of access to and use of strong ties to other individuals who are similar to oneself. social support requires not only that you have relationships with others,

but that these relationships involve the presence of solidarity and trust, intimate communication, and mutual obligation both within and outside the family. Additional factors are also associated with resilience, like the capacity to make realistic plans, have self-confidence and a positive self-image, developing communications skills, and the capacity to manage strong feelings and impulses. Temperamental and constitutional disposition is considered as a major factor in resilience.

It is one of the necessary precursors of resilience, along with warmth and family cohesion and accessibility of pro-social support systems. There are three kinds of temperamental systems that play part in resilience. They are the appetitive system, defensive, system and attentional system. Another protective factor is related to moderating the negative effects of environmental hazards or a stressful situation in order to direct vulnerable individuals to optimistic paths, such as external social support. More specifically, a 1995 study distinguished three contexts for protective factors. One, personal attributes, including outgoing, bright, and positive

self-concepts. Two, the family, such as having close bonds with at least one family member, or an emotionally stable parent, and three, the community, such as receiving support or counsel from peers. Furthermore, a study in the elderly in Zurich, Switzerland, illuminated the role humor plays as a coping mechanism to maintain a state of happiness in the face of age-related diversity. Besides the above distinction on resilience, research has also been devoted to discovering the individual differences in resilience. Self-esteem, ego control, and eco-resiliency are related to behavioral adaptation. For example, maltreated children who feel good about themselves may process risk situations differently by attributing different reasons to the environments they

experience, and thereby avoid producing negative internalized self-perceptions. Ego control is the threshold or operating characteristics of an individual with regard to the expression or containment of their impulses, feelings, and desires. Ego resilience refers to dynamic capacity to modify his or her model level of ego control, in either direction as a function of the demand characteristics of the environmental context. Maltreated children who experienced some risk factors, e.g. single parenting, limited maternal education or family unemployment, showed lower ego resilience and intelligence than non-maltreated children. Furthermore, maltreated children are more likely than non-maltreated children to demonstrate disruptive, aggressive,

withdraw, and internalized behavior problems. Finally, ego resiliency and positive self-esteem were predictors of competent adaptation in the maltreated children. Demographic information, e.g. gender, and resources, e.g. social support, are also used to predict resilience. Examining people's adaptation after disaster showed women were associated with less likelihood of resilience than men. Also individuals who are less involved in affinity groups and organizations show less resilience. Certain aspects of religions, spirituality, or mindfulness may hypothetically promote or

hinder certain psychological virtues that increase resilience. Research has not established connection between spirituality and resilience. According to the fourth edition of Psychology of Religion by Hood, at all, the study of positive psychology is a relatively new development. There has not yet been much direct empirical research, looking specifically at the association of religion and ordinary strengths of virtues. In a review of the literature on the relationship between religiosity, spirituality, and PTSD, amongst the significant findings about half of the studies showed a positive relationship and half should a negative relationship between measures of religiosity, spirituality,

and resilience. The United States Army has received criticism for promoting spirituality in its new comprehensive soldier fitness program as a way to prevent PTSD due to the lack of conclusive supporting data. In military studies, it has been found that resilience is also dependent on group support. Unit cohesion and morale is the best predictor of combat resiliency with a a unit or organization. Resilience is highly correlated to peer support and group cohesion. Units with high cohesion tend to experience a lower rate of psychological breakdowns than

units with low cohesion and morale. High cohesion and morale enhance adaptive stress reactions. Building. A cognitive behavioral therapy building resilience is a matter of mindfully changing basic behaviors and thought patterns. The first step is to change the nature of self-talk. Self-talk is the internal monologue people have that reinforce beliefs about the person's self-afficacy and self-value. To build resilience, the person needs to eliminate negative self-talk, such as, I can't do this and I can't handle this,

and to replace it with positive self-talk, such as, I can do this, and I can do this, and I can. handle this. A small change in thought patterns helps reduce psychological stress when a person is faced with a difficult challenge. The second step a person can take to build resilience is to be prepared for challenges, crises, and emergencies. In business, preparedness is created by creating emergency response plans, business continuity plans, and contingency plans. For personal preparedness, the individual can create a financial cushion to help with economic crises. He or she can develop social networks to help him or her through trying personal crises,

and he or she can develop emergency response plans for his or her household. Resilience is also enhanced by developing effective coping skills for stress. Coping skills help the individual to reduce stress levels, so they remain functional. Coping skills include using meditation, exercise, socialization, and self-care practices to maintain a healthy level of stress. There are many other lists associated with psychological resilience. The American Psychological Association suggests 10 ways to build resilience, which are, one, to maintain good relationships with close family members, friends, and others. 2. To avoid seeing crises or stressful events as unbearable problems.

3. To accept circumstances that cannot be changed. 4. To develop realistic goals and move towards them. 5. To take decisive actions in adverse situations. 6. To look for opportunities of self-discovery after a struggle with law. 7. To develop self-confidence. 8. To keep a long-term perspective and consider the stressful event in a broader context. 9. To maintain a hopeful outlook. Expecting good things and visualizing what is wished.

10. To take care of one's mind and body. Exercising regularly paying attention to one's own needs and feelings.