Resilience: The immunity booster for your mental health

By Damini Lalchand

The COVID-19 pandemic has created a sense of uncertainty for most individuals across the globe, by affecting one’s job security and other factors linked with their livelihoods. Although governments have acted on these issues, yet it is important to consider the mental health challenges associated with the crisis for many.

Prior to the pandemic, our global health care systems paid more attention to physical illnesses such as HIV, heart diseases and many more; inadequate attention was paid to mental health which aggregates 14% of the global burden of diseases (Collins, 2011). Currently, millions of healthcare professionals are selflessly working to administer effective treatments to those tested positive of the virus. However, the ramification allied with the pandemic on mental health is even bigger due to the global shortage of mental healthcare professionals (WHO, 2011). As a consequence, those living in low and middle-income countries would find it difficult to access high-quality mental health services.

Taking into account, the prevailing situation and the shortage of workforce in mental healthcare; one has to understand the pandemic is an affliction affecting people. It can be traumatising to those infected, lost a loved one, lost their jobs and so on. Before-mentioned events can influence one’s livelihood given the emotions a person goes through (i.e., grief, panic, anxiety, confusion and many more). The events associated with the pandemic are traumatic and one has to find a way to overcome the repercussions adversity has on an individual’s mental wellbeing.

As someone researching, on childhood adversities and its association with schizotypal traits in healthy adults; I understood that most people encounter stressful events in life and only a few develop psychiatric symptoms while some develop maladaptive traits, as a result of not being able to cope with adverse experience or bounce back from it. Having understood that, protective factors such as resilience prevent people from developing such symptoms or maladaptive personality traits.

Psychologists describe resilience as an ability to bounce back from adversities, traumas and significant incitements of stress (e.g., relationship problems, financial issues, etc.). Looking back at previous research, higher levels of resilience were observed in healthy individuals with low schizotypal traits, regardless of exposure to adverse life events. Although resilience empowers an individual to bounce back or adapt to the challenges of life, it also helps promote self-growth.

Resilience could be an alternative to immunity boosters such as turmeric latte or ginger tea as professed by most magazines, except for mental health. It shields a person from developing various mental health conditions; nevertheless, it does not imply being resilient will prevent the individual from stressful experiences. Considering there are people who are naturally resilient in comparison to others, it is safe to say that resilience can be built and it takes a while. Currently, resilience building is vital because the distress associated with the COVID crisis can have its ramifications on mental health and given the shortage of workforce in mental healthcare in some countries; Thereby it is important to practice resilience building. Given that resilience is usually an outcome of confronting difficulties (Whitley, 2018)and the COVID crisis can be viewed as a stressor to encourage resilience building. At the moment, it is not right to give the standard advice “have a positive outlook on life” or “find a sense of purpose in your life.”

Preferably, try the following:

Connect with people who you can trust, to provide support amid crisis. Talking to a friend would allow you to share your emotions. Do not withdraw yourself emotionally, and recognise the perks of accepting help and support from people who care for you.

Nurture yourself by getting proper sleep, nutrition, and regular exercises; as it helps strengthen the body to cope with stress and reduces the impacts of anxiety (APA, 2020). My top tip would also involve looking after your skin, maybe put on that facemask as part of nurturing yourself (part of loving yourself, am I right?).

Prepare a list of things, which make you feel safe and happy; this can help enhance your ability to be optimistic and can help in managing anxiety. It could be planning small activities (i.e., quiz time with your family or friends) or maintain a journal of the little things which made you smile (perhaps write about spotting a beautiful bird).

Establish realistic goals to focus on specific tasks that can help you achieve your goals. This could involve planning activities you could do for the day (i.e., arranging your wardrobe or trying a new recipe). It helps keep proactive and gives less room to dwell on worries and fears.

You cannot change what has happened but acceptance makes it easier to adapt to the current situation. Be patient, exercise resilience building, because this will help you get out of this lockdown, stronger than ever. So, be hopeful and look forward to that glorious future that awaits us.

About the author

Damini Lalchand, MBPsS, M.Ps.S.I

Damini is a Ph.D. student based in the Department of Psychology and Sports Sciences at the University of Hertfordshire (UK) and has previous research experience of  mental health stigma associated with schizophrenia in South Asian communities. She has briefly worked with destitute women in South India, who have been abused and suffers from mental health illnesses. Her experiences of working with victims of abuses and passion for advocating mental health in the South Asian diaspora inspired her current work; looking at the association of resilience between childhood adversities and schizotypal traits in healthy adults of Indian backgrounds living in England.

Reference

Bruckner, T., Scheffler, R., Shen, G., Yoon, J., Chisholm, D., & Morris, J. et al. (2010). The mental health workforce gap in low- and middle-income countries: a needs-based approach. Bulletin Of The World Health Organization, 89(3), 184-194. doi: 10.2471/blt.10.082784

Collins, P., Patel, V., Joestl, S., March, D., Insel, T., & Daar, A. et al. (2011). Grand challenges in global mental health. Nature, 475(7354), 27-30. doi: 10.1038/475027a

Palmiter, D., Alvord, M., Dorlen, R., Comas-Diaz, L., Luthar, S., & Maddi, S. et al. (2020). Building your resilience. Retrieved 7 May 2020, from https://www.apa.org/topics/resilience

Resilience | Psychology Today International. (n.d.,). Retrieved 7 May 2020, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/basics/resilience

Whitley, R. (2018). Three Simple Ways to Enhance Mental Health Resilience. Retrieved 7 May 2020, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/talking-about-men/201802/three-simple-ways-enhance-mental-health-resilience