MHM Magazine

30 | MENTAL HEALTH MATTERS | 2024 | Issue 5 MHM Resilience is the ability to deal with stress, trauma or adversity, and we often think that some individuals are better equipped to “bounce back” or maintain well-being than others. There is however no evidence on who will have the ability to cope or bounce back or not - this is the resilience paradox. Being health care professionals, we often trust euphemisms such as “It will work out”, “…hang in there, it will get better” or “…it could have been worse” and sometimes self-medicate. From a therapeutic perspective, ask yourself how you usually cope in stressful times or coped in the past. The answer then suggests the level of resilience you may have to deal with the present stressful situation to restore psychological well-being and continue life as if nothing changed. The reality is that resilience is complex and sometimes, an elusive target as it is difficult to predict the outcome. Understanding resilience Besides everyday stressors of life, we think of resilience in terms of trauma. Whether it’s an acute trauma or a single incident, chronic trauma (repetitive or ongoing such as domestic violence and abuse, disability or illness) or complex trauma that is often multifaceted, invasive and of interpersonal nature, a person’s ability to cope is directly linked with resilience. Health professionals often experience vicarious trauma as observers of traumatic events or dealing with patients’ trauma. When a person says “I usually cope very well” – it may or may not be true in the present situation. However, if the person claims to be sensitive, or struggling with coping, you can safety net the person as the negative response to resilience question, which is a better indicator of non-coping behaviour. Research showed that resilience has multiple ways to reach the same outcome, and is unlikely to return to the original state of wellbeing after an adverse or traumatic event as residual symptoms may linger. Not all residual symptoms are indicative of acute stress disorder or post- traumatic stress disorder however, long term stress due to the residual symptoms is associated with psychiatric disorders. The following determinants for resilient behaviour are often reported: 1. Personality differences. 2. Emotional and social support – including social networks providing support. 3. Functional coping resources. 4. Emotional self-regulation that is also associated with the expression and acceptance of emotions to ameliorate stress. 5. Search for psychological, philosophical or spiritual meaning and anchored by consistent value system. RESILIENCE PARADOX WITHIN HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS By Dr Deidre Pretorius Department of Family Medicine and Primary Care, Division of Family Medicine, University of Witwatersrand MHM | 2024 | Volume 11 | Issue 5 | Resilience paradox within healthcare professionals H