resilience

2022

What is resilience?
Environmental resilience
Resilience in psychology
Examples of resilience
Synonyms for resilience

We explain what resilience is and the use of this term in different areas. Also, some examples and synonyms of this ability.

One trait of resilience is the ability to make disaster positive.

What is resilience?

When we speak of resilience we refer to the capacity of an individual, a system or one community going through traumatic, violent or difficult episodes or events without this implying a permanent (and especially harmful) transformation in their structure or his way of being.

In fact, a trait of resilience is the ability to make disaster positive, that is, to get good things out of unfortunate events.

The term applies to various fields of knowledge, always oscillating around the same meaning, such as the psychology, the ecology and even engineering.

In all cases, however, it is linked to the nature of objects or individuals and is considered a value or a quality, a desirable and fomentable aspect, in the case of objects. Humans.

The word resilience comes from Latinresile, which translates to "go back" or "bounce."

Environmental resilience

Ecosystems are resilient by overcoming or adapting to violent changes.

In ecology, we speak of resilience to refer to the capacity of ecosystems and biotic communities to overcome sudden or violent changes in their habitat, managing to return to normal as soon as these changes cease, or even adapting to them.

This concept is closely linked to that of the biodiversity: a community with a wide variety of species Y Trophic chains he has a better chance of being resilient in the face of an eventuality, given that he has more game elements.

Resilience in psychology

The study of the human psyche identifies as resilience the capacity of the human mind to overcome or go through intense periods of pain or suffering and adapt positively to the new reality, regaining its vital thrust.

For some time it was thought that this characteristic was innate to human beings, but contemporary psychology has shown that it derives directly from upbringing and the values of self-esteem that are possessed. Thus, a person with a good self esteem will show, in principle, more resilient to the obstacles that arise in life, being able to overcome them and turn the experience into something positive for their life.

Examples of resilience

Human resilience can be demonstrated through the vital examples of four historical figures:

Nelson Mandela. The first black South African president reached the presidency of the republic after a tortuous path of political and social struggle that put him in jail for 27 years. An event of this magnitude would have made anyone give up, but Mandela persevered until he was released from prison, spearheading an alternative political movement, and winning free elections with a racial and political reconciliation project that brought South Africa out of Apartheid.
Stephen Hawking. The famous theoretical physicist and student of the universe Briton suffered since his youth from Amyotrophic Laterial Sclerosis (ALS), an incurable degenerative disease that caused him to lose most of the muscular control of his body. Although the doctors evicted him and assured him that he would not live long, Hawking continued his studies in physics and managed to become one of the most famous, important and recognized scientific voices in the entire world, even being confined to a wheelchair and having to speak using an electronic device.
Mark Inglis. This New Zealand mountaineering guide was caught in the middle of a snowstorm with his best friend on the ascent of Mount Cook in New Zealand. The cold was so intense during the 14 days they waited for rescue that his legs froze and had to be amputated. Far from giving up his passion and his trade, Inglis received metal prosthetic legs and insisted on mastering them to such an extent that he resumed mountaineering and in 2002 managed to climb to the top of the Mountain where he lost his legs.