Stress: resilience and management

Resilience to stress is our body’s resistance to episodes of stress that can become chronic.

Adverse events can affect our brains and are mainly considered primary sources of risk for depression, anxiety and other disorders. However, it is also true that many people who face stressful life events do not develop adverse outcomes, that is, they are resilient to the harmful effects of stress. In this sense, studies show that genetic factors can shape the body’s resistance to adversity.

Modern medicine is now trying to study and evaluate what causes a person to be less resilient to stress and to determine what can be done to increase their markers.

Stress management from an in-depth study of the individual

Solutions cannot be applied if the causes that have led a person to suffer from chronic stress are not identified. Through an in-depth diagnosis, the specialist in stress management at SHA Wellness Clinic helps to identify those internal and external factors that are creating stress in a person’s day-to-day life. Subsequently, action is taken on their symptomatology, which can be highly varied and may include, for example:

• Frustration
• Loss of control
• Difficulty in relaxing
• Pessimism
• Fatigue
• Poor memory
• Stomach problems
• And many others…

The result of this exhaustive analysis should be the recovery of emotional and physical health, thus increasing resistance (or resilience) to stress.

Building healthy habits in the face of stress

Developing resilience to stress is a long-term task. The specialist will give general guidelines for the patient to work on daily, exercises that will help develop strong brain defence mechanisms against the negative impact of even small moments of stress. Some of these guidelines are:

1. Developing a strong, positive attitude in the face of adversity
2. Controlling your life
3. Being mindful
4. Fostering your spiritual side
5. Developing optimism
6. Encouraging social relationships
7. Exercising