"Resilience" - is this the new black in psychiatric health care and prevention?

Abstract

Thousands of children have watched the Disney cartoons in which the main character mourns the loss of a loving and caring parent. A perilous and difficult time lies ahead during which the main character almost succumbs, but then meets friends and succeeds in the formation of healthy and enduring relationships. This is the turning point. In the end, the main character grows up to become a strong adult with a bright future. It is hardly conscious, but Disney has produced several movies that confirm an emerging realization in the research regarding resilience: a strong correlation exists between the relationships we have with our parents (or, in some cases, “significant others”) and how resilient we become to deal with life’s injustices later in life. In a review and concept analysis, resilience was defined as “the process of effectively negotiating, adapting to, or managing significant sources of stress or trauma. Assets and resources within the individual, their life and environment facilitate this capacity for adaptation and ‘bouncing back’ in the face of adversity” (1). It has further been suggested that adversity in itself is a vital part of developing a resilient mindset (2,3). Bell-Tolliver and colleagues (4) state that the “capacity to rebound from adversity, misfortune, trauma or other transitional crises” results in children who are “strengthened and more resourceful.” Altogether, this indicates that research may have focused too much on risk factors, and putting increased focus on potential protective factors may help identify the factors responsible for the appearance and facilitation of resilience.