What is Resilience?

When a person is bombarded by stress it throws them off balance, psychologically and even physically. Resilience is the ability to bounce back from those negative experiences, to persevere and even thrive in the face of challenging or stressful situations.  

Resilience is not a special ability that some people have while others do not. It is a skill that we can all learn whatever our circumstances or history. Difficult life events present opportunities as well as challenges. When we are faced by extreme situations such as the Covid-19 pandemic, we have to adapt in order to survive. Those adaptations don’t leave us once the pandemic is a thing of the past. They stay with us as lifelong skills that can help us deal with the challenges of the future too. Resilience is the result of those positive adaptations we make during stressful situations. It allows us to weather adversity and emerge on the other side as a strengthened and more resourceful person.

Resilience is important for several reasons; it enables us to develop mechanisms for protection against experiences which could be overwhelming, it helps us to maintain balance in our lives during difficult or stressful periods, and can also protect us from the development of some mental health difficulties and issues.

The purple section on our website allows you to look at things from a different perspective and learn at your own pace. This section is updated with lots of information from ourselves and our friends and our partners to help you build your resilience. 

The Cheshire & Merseyside Resilience Hub are a 9am to 5pm non-crisis service. If you require urgent help, please click here to be redirected to the urgent care section.