2023-08-10 18:00:03
When resilience is misunderstood and applied in unhealthy ways, you’re likely to reap more harm than good. You must learn to set the limit.
Last update: August 10, 2023
We often hear messages about the ability to adapt and recover from adverse situations, such as crises, grief and problems. But really, is it a great human ability? Read carefully because we want to tell you that there are also disadvantages of resilience. Is it possible to recognize where the limit is?
What is resilience?
Resilience is a concept that explains recovery from adverse events. It is a concept that arises from physics, being also used in ecology, medicine, psychiatry and psychology. We can understand it as a feature, result and process.
It applies to different areas of industry, knowledge and health. Therefore, it is used in work, educational and health settings.
The word has its origin in Latin resilierewhich designates the possibility of recovering the original shape after the impact that deformed the material. Pioneering research on resilience was focused on individual capacities. One of the first studies dates back to the 1940s, conducted by Ren Spitz and Anna Freud. For this study, they focused on minors interned in institutions and how the resistant capacity emerged in them.
In 1982, Werner and Smith published their research on the importance of the character of certain people, capable of maintaining a survival attitude in the face of adversity. In addition, in 1984, the authors Garmez, Masten and Tellege stand out, who define the qualities of resilient people. Then, in 1985, Rutte investigates self-control, self-efficacy, and relationships.
In 1993, Wolin and Wolin describe the pillars of resilience. These pillars are structured in the form of a mandala, which make up a tool that shows the resilient idiosyncrasies of people:
introspection, independence, morality, ability to relate, humor, creativity or initiative.
The definition of resilience shifts from identifying personal qualities to exploring the influence of context. In this way, research seeks to understand how and where these resilient characteristics emerge. The main theoretical contributions of this approach come from the studies by Benson in 1997, Rutter in 1999, Masten in 2001 and Luthar in 2003.
Resilience is the ability of a person or a group to successfully adapt to changes generated by stressful situations, allowing difficulties to be overcome.
Disadvantages of resilience
Resilience contributes to improving our quality of life. However, sometimes it can be misused when experiencing various problems. These are the possible disadvantages of being resilient and its potential risks.
Resilient capacity is not global
One of the disadvantages of resilience is that cannot reflect the globality of the different social dynamics, because there are various circumstances that we cannot choose or do not know how to change. The life story of each human being is unique.
May decrease vision of vulnerability
People with a great capacity to recover are perceived as beings with great strength. This causes pressure on them that could lead to physical and mental exhaustion..
However, they are individual cases that should not be extended to the generality. Not all human beings manage to overcome problems in the same way.
Being vulnerable is a human condition in difficult situations.
Resilience can exert pressure to feel well-being
Another of the disadvantages of resilience is that we perceive it as an objective, achievement or result to be achieved, when in reality, it is a process, a characteristic or a human ability.
That’s why, many times we believe that we are obliged to feel better in adverse situations, causing stress in people responsible for families and homes, both men and women. Children and adolescents can also perceive the imposition to feel good.
Being resilient can lead us to deny emotions
Some people are so focused on being strong and solving their problems that they may deny or be unable to recognize their true emotions. Before bereavements, family separations, natural catastrophes or loss of employment, silence emotions to appear resilient.
The benefits of resilience
Surely you are wondering what are the benefits of resilience. According to the United Nations (UN), the process of building resilience in a population favors inclusion. It also helps mitigate humanitarian crises by reducing suffering.
The resilient human being can avoid the appearance of war traumas, family problems, work problems and the like. Those who develop this quality the most have a greater emotional balance, managing to feel satisfaction when assuming complex situations.
Resilience represents the strength to face a problem, allowing to continue with the daily life.
Other benefits consist of being able to control the memory of traumatic experiences, integrating memory and affections, promoting self-esteem, generating secure bonds and positive meanings to events. Therefore, the secret is to find the healthy limit to build resilience without falling into misrepresentations of it.
Know your limits
When you are experiencing a stage of exhaustion, remember that some psychologists have determined that people cannot develop the capacity to be resilient without limits. That would be an overestimation of capabilities.
Also, that is precisely one of the disadvantages of resilience: believing it an unlimited quality to effectively assume dangers or difficulties at all times during our lives.
Acknowledge your fatigue. When we are experiencing a situation that causes us exhaustion, it is time to reflect on the capacities. Sometimes we think we have limitless resistance. And that is not usually the case. So emotional exhaustion is more likely to occur.
Resilience has advantages, but also disadvantages when applied in unhealthy ways. You can discover the limit, learning more about your abilities, to assume the different experiences with your family, friends and co-workers.
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