Resilience

Resilience

 Resilience. How do you define resilience? When I think of resilience, many things come to mind, especially now: dealing with the potential loss of memories in the Oregon wildfires, turning on the news to see the division in our country grow wider and wider, or pursuing residency in the era of COVID-19, when all odds seem against us.Or maybe something even more personal: overcoming the loss of a loved one, dealing with grief that goes hand in hand with divorce, having to persevere through insurmountable odds, or dealing with debilitating depression and self-doubt after having your job stripped away due to the pandemic, when your identity had been wrapped up in being a productive member of society.Resilience is such a broad term and it’s really hard to sum this powerful word into a few paragraphs. But, all in all, the beauty of defining any term lies in its subjectivity. Melissa sheds light on her thoughts about resilience:“Truth be told, I had a really difficult time trying to figure out what to write on the topic of resilience. My difficulty in writing this stems in part from a recent familial loss, as well as from the influence of my Crisis Text Line texters. From a purely biological standpoint, it makes sense that humans would have the ability to overcome challenges. Survival demands that basic needs are met regardless of how one feels. However, I struggle with the idea that resiliency is seen as a sign of strength because then conversely, those who are not resilient, might be thought of as weak. I never want people to stigmatize suicide, substance abuse, or mental health challenges as a matter of weakness. To rectify this, it’s important to consider that we are all equipped with different genetics and experiences. Furthermore, the concept of resiliency itself is subjective. What is a challenge to one person may not be to another, and the scale of the challenge is unique to each individual.”Survival. I never thought about it in this sense, but she’s absolutely right. It makes sense that someone would push through insurmountable odds and pain, because as humans, we are engineered to do so. As much as I personally group the words resilience and strength together, Melissa made me consider others who struggle with resilience, and the importance of recognizing that everyone has a different subset of coping skills, as well as biological and environmental factors that come into play. To consider this, is of utmost importance, so that we may begin to de-stigmatize people who struggle with resilience and who learn to cope in different ways, sometimes unhealthy ways.Melissa continues,“As a collective whole, it has felt like every day since the year 2020 graced us with its presence, it has required some degree of resilience to get through. While this is certainly not the first time in human history that global, or local, circumstance required that people adapt and overcome, it is the first time in many of our lives when the challenges to bounce-back keep coming in short succession. Between the hostile political scene, COVID-19, natural disasters, and the heavily publicized deaths of unarmed black men and women, this year has almost required the constant ability to withstand adversity. Unfortunately, for many of us, this call to overcome challenges is not new. For some, it started with the color of their skin or the neighborhood they grew up in. For others, it started with childhood traumas or addiction. For others, it was the loss of a loved one, their struggles with mental or physical health, or countless other adversities.When faced with a constant barrage of loss, violence, uncertainty, and despair, it is natural to be fatigued. For those of us in the process of interviewing for medical residencies (although, this is no doubt a major disruption to many career fields), we are experiencing an unprecedented amount of uncertainty in an already uncertain time. This process was always anxiety-inducing; it is a culmination of many years of hard-work and education; it determines if you have a job, what specialty you will practice, and often what geographic location you will live in. Between the worldly events and this interviewing process, I often feel fatigued, and I believe I am not alone in that.” Melissa, you are certainly NOT ALONE in feeling this way. When I think of the year 2020, I not only think about the multitude of hurdles being thrown our way, but I feel that they are coming in waves, pounding us with their unrelenting force. For many, people were able to return back to work as “normal”, while others remain financially and emotionally devastated by the pandemic. Fatigued is a perfect description for how I feel, as I am constantly keeping up with the ever changing environment and the many uncertainties that come with it. Melissa concludes:“Again, I return to the concept of resiliency as a subjective reaction to challenges. For some, resilience is facing a day they did not want to face. For some resilience is going out and protesting. For some resilience is sobriety or maybe learning to smile again. It can be actions of a moment, or actions that affect a lifetime. The absence of resilience is not failure, nor a weakness. It is the result of the complex interplay between genetics and innate, or learned, coping mechanisms. Take solace in the knowledge that you are doing the best you can, given what you have, even if you feel like that is nothing at all.” Melissa, I couldn’t have said it any better myself. I know that I take solace in knowing that I am doing the best I can given overwhelming and seemingly impossible circumstances. I hope others take solace in that too. Take comfort in knowing that struggle is a part of the human condition. Just because some appear to cope with stress flawlessly, and others might fumble, it’s important to realize that struggle is not a sign of weakness, but rather a display of humanity and vulnerability.  Co-writers:Melissa Mahoney, OMS IV & Ashley Maestas, OMS IV