Many of the thousands of posts on the Moodscope blog are about dealing with our mental health. One of the main theories centres around the idea of ‘Acceptance’. But that raises the question of what follows acceptance? I think that could be ‘management’. Having learnt more about our mental health and reaching the point of acceptance we then need to manage it. There are several personality traits that make this easier. I have chosen four of these and want to discuss them in three separate Posts. The first trait I want to explore is resilience.

What exactly does it mean? There are a few definitions around but in its simplest form: “The ability to find happiness again after experiencing difficult times.” It is partly covered in the old saying:

Pick yourself up. Dust yourself down. And start all over again. 

So how do we learn to become more resilient? After a bit of research here are some suggestions:

1.  Seek help

Resilient people are willing to seek guidance from experts.

2.  Enjoy spending time alone

Resilient people aren’t afraid of getting to know their inner selves. They enjoy learning without distraction from others.

3. Value and build relationships

Resilient people respect others. They know building relationships takes time and effort.

4.  Practice self-care

Resilient people make daily efforts to take care of their physical and emotional well-being. For example having good practices for sleep, diet and medication.

5.  Have awareness of energy levels

They know that saying “yes” to every request will exhaust them. They conserve their resources and use them appropriately.

6.  Use positive self talk

They are aware of too much self criticism. They know mistakes will happen so are able to experience disappointment but not dwell on it for too long.   

7.  View challenging situations through the lens of gratitude.

Even in their worst moments they can find something to be grateful for. 

(Courtesy of Kristin Meekoff, American therapist and author) 

There is no doubt we need plenty of resilience, particularly if our mental health is poor. Having poor mental health means we probably have spells when we feel down and if our resilience is low we may fall further. Having greater resilience will help us ‘bounce back’. 

In my next Post I will explore two other personality traits that may be worth cultivating if we want to improve the management of our mental health. 

Teg

A Moodscope member