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October 2015 | Read this issue and more at www.healthandwellnessmagazine.net |
How Hardy is Your
Psyche?
Three key attitudes help turn
adversity into an advantage
By Dr. Tom Miller, Staff Writer
Among the psychological community, there is a term called “psychological hardiness,” which is the
resistance individuals may have
to cope with stressful life events
(Miller 2010). It includes the ability to withstand grief and accept loss
and the challenges of changes in our
lives. This is true for children, adolescents and adults. Those changes
come at every age and at every stage
of life. Those who do well develop
a method of adaptation to change.
A person has to be mentally strong
and highly self-sufficient to adapt to
many of the changes we face in our
lives today.
Why do some individuals suffer
physical and mental breakdowns
when faced with overwhelming
stress while others seem to thrive?
A landmark 12-year longitudinal
study by psychologist Salvatore R.
Maddi, Ph.D., and colleagues at the
University of Chicago offers some
answers. A prominent company,
Illinois Bell Telephone (IBT),
downsized from 26, [\