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In a recent Small Animal Talk blog post, ‘Can resilience inoculate against burnout, depression and suicide?‘ Nadine discussed why some people seemed to be affected more severely by the common stressors within the veterinary industry than others. She suggested it came down to an individual’s coping skills, personality, optimism and resiliency, all of which seemed like great topics for Blog Posts.
The answer to this is no. While optimism is the basis of positive thinking, there are different levels of optimism.
However, while being optimistic is healthy, and various studies have linked optimism to being healthier and living longer, it is important to understand that for us to have a healthy level of optimism, we must also be realistic.
For example, I am hugely optimistic (in fact, it is my number one character strength); however, I am also realistic. Expecting that I will be a billionaire in six months and being very optimistic about this does not mean this will happen because I am not really being realistic. However, if I was hoping for my financial situation to improve in six months, this is optimistic AND realistic, as this is absolutely possible.
And the great news is that you can learn to be more optimistic! In fact, Martin Seligman (coined the father of Positive Psychology) has written a book on this exact topic! Strategies such as acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and/or cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) can be beneficial in helping to deal with unhelpful/pessimistic thoughts and redirecting them to something more helpful/optimistic.
Resilience is not necessarily only gained by experiencing some unfortunate event – it is possible to create psychological fortitude and strength by undergoing events that are positive as well. These behaviours and skills influence the individual’s assumptions, so there is a constantly operating dynamic process. This set of assumptions is referred to as a mindset.
It is reported that resilience is more about how you bounce back or respond to events in your life, rather than what actually happens to you at the time of the event, and is about establishing a level of acceptance and flexibility in relation to life events.
While having a resilient mindset does not infer that an individual is free from conflict, stress, and pressure, it can imply, however, that the individual can cope with problems as they surface successfully. It is also reported that some people seem to have a genetic influence of resilience. That is, when faced with separation or grief, some individuals can naturally resume their former mental shape without disconnection, while other individuals seemingly spend most of their lives trying to find their peace of mind and lost confidence.
When we can accept that our life is going to involve a mixed bag of experiences that will be both positive and negative, it places us in a much better position to be able to deal with the life events that will undoubtedly be thrown at us from time to time. Accepting the things that we can and cannot change in our life is one of the most important factors in understanding resilience. Essentially this means accepting and learning not to put our energy and focus into the things that are not working so well for us, but instead being able to grow and work with the things that are right in our lives.
If you would like to ask Nadine any questions about optimism and resilience, why not ask them in the comments section below?
Dr Nadine Hamilton is a psychologist who spent over six years researching veterinarian wellbeing at a doctoral level. Her research investigated why the rate of suicide in this profession is so high as well as developing an evidence-based psycho-educational intervention program. Nadine has since commenced new doctoral research (PhD) to extend her research into veterinary wellbeing and works exclusively with the veterinary profession. Positive Psych Solutions is her boutique psychology practice that is also home to the revolutionary intervention program "The Coping & Wellbeing Program for Veterinary Professionals".
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