Emotional stability and resentment ~ Prose (Psychology)

The “black box” is usually talked about in two cases: on the program “What? Where? When?" and after a car accident. The paradox is that inside every person there is his personal “black box” - his psyche. And no improved methods can bring scientists closer to deciphering it. Why is the psyche the most mysterious subject for science and why cannot it be identified with consciousness? How do beautiful pictures from social networks provoke mental breakdowns? What comes first in the mind-body problem? This is what our article is about.

What is psyche?

The psyche is a specific way of functioning of the human soul, which is manifested by a complex set of conscious and unconscious processes that determine the basic properties of a person’s personality. It is not innate, but is formed throughout life through learning and communication. The psyche is an extremely difficult system to understand, which consists of hierarchically organized subsystems and elements. All of them are interconnected with each other, sometimes changeable and unstable.

The psyche is realized in mental processes, properties and states of a person. These are all the information processes and structures necessary for a person’s orientation and interaction with the outside world, ways of reflecting reality, organs and functions occurring inside the body. The main organ of mental activity is the brain.

The main properties of the psyche - integrity and consistency - work to:

Regulate behavior and activities.
Help a person understand his place in the world around him.
Manifest in special forms of conscious and unconscious reflection.
Form an emotionally and sensually colored subjective image of a real (objective) picture of the world.
Balance the conflict between your own needs and the demands of society.
Ensure human interaction with the environment.

Take a mental test

The term “psyche” comes from a Greek word that translates as “spiritual, vital.” The term is common in psychology, medicine, philosophy, so its meaning may vary. For a long time, the psyche was designated by the terms “soul”, “mental phenomena” and was the central subject of philosophizing. Sensory perceptions, sensations and images, emotions, experiences, dreams, trances, desires, intentions, intuition are also considered as mental phenomena.

Famous researchers of the human psyche were P.K. Anokhin, V.M. Bekhterev, I.M. Sechenov. One of the greatest psychologists, S. L. Rubinstein, argued that the psyche and consciousness are not self-sufficient, but belong to a person or specifically to an individual. This may be why the two concepts are often used interchangeably. But this designation is not entirely correct. The concept of the psyche is much broader , since in addition to consciousness it includes the unconscious and superconsciousness (Super-I). Moreover, the problem “Do we control consciousness or consciousness controls us?” remains open in the 21st century.

As professor of medicine V.F. Yasenetsky-Voino said: “I have done craniotomy many times, but I have never seen a mind there.” Despite the difficulties of studying the human psyche, research in this area does not stop. On the contrary, new methods of 3D scanning and brain modeling are being developed, and MRI technology is being improved. Scientists are obtaining new figures about neurons, synapses, and neural connections. But this is just data about “matter”. No one has been able to understand how thoughts, hypotheses, new ideas, speech, and how intuition works are formed.

Body or psyche: what comes first?

Unlike other highly organized living beings, humans are more complex. The human psyche is endowed with consciousness, the unconscious, emotions, and imagination. Everything in a person is so perfectly and ideally “fitted” that it is impossible to completely separate the physical from the mental. Therefore, if a problem occurs in the body, it needs help at all levels.

A simple experiment exercise will help you understand the relationship between the body and mental processes . What should be done:

Sit on a chair, spread your arms wide to the sides, throw your head back. Take a deep breath, exhale deeply.
Try to remember something sad, feel sad. In this situation, it is impossible to maintain a feeling of sadness for a long time. Either the sadness will begin to go away, or you will want to lower your shoulders and tighten the muscles of your neck and torso.
The fact is that sadness is held on a physical level with the help of muscle tension. It is impossible to keep it in such an “unfolded” position. Therefore, there is no muscle tension, no sadness.

One way or another, all mental phenomena are accompanied by bodily processes. They lead to subtle changes in blood circulation, breathing rate, muscle contraction, and gland activity, even in cases where it is completely unnoticeable. More significant manifestations of this relationship are psychosomatic diseases and, conversely, treatment of diseases through suggestion or psychotherapy. Therefore, the body-psyche problem is akin to the question: “What comes first - the egg or the chicken?” There is no clear answer.

Take a psychological age test

Definition of emotional stability

Emotional resilience is the strength to push through the storm and still keep the sail steady. Living in the era of technological revolution, every ten years we adapt to changes that were not previously in our lives. From strict digitization to the 24/7 influence of social media, it is natural to feel emotionally attached from time to time.

Emotional resilience is an art of living that is associated with self-belief, self-compassion, and improved cognition. This is a way in which we can perceive adversity as “temporary” and continue to grow through pain and suffering.

Important! Broadly speaking, emotional resilience means moving away from a stressful situation and not letting it affect our internal motivation.

When we are resilient, we not only adapt to stress and disappointments, we also develop awareness to avoid actions that could lead us to such situations. Consider the following example:

A reliable employee, a loving husband and an excellent manager. Mr. A starts his work on time and is focused. He strives to learn from his mistakes, never procrastinates, and therefore never misses a deadline to grow like many of his friends do. He is happy for what he has been able to achieve so far. Mr. A is emotionally stable.

What is psychological (im)stability?

A strong psyche will help you withstand any pressure, endure any disasters and successfully survive adverse circumstances. To do this, you need to develop the capabilities given by nature. But doing it right will strengthen your spirit, not break it.

How does the psyche break down?

Among the most obvious reasons for mental breakdown, most will name traumatic events, violence, and betrayal. This is true. But there are other, invisible at first glance, causes of mental illness.

Disruption of the internal biological clock.

The internal clock “ticks” in almost every cell of the body, and also sets its own rhythm of functioning of organs and tissues. They greatly affect the functioning of the whole body, hormonal levels, temperature, and metabolism. This influence is especially evident in adolescents and the elderly.

It has been proven that disruption of internal rhythm not only tires, but leads to mental disorders (depression, neuroses, unstable behavior, acute attacks of loneliness.). It's not just about jet lag or being active at night. The biological clock gets confused when using gadgets at night. The white light of the screen muffles the production of the sleep hormone melatonin and disrupts the usual rhythm of work of other organs.

Burnout.

A state of chronic stress leads to physical and emotional exhaustion. They even coined the term “millennial burnout” for it – people who are only focused on a successful career. Their brains are constantly working with the mindset of solving new problems, and the mere thought of rest causes fear.

In the first stages of burnout, people of different professions, ages and incomes have one thing in common - they are so exhausted under the pressure of urgent matters that they cannot cope with simple everyday tasks. Further, stress provokes insomnia, anxiety, and makes you nervous about everything in the world. They may be replaced by panic attacks and fibromyalgia. In critical cases, you can work yourself to death - this has already happened in Japan and China.

Building or restoring resilience

Your environment and social circle are the main factors that shape your ability to deal with stressful situations. Therefore, it is very important that you know exactly which situations you can easily handle and which situations you may have problems perceiving and processing. In order for you to develop emotional stability as stable as possible, listen to the advice of psychologists:

Talk about your feelings with people who are close to you and whom you trust. You may discover that the people around you once faced the same circumstances that you are experiencing. They can understand you, share your anxiety and help with advice, since they already have experience in getting out of a similar situation.
Look for all the information about the difficult situation you might find yourself in. This will give you a better understanding of what is happening, and you will be able to see the crisis not as a hopeless problem, but as a situation in which you can act decisively because you know what needs to be done. Good problem orientation helps combat fear, which tends to be exaggerated when stress levels increase.
Agree that sometimes there are situations that we cannot change. Learn to accept such situations while maintaining your personal integrity.
Spend time developing, strengthening and maintaining relationships with partners, children, family members, friends and acquaintances. The closer and more meaningful your relationship is, the better your ability to cope with problems and stress will be.
Cultivate hope and optimism. Visualize the positive results of your actions. Even in the most difficult times, don't forget that there is always light at the end of the tunnel.
Let your life always go on as usual, and show the whole world that no difficulties or stress can change the normal course of your life.
Come up with a new hobby for yourself - new ideas and interests will fill your free time. This will significantly add positive emotions to you and will greatly distract you from problems.
Help other people, voluntarily, without waiting for a request for help. By providing support to others, you will increase your ability to cope with difficulties. This will make you feel more confident.
Mentally reviewing your lessons from the past and how you handled events back then will be another opportunity for self-discovery and acceptance, and will also help you develop confidence in your ability to cope with future challenges.
If you already have experience in overcoming stressful situations, create a set of recovery measures for yourself based on those events (for example, spending time with close friends), and be prepared to repeat them if necessary. Please note that important decisions should be put on hold during recovery.
Try to improve your physical health by eating healthy, exercising, getting rest and getting enough sleep. This will help you avoid stress.

The main thing you must remember is that good emotional stability will help you cope with any troubles. So don't forget to work on yourself!

Creating Desired Behavior

If you are controlled by emotions, then there is nothing to worry about. You just need to take control of them and learn to direct them where you want them to go.

Try to adapt to the situation. When something happens, take your time. Stop and think. Analyze the situation itself, your possible reactions (after all, you have a notebook in which you keep notes), find the most suitable option and then act.

Focus on one event, don't try to take in everything at once.

Instill new habits in yourself. If you don’t know how to communicate or are afraid to get acquainted first, then start acting differently than usual. Of course, at the very beginning you will feel terribly awkward, difficult and incomprehensible. But it is through overcoming yourself that you can learn something new.

Read as much literature as possible. Not only for the sake of the plot, but for the sake of analyzing the actions of the characters. Learn from other people's experiences. Don't repeat avoidable mistakes. The collection of parables by Pezeshkian “The Merchant and the Parrot” will be very helpful with this. Do the same with the actions of others. Start analyzing their behavior and reactions.

Be open to everything new. Become a sponge that absorbs. Everything you don't need will disappear on its own. A person does not retain techniques and behavior patterns that are useless to himself.

Changing yourself is not so easy. Here you will need both willpower and motivation. I highly recommend that you read the article “How to develop a core within yourself.”

Emotional stability theory

Resilience theory has been an interesting area of research in the last few decades. In short, resilience theory, which covers a vast arena of empirical evidence that has been provided by psychologists, sociologists, neuroscientists, and social workers, is a collection of strengths that a person exhibits when dealing with unpleasant stress.

Resilience theory has encouraged individuals and professionals to focus more on strengths rather than abnormalities that cause stress. Emotional resilience theory may still be in its infancy, and there is plenty of room for many new ideas to be incorporated into it.

Noteworthy Research Findings on Resilience Theory

Rutter's theory

Professor Michael Rutter, a child psychiatrist in London who has devoted himself to studying resilience theory since the 1970s, stated that:

Resilience is an interactive process that involves exposure to toxic stress that has a relatively positive outcome for the person experiencing it.
He found that short-term exposure to risks such as temporary unemployment, natural disaster or separation can act as a trigger and influence the strength of resilience.
His findings support the possibility of genetic influence on the degree of resistance with which a person is born. Why some people are more resistant at birth than others is, according to his findings, due to genetic predisposition.

Garmezy's theory

Norman Garmezy, a research originator and clinical psychologist at the University of Minnesota, based his empirical findings on emotional stability theory in 1991. His allegations were based on the fact that:

Individual differences play an important role in determining the level of emotional stability.
A person's community, family, and social environment influence his temperamental abilities and shape the way he perceives and responds to stress.
Interventions should address all individual and environmental factors. Turning to anyone will not help in creating an overall strength of resilience.

Werner's theory

Emmy Werner's theory of resilience was primarily focused on children, but its findings are considered groundbreaking in the fields of modern social and applied psychology.

Werner was the first to determine that resilience depends on age and gender. That boys and girls of different ages have different levels of resilience has been one of the main focuses of her research.
She came up with the idea that sustainability is variable. This changes over time. In different stressful situations, we may respond with different levels of resilience.

Ungar's theory

Dr. Michael Ungar, founder of the International Center for Resilience Research in Canada and a recognized family therapist for over 25 years, has formulated the concept of the “Seven Tensions of Resilience”:

Material resources.
Relationship.
Identity.
Autonomy and control.
Social justice.
Cultural fit.
Cohesion.

Important! Ungar suggested that these 7 forces that test emotional stability are present in all cultures, but how different people respond to the same experience depends on its cultural beliefs and manifestations.

Emotional resilience in social work

Emotional resilience is facilitated by factors that lie within us, factors that lie within the organization in which we work, and educational factors. When it comes to resilience in a profession, it is usually two-dimensional - the first dimension is the experience of adverse or stressful situations, and the second is coping with them skillfully.

There is no doubt that social work is a job that requires a great deal of emotional intelligence and empathy . Due to the nature of their work, social workers often have to hide or suppress their reactions to dominant authority or the enormous workload for which they are not paid.

Doing this for many years is undoubtedly stressful and can take a toll on workers' resilience and emotional tenacity.

Important! With a huge emphasis on the present, realistic expectations and commitment to the community, social workers can maintain their emotional stability during difficult times.

Simple stress tips for social workers

Louis Grant and Craig Thompson, in a survey of how social workers successfully manage their resilience, offered the following tips for managing stress at work:

Join and be part of the community.
Effective time management.
Emotional awareness and empathy.
Non-judgmental attitude.
Separate spaces for work and family.
Regular mindful and meditative practices.
A positive and hopeful outlook.
Proactive and willing to learn from past mistakes.

And they know how not to let anyone limit their joy...

If the feeling of pleasure and satisfaction comes to you from comparing yourself with others, you are not the master of your own happiness. When mentally stable people enjoy what they do, they don't let anyone interfere with their judgment.

While it's impossible to simply tune out and not react at all to what others think of you, you shouldn't compare yourself to them, and you should always take other people's opinions with a grain of salt. Mentally tough people know that no matter what people think about them, one thing is for sure - they are not as good or as bad as others say.

Learn to accept what happens

This is not quite the same as experiencing emotions. We often become irritated, worried, and distressed because of things we cannot control. We deny what is happening, focusing on destructive emotions.

Try to accept the reality of what is happening. Recognize that it happened (all the “what ifs” are no longer important), evaluate whether you can do something, and, if not, move on.

Elements of Emotional Resilience

Emotional resilience has three elements - it is something we can build resilience on or work to improve upon. The three elements include:

Physical elements

Incorporating physical strength, energy, improving health and vitality.

Psychological elements

Aspects such as attention and focus, self-esteem , self-confidence , emotional awareness, regulation, self-expression and the ability to think and reason.

Social elements

Interpersonal relationships (work, partner, children, parents, friends, society, etc.). Group conformity, attractiveness, communication, and cooperation.

Emotional Resilience Training Options

Resilience is the ability to maintain competent performance in the face of life's major "stressors."

Emotional resilience can be developed through appropriate knowledge, training and motivation . Whether you're facing dangers in the workplace , navigating a tumultuous relationship, or navigating the challenges of raising a little rebel at home, with emotional resilience you can not only cope effectively with the situation, you also protect yourself from emotional devastation.

An important aspect of building emotional resilience is recognizing that it is inextricably linked to other areas of life. For example, becoming more resilient at work will also make you resilient in your personal relationships, and vice versa. Regardless of whether training is aimed at improving in a specific area, it must show its impact on other aspects of life. The Resilience Training Program aims to increase emotional resilience by building:

Self-awareness

The ability to tune into our feelings, internal conflicts and perception of the world. Through self-awareness, we gain a deeper understanding of how our feelings contribute to our actions.

Instead of seeking outside help or blaming the world for our suffering, self-awareness gives us the courage to look within ourselves for answers. By making us more in tune with our inner world, building self-awareness helps us become more capable and aware.

Durability

Resilience training helps a person develop consistency and a willingness to keep trying. Whether it's dealing with external stressors or processing internal conflicts, persistence supports intrinsic motivation.

Emotional control

People with higher levels of emotion and self-control are able to redirect themselves and manipulate their feelings. They are less stressed.

Flexible thinking

Flexible thinking is an important aspect of mental health that contributes to anyone's personal and professional success.

It is a powerful social skill that involves optimism, adaptability, rationality and positive thinking. A person who has acquired or developed these skills through training or experience will definitely be more emotionally stable and balanced in life.

Interpersonal relationships

Having good personal relationships is a prerequisite for emotional stability. If we have the ability to build strong interpersonal connections on a professional or personal level, we have already taken one step forward towards a viable life.

Jenny Phillips, PhD in Social Sciences and Education from the University of Ontario, mentioned in one of her blogs that building strong interpersonal relationships broadens our perspective—it changes the way we perceive the world and ourselves.

Important! We are social creatures, and being surrounded by people gives us the strength to overcome problems, endure them and grow from them. To build emotional resilience more broadly, we must be able to improve our existing interpersonal relationships and be open to building new ones.

Stress management and emotional stability

Coping with stress, or better said, managing stress effectively directly contributes to increased resilience. The whole idea of emotional resilience revolves around how well we are able to cope.

Getting caught up in life's daily stressors can be a big reason why we lose our emotional stability. We become more sensitive, overly reactive and emotionally unstable. Even a small change in plans can send us into a state of anxiety and panic.

Research has shown that resilient people can cope with stress more effectively. They can bounce back from any stressful situation with positive energy and confidence, and they are more likely to learn from traumatic encounters rather than become overwhelmed by them.