Stress and Resilience Cept to Explain Why Some Types of Wood Could Re- When Facing Adversity, Being Able to Sist Tons of Weight Without Cracking
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THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE CENTRE FOR STUDIES ON HUMAN STRESS Issue 13, Summer 2013 Issue 13, The Centre for Studies on Human Stress is dedicated to improving the physical and MAGAZINE, mental health of individuals by empowering them with scientifically grounded MAMMOTH information about the effects of stress on the brain and body. Stress and Resilience By Robert-Paul Juster & Marie-France Marin s stress scientists, we are a little tired of “doom and Like the term “stress” itself, the term “resilience” Agloom” views of stress. We know very well that chronic originates from engineering that was borrowed by stress is bad for our health, but we have so much to learn from psychology and then shared by various other those who handle stress very well. Increasingly, we are focusing disciplines like biology and sociology. not just on who is vulnerable of developing problems related to stress, but those who are able to resist it as well despite dif- ficult circumstances. A whole new field of stress devoted to the In our second article, Robert-Paul Juster spoke with Drs. Ilia concept of “resilience” has emerged and is the focus of this is- N. Karatsoreos and Bruce S. McEwen about their views of stress sue of Mammoth Magazine. Resilience is defined as a process and resilience. Both are world-renowned experts in neurosci- whereby people exposed to severe levels of stress, trauma, and ence at the forefront of cutting-edge research and incredibly adversity are able to thrive and survive despite their difficulties. knowledgeable about how our brains can be positively shaped Initially, the concept of resilience emerged serendipitously from by the right doses of stress. clinical observations and an attempt to further understand a di- Institut de la santé des femmes et des hommes (ISFH) verse range of psychological profiles among those deemed more *** Institute of Gender and Health (IGH) vulnerable to stress. In our third article, Robert-Paul Juster presents this issue’s In our first article, Olivier Bourdon will introduce you to a researcher profile of Dr. Dante Cicchetti, a pioneer in our un- brief history of resilience from clinic to laboratory. Like the term derstanding of how resilience can flourish despite maltreatment “stress” itself, the term “resilience” originates from engineering and harsh early life experiences. As one of the most distin- that was borrowed by psychology and then shared by various guished and decorated researchers in the field of developmental other disciplines like biology and sociology. psychology, this article will summarize Dr. Cicchetti’s remark- able research findings. *** Resilience is defined as a process whereby people exposed to severe levels of stress, trauma, and adversity are able to thrive and survive despite their difficulties. Resilience: When Hope Becomes Possible for Everyone By Oliver Bourdon, Summer Intern at the Centre for Studies on Human Stress Bachelor’s Candidate in Psychology at University of Montreal Are We Born Equal? 19th Century: From the Latin Root to Charles R. Darwin, famous for his ground-break- Practical Use: Physics of Materials ing work on the theory of evolution, stated that The first work published on resilience goes back species able to survive throughout time are those to 1818, when Thomas Tredgold first used it in his best adapted to their environment. For any spe- book On the Transverse Strength and Resilience of cific situation, what is different about people who Timber as a property of materials. First of all, he successfully adapt to their environment and those stated that resilience influences timber as a strange that do not? property of sound. Second of all, he used the con- Stress and Resilience cept to explain why some types of wood could re- When facing adversity, being able to sist tons of weight without cracking. In our forth article, Alexandra Bisson Desrochers positively adapt represents resilience. describes research devoted to protective factors In the middle of the 19th century, Robert that promote resilience. By cultivating our toolbox When facing adversity, being able to posi- Mallet used a measure named the modulus of of protective factors such as social support and op- tively adapt represents resilience. In an attempt resilience, with which he could predict at the timism, everyone can develop coping strategies and to prioritize the “glass is half full rather than half same time the elasticity of a material as well as the adaptive behaviors that help make more resilient. empty” belief, the resilience concept represents force that could be applied to it before breaking: hope for those experiencing difficult times. This the higher its resilience, the more it could stretch *** concept is however often misunderstood. In fact, and withstand force applied to it. This measure, in- it is far more complicated than how the media cluded in the Manual of Civil Engineering in 1867, And lastly in our fifth article, Dr. Stéphane Guay portrays it to be. According to them, they seem was instrumental in switching the material (wood highlights some important perspectives on resil- to think that anyone could just take a course to to iron) used to build the British navy’s fleet. In ience in the face of traumatic events. As the Direc- learn to be resilient and in so doing be able to fight civil engineering, this measure of resilience is still tor of the Centre for Studies on Trauma, he also through any and every obstacle thrown in their di- used today. announces an innovative new research program rection. This universal template to life’s challenges to help understand resilience and vulnerability is questionable. 20th Century: From Physics to among psychiatric hospital workers. Environment The real origin of resilience goes back sev- Several years later, resilience appeared in the field of So now without further delay, we are de- eral decades now. It intersects with many domains environmental sciences. Towards the end of the 19th lighted to offer you the 13th issue of Mammoth and is similar to diverse concepts that we need to century, two new measures concerning this inter- Magazine on resilience. As you will discover in first distinguish. esting concept got attention: ecological resilience, this issue, the concept of resilience is one of the by C. S. Holling around 1973, and engineering resi- most fascinating phenomena to study in the field Knowing How to Bounce Back lience, by Stuart Pimm around 1984. The first mea- of stress science! The word resilience was coined at the beginning sure, which is far more popular, was defined by the of the 17th century, taking its roots from Latin. As author as “the measure of something’s ability to ab- Anaut said, Resilientia was defined as a “material’s sorb changes and still exist”. The second measure, The concept of resilience is one of the most resistance to shock and its ability to absorb kinetic as defined by Pimm, is defined as the “speed with fascinating phenomena to study in the field energy without breaking apart”. which a system returns to its original shape”. of stress science! Let’s decompose the word from its Latin In summary, the first concerns the capacity roots. When we refer to something or someone as of absorbing and staying the same in a situation, resilient, we are saying that the person is jumping while the other concerns the capacity to return to (Latin ‘salire’) back (Latin ‘re’). Therefore, we liter- an original, stable state after the situation. These Come visit us! ally mean that he/she/it is bouncing back to the state are small nuances that are really all about how the www.humanstress.ca he/she/it was in before the situation in question. system reacts to change. As defined here, these measures can be used in a myriad of situations. The word resilience was coined at the For example, if an ecosystem is resilient during beginning of the 17th century, taking its a flood, the reconstruction of the wildlife will be roots from Latin. As Anaut said, Resilientia much faster. was defined as a “material’s resistance to Being able to bounce back after living ad- shock and its ability to absorb kinetic energy versity is one thing, but changing to be better is without breaking apart”. Let’s decompose another. A little bit later on in the resilience story, the word from its Latin roots. When we refer the link with the concept of adaptation appeared. to something or someone as resilient, we In the 21st century onward, Neil Adger said that are saying that the person is jumping (Latin resilience is the capacity “to persist and adapt”, ‘salire’) back (Latin ‘re’). 2 Issue 13, Summer 2013 • MAMMOTHMAGAZINE while Brian Walker and his colleagues stated that This idea became very popular. That some- Without calling it resilience, Garmezy resilience was demonstrated by systems that “con- one could use diverse techniques or possess in- was a pioneer in the domain. In 1985, tinually change and adapt, yet remain within criti- nate characteristics that permitted them to bypass Garmezy and his colleague Ann S. Masten cal thresholds”. When some thinkers realized that adversity without negative consequences began to stated three conclusions based on their there could be an analogy made between the resil- blossom. Here, the concept of resilience empha- studies: (1) stress-resistance is relative; ience of materials and that of humans, the concept sized the possibility of being able to live adversity (2) stress-resistance is due to both genetic attracted much attention from the social sciences. without having a permanent path towards future and environmental factors; and finally (3), problems. For the field of psychology, this was a stress-resistance depends on the situation.