The neighbour loses her job and nearly falls apart. The colleague goes through the same thing and is organising a new project two weeks later. Two people, the same crisis. Completely different reactions. What makes the difference?
Psychological resilience, the ability not merely to survive crises but to grow through them, has experienced a genuine boom in recent years. Coaches, self-help authors and therapists market the concept with considerable promise. The message sounds appealing: anyone resilient enough can overcome any crisis. But it is not that simple.
Not Everyone Finds It Easy
Half a billion people worldwide develop a mental illness every year. Stress, trauma and critical life events can knock people off course. Some recover more quickly; others carry long-term burdens. What separates these two groups?
Resilience research has been trying to answer exactly that for decades. A pioneering figure is the American developmental psychologist Emmy Werner. From 1955 onwards she followed around 700 children on the Hawaiian island of Kauai for more than 40 years. Many of them grew up under difficult conditions: poverty, alcohol problems, domestic violence. The surprising finding: one third of these children developed into healthy, successful adults despite adverse circumstances.
Werner's study laid the foundation for modern resilience research. It showed that psychological resilience is not a matter of chance, but rests on specific protective factors that people can develop.
The Brain Can Be Rewired
Scientists today know more about what happens in the brain when people respond resiliently. The Leibniz Institute for Resilience Research in Mainz has been running the Mainz Resilience Project (MARP) for several years. Using neuroimaging and behavioural studies, researchers there investigate which factors make young people between adolescence and adulthood more resilient.
"To strengthen societal resilience in the face of challenges and crises, it is essential to build resilience in individuals and communities alike," emphasises Jun.-Prof. Dr. Sarah K. Schäfer of the Leibniz Institute in a 2024 study.
The good news: resilience is trainable. The brain possesses the capacity for neural plasticity, it can change. Even confirmed pessimists can learn to think more optimistically when they train their brain in a targeted way. The baseline may differ genetically, but many resilience-building factors can be developed throughout life.
Seven Factors That Offer Protection
Research has identified various resilience factors that function like a mental immune system. Particularly well known is the model of the seven pillars of resilience, originally developed by the psychologist Ursula Nuber.
These factors include: optimism, the ability to see opportunities even in difficult situations. Not as toxic positive-spinning, but as a healthy balance between realistic assessment and hope. Acceptance, the ability to acknowledge what cannot be changed. Solution-orientation, a focus on what can be done rather than on the problem itself.
Further protective factors are self-efficacy, trust in one's own abilities, and taking responsibility, the willingness to step out of the victim role. Added to these are social networks that provide stability in times of crisis, and a future orientation that helps people keep planning despite setbacks.
"Resilience is the result of a coping process and can be regarded as a dynamic, variable, situation-specific and multidimensional development."
When Resilience Training Is Not Enough
There are also critical voices. Not every crisis can be managed through resilience alone. The German Medical Journal (Deutsches Ärzteblatt) makes this point in a 2024 review: the popular-science spread of the resilience concept sometimes creates the impression that anyone can overcome any crisis, as long as they are resilient enough. This view ignores the fact that there are situations no individual can handle on their own.
Researchers also criticise the fact that many resilience training programmes are not grounded in current scientific concepts. They rarely work with real stressors and are seldom evaluated, even though resilience takes time to develop. There is often a shortage of training for the people who genuinely need support.
Promoting Resilience on Multiple Levels
A study published by the Leibniz Institute for Resilience Research in November 2024 shows that resilience promotion must operate on multiple levels. Individual factors alone are not enough. Social support networks and stable societal structures are equally important for strengthening people in times of crisis.
Research is also opening up to current topics. The rise in the number of refugees has led to the development of specialised resilience training programmes. The Covid-19 pandemic demonstrated how vital mental health is for the population as a whole. New research approaches now include not only children and adolescents but increasingly adults and older age groups. Groups, families, organisations and entire societies are also being studied.
Neuroscience is directing growing attention towards cognitive and neural processes. What role do brain structure and function play in resilience? In Mainz, scientists are working to understand exactly that. They want to find out why some people, despite being under pressure, develop no stress-related mental illness, or develop it to a lesser degree than others.
What Actually Helps People
What, then, can people do in practice? First: self-reflection. Anyone who is aware of their own strengths and weaknesses can work specifically on the factors that are less developed. Recognising stressors early and developing strategies to manage them makes a real difference.
Concrete exercises can help. A gratitude journal, for instance, in which three positive experiences are noted each day. Or the deliberate awareness of emotions, to learn to handle them better. Or building solid social relationships in which genuine exchange is possible.
"People with higher levels of optimism use more adaptive coping strategies to reduce stress."
Yet the same caveat applies here: not everyone can manage this alone. Some situations overwhelm. Sometimes professional support through psychotherapy or medical care is needed. Resilience strategies can be used alongside such support and contribute to self-management.
No Shield Against Everything
Training resilience is worthwhile. Science shows that people can strengthen their psychological resilience. The seven factors offer concrete starting points. But realistic expectations matter. Resilience is trainable. It does not, however, protect against everything.
And sometimes what helps most is simply recognising this: not every crisis has to be faced alone. Resilience also means asking for help when one's own resources are no longer enough. That is not weakness. It is a form of self-care that is itself part of psychological resilience.
