Roadmap to Resilience

A Guide for Military, Trauma Victims and Their Families

Donald Meichenbaum

• Publisher: Crown House Publishing
• Year: 2012
• ISBN:
  9781935810216
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

For the military veteran or anyone who has experienced a traumatic event, returning to normal living can be a challenge. Be that as it may, even after events such as natural disasters, accidents, or one of intentional human design(e.g. combat, a terrorist attack, a sexual assault, etc.), approximately 70 to 80percent of individuals who are impacted adjust successfully. These individuals demonstrate resilience, and in some instances, even post–traumatic growth. But the remaining percentage will evidence lingering clinical disorders and adjustment problems, such as PTSD, anxiety, depressive, and substance abuse disorders that can result in suicidal acts, aggressive behavior, and divorce. Roadmap to Resilience includes over 100 ways to develop individual and family resilience-bolstering action plans to help those experiencing adjustment problems. In addition, it includes numerous narrative examples of successful coping from resilient individuals, self-improvement activities, and a comprehensivere source guide designed to help the reader locate the exact information they need to address their situation. This guidebook highlights ways that returning service members can successfully reintegrate into civilian life and how other trauma victims can cope with loss. Clinicians will find it an invaluable resource for translating evidence-based interventions into specific guidelines for their clients.

Fitness Areas

Physical Fitness

Lifestyle factors contribute to physical and mental health. Smoking, poor diet, physical inactivity, abuse of alcohol and drugs and sleep disturbance undermine resilience.

“I have the capacity to make the choices to take care of myself physically, as well as mentally, emotionally, interpersonally and spiritually.”

“The body keeps score of the impact of stress, but it has the capacity to restore and compensate itself. But it needs my help.”

“I can make my body an ally in my healing process.”

“I can enhance my brain health by keeping fit.”

Physical fitness refers to health-related behaviors and physical activities such as exercise that individuals engage in. In the same ways that physical fitness is a key to resilience in boot camp, it is critical during the period of post-deployment and in dealing with the aftermath of any traumatic event. Health habits in areas of nutrition, exercise, sleep, and safety behaviors enhance resilience.

See the Website www.myhealth.va.gov for additional information. Here are some specific steps you can take to becoming and remaining physically fit.

ACTION #1

Listen to and take care of my body. I should get regular medical checkups, see a doctor when necessary, maintain my hygiene and learn to compensate for any physical limitations. A key ally in my strengthening resilience is my brain. It is worth highlighting at the outset that the brain is resilient. The brain has the ability to heal itself, with your help.

Useful Information

The brain evidences what is called “neuroplasticity” or compensatory processes and “neurogenesis” the ability to form new neurons and brain cells and connections. Rewiring occurs in the brain as a result of new experiences. Your brain is a “mismatch detector” that discerns the discrepancy between the demands of a situation and your abilities to meet those demands. The brain is flexible and develops a variety of work around compensatory procedures. For example: individuals who experience head injuries compensate or make up for what they have lost, wrestling new possibilities from their newly imposed limits.

A blind person may develop super-sensitive hearing; the deaf person may become super-sensitive to people’s shift in facial expressions; a pianist who loses her ability to read music may gain new richness in thinking about music. Individuals who are born congenitally blind or deaf exhibit remarkable compensatory processes. They evidence cross-modal plasticity which is the enhanced use of brain regions typically associated with deprived senses. They are able to recruit neighboring cortical areas. The brain is malleable in response to environmental interventions. As Oliver Sacks, the neurologist observes, “The brain is plastic, even in adulthood. It reshapes itself to fit a new reality.” As one neurologically impaired patient observed, “The problems never go away, but I become cleverer at solving them.” (See The Mind’s Eye by Oliver Sacks, 2010). In the same way, an individual can learn to compensate, work around and develop new skills, becoming more resilient.

ACTION #2

I can engage in health-promoting behaviors like exercising regularly. But I should know my exercise limits and listen to my body for warning signs of injury. Beware of “over exercising” or exercising too much. Over exercising (exercising several times a day at training levels that are at or near maximal can contribute to depressed moods, eating disorders such as anorexia and other compulsive problems). The key is balance.

Useful Information

Twenty-five percent of the U.S. population report zero leisure time physical activity. This inactivity contributes to both physical and mental disabilities. Exercise or “getting off your butt” has many physical and mental benefits. Exercise can help brain cells develop, help reduce the likelihood of contracting various disorders like heart disease, osteoporosis, diabetes, prostate cancer. It elevates mood, reduces the risk of depression, and is a stress reliever and blocks age-related cognitive decline. Exercise has a mood enhancement effect. Active people are less depressed than inactive people.

Exercise has been found to be equally effective as antidepressant medications in treating individuals with Major Depressive Disorders and exercise was effective in preventing relapse. Exercise also helps people who are prone to be anxious from having panic attacks in threatening situations. Research also indicates that women who have breast cancer and who engage in exercise regain physical strength, develop a new sense of identity, achieve a sense of mastery and distract them from ruminative brooding on their illness. Physical exercise has been found to decrease smoking, alcohol, caffeine and junk food consumption, and even reduced impulsive spending, watching television and the tendency to leave dirty dishes in the sink. (For more examples, search for “Benefits of Exercise” on the Internet). At this point, it is not clear which form of exercise (aerobic exercise or weight training) affords the most health benefits. We do know that exercise can help buffer how the brain is going to respond to future stressors. Exercise can promote growth in the brain (“neurogenesis”).

It is recommended that individuals engage in moderate aerobic exercise like brisk walking at least 5 half-hour periods a week or vigorous exercise periods of 20 minutes at least 3 times a week. But even small amounts of exercise can make a difference right away. Doctors now prescribe exercise as a way to treat depression (every 50 minutes of exercise per week has been found to reduce levels of depression up to 50%) and for anxiety and anger problems. Individuals who worry about their anxiety symptoms can spiral into fears which increase their anxiety and so on. Exercise, no matter how minimal to begin with can help break this cycle. SO START MOVING!

As Joan Borysenko observes:

“Too many people confine their exercise to jumping to conclusions, running up bills, stretching the truth, bending over backward, lying down on the job, sidestepping responsibility, and pushing their luck.”

Individuals who avoid exercise and who tend to cope by engaging in persistent avoidance behavior need to move from what has been described as a TRAP to TRAC.

	T	-	Trigger
	R	-	Response
	AP	-	Avoidance Pattern
		to
	T	-	Trigger
	R	-	Response
	AC	-	Alternative Coping

For example, instead of withdrawing and becoming depressed, there is a need for behaviour activation (BA) in the form of some type ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Praise
• Title Page
• Dedication
• Acknowledgements
• Table of Contents
• By Way of Introduction
• How to Use this Book
• What is Resilience?
• Some Facts About Resilience and Post Traumatic Growth
• Evidence of Resilience in Returning Service Members and their Familie
• Evidence of Resilience in Civilian Populations
• Fitness Areas
• Conclusions
• Appendix A: Resilience Checklist—My Personal Resilience Plan
• Appendix B: User-friendly Guide of Resilient Behaviors
• References
• Order Form
• About the Author
• Copyright