Resilience and Parkinson’s Disease

The term resilience can have many meanings. It is associated with personality traits or a description of character, and prior to 2020, resilience was more widely used in academia than in cultural terms.

Now it’s a term sometimes used in describing athletes, economies, and even peoples’ responses to contracting COVID-19. For those of us with a chronic disease like Parkinson’s, our level of resilience can be a major determining factor in quality of life and disease progression.

Different definitions

The Mayo Clinic’s describes resilience as: "...your ability to adapt well and recover quickly after stress, adversity, trauma or tragedy. If you have a resilient disposition, you are better able to maintain poise and a healthy level of physical and psychological wellness in the face of life's challenges."¹

Psychology Today describes it as quality that allows people who have been challenged by life to come back stronger. Instead of letting failure takeover, they find ways to rise above.²

Connection with chronic disease

Why is resilience important to those of us with a chronic disease? Many people with Parkinson’s tend to self isolate, become focused on the disease, lose hope, and become 1-dimensional.

All signs of low resilience. Depression, apathy, and anxiety, often found with Parkinson’s, are associated with low resilience.

Great! Does resilience come in a bottle? Will a spoonful a day help? Is there a resilience vaccine or shot? Unfortunately, no. There is no resilience vaccine, shot or pill.

Additionally, some studies indicate that traits of resilience are inherited. For example, some coping skills like the fight or flight response have active neurobiological and molecular underlying responses that are genetically connected.³

Becoming more resilient

You mean I either have resilience, or I don't? If I can't change it, what's the point? Everyone has a different level of resilience. There is no one size fits all.

Of more importance, your individual resilience can be lowered or heightened by actions and behaviors you can adopt. Increasing resilience can make a difference. I found these tips to be helpful for improving resilience:⁴

• Make connections - Positive relationships with friends and family can offer support and a feeling of acceptance during both the good and bad times.
• Make the most of each day - Set goals that help you look towards the future and find purpose in each day.
• Learn from experience - Consider the coping skills that you have learned. These techniques have helped you overcome challenges in the past and can help you through difficult times in the future.
• Stay hopeful - While you can't change the past, you can look towards to future and anticipate changes ahead.
• Take care of yourself - Prioritize your feelings and needs. Engage in healthy activities and make time for the hobbies you enjoy.
• Be proactive - When you experience a problem, make a plan and take steps towards resolving it. It may take some time to recover, but the situation can slowly improve as your work on it.

If you want to improve your level of resilience but you find the list of tips too daunting,  pick one of the tips and start there. Remember: Heightened or increasing resilience can be a major factor in improving your life with Parkinson’s.