Resilience refers to the ability to cope with adversity, stressors, and challenges in life. It is an important trait that helps individuals adapt to difficult circumstances and maintain their well-being despite facing various obstacles. Resilience can be developed through experiences and strategies for coping with stressful situations.
Research shows that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people face systemic discrimination, stigma, and marginalization that make it harder for them to develop resilience than cisgender heterosexuals. This essay will discuss how LGBT people build psychological resilience in contexts where stressors are systemic, ongoing, and often invisible, and how we measure flourishing instead of survival.
Systemic Discrimination
Research has shown that LGBT people experience high levels of stress due to systemic discrimination, which includes legal restrictions, prejudice, violence, and societal pressure. The stress of living as a minority group affects mental health outcomes, including depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, and substance abuse. Research also indicates that LGBT people have higher rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). As such, building psychological resilience among LGBT people requires acknowledging the role of social structures and institutionalized oppression.
Flourishing Instead of Surviving
The idea of measuring flourishing instead of surviving is important because it recognizes that individuals need more than just basic needs met to thrive. Flourishing means achieving fulfillment and meaning in life beyond survival by developing skills and strengths that promote well-being. It involves finding purpose and satisfaction in one's work, relationships, leisure activities, and personal growth. To measure flourishing, researchers use tools like the PERMA model, which considers positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishments as essential components of human flourishing.
Strategies for Building Psychological Resilience
Building psychological resilience among LGBT people involves strategies for coping with ongoing stressors and challenges. One strategy is to build self-efficacy, or the belief that they can overcome difficulties through their own efforts. This involves setting realistic goals, practicing self-care, seeking support from loved ones, and cultivating a sense of community. Other strategies include mindfulness, optimism, humor, and positive reframing. Mindfulness involves being present and aware of one's thoughts and feelings without judgment, while optimism involves focusing on the positive aspects of situations. Humor helps reduce stress and increase positivity, while positive refrasing involves changing negative thinking patterns into positive ones.
Building psychological resilience among LGBT people requires acknowledging systemic discrimination and measuring flourishing rather than survival. Strategies for building resilience involve self-efficacy, mindfulness, optimism, humor, and positive reframing. By recognizing the role of social structures and institutionalized oppression and developing effective coping strategies, LGBT people can achieve greater well-being and flourish beyond basic needs met.
What does it mean to build psychological resilience among LGBT people in contexts where stressors are systemic, ongoing and often invisible, and how do we measure flourishing instead of survival?
Psychological resilience is an individual's ability to cope with difficult life events and adversity and emerge stronger from them. It involves developing personal strengths such as self-esteem, optimism, social support, and problem-solving skills that enable individuals to bounce back from challenging situations.