ABSTRACT
In the previous chapters I have presented numerous principles and qualities which constitute resilience. But what exactly is it that is potentially detrimental to individual resilience? What we know now already is that individual resilience is the result of a lifelong, dynamic process of adaptation which begins in childhood. Hence, resilience is not static, like a physical characteristic, but rather dynamic like a variable blood value. Raw resilience, also known as ‘trait resilience’, which I described in the section ‘The Spheres of Individual Resilience’ (3.3), constitutes the only exception in this respect. Similar to the Kondratieff cycles, with which we can derive a structure from the evolution of human society over the past 250 years, it is actually therefore in actual fact possible to draw a conclusion only about a person’s ability to resist external pressure in retrospect.
It is possible to describe only someone’s personal disposition for resilience in advance. This is composed of various factors: the levels of individual resilience. The manifestation of these factors determines the individual capacity for resilience available to the person for handling stressful situations. The environment or field in which a person moves has an immediate impact on his resilience. Depending on the quality of this field, a person’s individual ability to ‘bounce back’ will become stronger or weaker. In addition to internal and external protective measures, there are also risk factors at various levels which may jeopardise individual resilience in the face of crises. Since they are usually taken for granted by us these days, we don’t even perceive them as a risk within the context of resilience. It is therefore all the more important to recognise and become aware of them again.
