Resilience & Antifragility After Trauma: A Neuroscientific Perspective 🧠

Turning Adversity into Strength: The Power of Healing and Growth Amidst Life's Storms (9min read)

TL;DR Summary:

• This post discusses trauma, resilience, and antifragility from a neuroscientific viewpoint.

• Trauma affects our mental, emotional, physical well-being, and brain structure.

• Resilience, the ability to bounce back from adversity, can be enhanced and isn't fixed.

• Resilience is influenced by genetics and early life experiences.

• Tools to build resilience include mindfulness, a growth mindset, emotional awareness, problem-solving, and social connections.

• Antifragility, coined by Nassim Taleb, is the concept of growing stronger through stressors.

• Our brains have the inherent potential for resilience and antifragility.

• The journey towards antifragility starts with enhancing resilience.

Welcome Back!

What is it that makes us get back up again after we've been knocked down?

How is it that one person crumbles under adversity, while another, exposed to the same set of circumstances, rises stronger than before?

These are all great questions and ones that I ask myself a lot as I work with people who have been through traumatic events.

This brings us to the concept of “resilience.” But what is resilience, how does it relate to trauma, and can we “see” it in the brain?

I’m glad you asked… Let’s dive in!

Understanding Trauma

I’ve written extensively on trauma, what it is, and how it affects the brain, but let’s review briefly.

In simple terms, trauma refers to deeply distressing or disturbing experiences that have a lasting impact on our mental, emotional, and physical well-being.

Trauma is like an earthquake that shakes the foundation of our sense of safety and stability, disrupting the world as we know it.

Some of the most common examples of trauma are sexual trauma like rape, verbal or physical abuse, natural disasters, terrorism & PTSD.

From a neuroscience perspective, trauma has a profound influence on the brain's structure and functionality.

Neuroimaging studies have shown that trauma can lead to changes in regions associated with memory, such as the hippocampus, and emotional regulation, like the prefrontal cortex and amygdala.

Additionally, the body's stress response, primarily governed by the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, can be overactivated, leading to elevated stress hormone levels and exacerbating the effects of trauma.

Again, if you’d like to dive deeper into this topic, I recommend checking out my Neuroscience of Trauma post.

Defining Resilience

Alright, so that’s trauma, what’s resilience then?

Resilience is a psychological construct that allows us to recover from setbacks, adapt to change, and keep going in the face of adversity.

It's akin to a rubber band stretching under pressure but bouncing back once the tension is released.

It doesn't mean we avoid the impact of the stressor; rather, we learn to navigate it effectively and potentially emerge stronger, or “antifragile” (more on this in a moment).

From a neuroscientific viewpoint, resilience isn't a single entity but a collection of adaptive responses governed by various interconnected brain structures.

A resilient brain and person is one that can effectively modulate stress responses and adapt to new circumstances through neuroplasticity, which is an ability we all possess.

Neuroscience of Resilience

Recent advances in neuroscience have granted us intriguing insights into the resilient brain.

Certain brain structures and networks play a critical role in resilience, chiefly among them being the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and the limbic system.

The PFC is our decision-making center and plays a significant role in regulating our emotional responses.

The limbic system, on the other hand, is our emotional response center. It plays a pivotal role in our fear responses.

A well-regulated connection between the limbic system and the PFC is crucial for effective stress response, a key aspect of resilience.

This doesn't mean resilient people don't feel stress or fear. They do. But their brains are better equipped to handle these emotions, mitigating the risk of long-term damage.

Neuroplasticity also plays a pivotal role in resilience.

This fundamental property of the brain allows it to change and adapt in response to experiences, both good and bad.

After a traumatic event, the brain has the capability to reorganize itself, creating new connections, strengthening resilience pathways, and potentially aiding in the recovery process.

What Sets Your Baseline Resilience Level?

The number 1 thing I want you to know before diving into this is that resilience is not a fixed trait; you aren’t stuck with a certain level your whole life!

That being said, your baseline level of resilience, or the resilience present in you before the occurrence of a stressor or traumatic event—can vary considerably from person to person.

Understanding these factors can provide valuable insights into why some people seem naturally more resilient than others.

Research suggests genetics plays a part in determining our baseline resilience, making us more or less responsive to the environments we’re in or making us more emotionally reactive.

However, almost nothing has as powerful an effect on our resilience baseline as our childhood.

How Early Life Experiences Shape Resiliency

Early life experiences can significantly shape our baseline resilience.

The theory of "stress inoculation" suggests that exposure to manageable stressors during childhood can enhance resilience, teaching kids effective coping mechanisms and fostering adaptive brain changes.

Conversely, chronic exposure to high levels of stress or trauma in early life—often referred to as "toxic stress"—can disrupt normal brain development and hinder the development of resilience.

Stress Inoculation in Real World

Consider a child encouraged to participate in extracurricular activities such as sports or competitions.

While these activities can indeed be stressful, like the possibility of losing or failing, they are manageable stressors.

This allows them to learn that failure can be a stepping stone to success, and that practice and perseverance often yield better results.

As she grows older, these learned mechanisms become deeply ingrained and help foster resilience.

This kind of “positive stress” also fosters adaptive brain changes.

Research has shown that such experiences can strengthen the connectivity between the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and the limbic system, which, as we talked about earlier is a key indicator of resilience!

Toxic Stress in Real World

Conversely, consider a child who grows up in an environment of chronic & high levels of stress like neglect, abuse, or violence.

Unlike before, this child has little to no ability to buffer or learn from this kind of stress.

This disrupts the normal development of the child's brain.

It can hinder the growth of the hippocampus, a region of the brain involved in learning and memory.

It can also lead to a hyperactive amygdala and limbic system, which can result in heightened stress responses and difficulty regulating emotions.

Sadly, children in these kinds of environments often develop coping mechanisms like avoidance, denial, or even substance abuse to deal with this stress.

As they get older, they will have difficulty managing stress, forming healthy relationships, and maintaining emotional balance.

In both scenarios, it's evident that early life experiences significantly shape baseline resilience levels.

The good news is, like is said at the start of this section, resilience is not a fixed trait.

As we get older, we have control over our environment, our mindset, and our behaviors.

And these are the areas where we can make significant strides in building our resilience at any age!

5 Tools to Build Resilience

By now you’re probably wondering how to become more resilient, so let’s break down some tools that can help.

1. Mindfulness Meditation

Tool: Headspace or Calm app.

Science: Mindfulness increases gray matter in the prefrontal cortex, linked to planning and decision-making, and decreases the size of the amygdala, responsible for stress and fear.

As we talked about earlier, strengthening the connection between these two areas is key to increasing resilience.

2. Develop a Growth Mindset:

Tool: Read Carol Dweck's "Mindset: The New Psychology of Success".

Science: A growth mindset can foster a positive attitude towards challenges, enhancing stress management and resilience.

Having a growth mindset is linked to every single metric of wellbeing and overall success.

3. Emotional Awareness:

Tool: Mood tracking apps, like Moodnotes.

Science: Awareness of emotions enhances emotional regulation, a key factor in resilience.

This is the first step towards regulation & resilience. It’s impossible to regulate an emotion you aren’t aware of.

4. Problem-Solving Skills:

Tool: Puzzles or brain training apps.

Science: Problem-solving promotes self-efficacy and reduces anxiety, boosting resilience.

Just like the child example we talked about earlier, puzzles and games are a great, low-stakes way to develop these skills.

5. Volunteering & Social Connection:

Tool: Local community service.

Science: Helping others can provide a sense of purpose, enhancing self-esteem and resilience.

Social connection is the ultimate resilience tool. Having people around you that lift you up and support you is irreplaceable.

Volunteering is a great way to start building this group around you.

Antifragility

A concept that I work on with a lot of my clients that I’d like to give you a taste of is called Antifragility.

It was originally coined by Nassim Taleb in his book bearing the same name.

In the book, he outlines resiliency as a spectrum not just 1 thing.

It goes from fragile to resilient to antifragile.

The easiest way to think about is with fire & wind. Fire = Resilience Level & Wind = Adversity.

The fire in a candle is fragile, any amount of wind will blow it out.

The fire on an Indiana Jones-style torch is resilient, it will stay burning even in pretty strong wind.

A wildfire, however, is antifragile, it not only will survive any level of wind, but the more wind it takes on, the bigger it gets!

Becoming antifragile in your life allows you to feel more self-regulated and in control of life.

This can lead to better mental health because you’re no longer just a bystander.

When you learn how to become antifragile, you become the decision-maker in your life.

I believe antifragility is the missing link that gets you from point A, hearing or reading good advice about healing after trauma, to point B, actually applying it in a meaningful and sustainable way.

Becoming Antifragile

So, how do you become more antifragile? It starts with building your resilience!

As I mentioned above, it’s a spectrum, if you’re in the fragile section, you must first become resilient, and then you can build upon this resilience to become antifragile.

Here are some simple examples of resilience vs. antifragility.

Embracing Uncertainty:

A resilient person might be able to manage stress and maintain stability when life throws curveballs, maintaining their current strategies even when circumstances change.

An antifragile person, on the other hand, would actively seek out uncertain situations and view them as opportunities for growth. They adapt their strategies to benefit from the new circumstances.

Exposure to Cold & Heat:

A resilient person can withstand temperature extremes without getting sick or feeling overly uncomfortable.

An antifragile person would not only withstand these extremes but would actively seek them out and use them to improve their health and vitality.

You’ve Got This

Resilience helps us face adversity, but true growth lies in antifragility - the ability to strengthen from challenges.

Our brains are quite literally wired to enable this transformation.

This transformation, like all others, begins with 1 single step. So, take it today.

And remember, a wildfire lives inside you, don't just weather the storm; let it fuel your growth.

Until next time… Live Heroically. 🧠

Supporting Research & Further Reading

Books:

• "The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma" by Bessel van der Kolk.

• "Rising Strong" by Brené Brown.

• "Man's Search for Meaning" by Viktor Frankl.

• "Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder" by Nassim Nicholas Taleb.

Research

• Southwick, S.M., Bonanno, G.A., Masten, A.S., Panter-Brick, C., Yehuda, R. (2014). Resilience definitions, theory, and challenges: interdisciplinary perspectives. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 5(1). Link

• Russo, S.J., Murrough, J.W., Han, M.H., Charney, D.S., Nestler, E.J. (2012). Neurobiology of resilience. Nature Neuroscience, 15(11), 1475-1484. Link

• Bremner, J.D. (2006). Traumatic stress: effects on the brain. Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, 8(4), 445-461. Link

• Rutter, M. (2012). Resilience as a dynamic concept. Development and Psychopathology, 24(2), 335-344. Link

• Zannas, A.S., Wiechmann, T., Gassen, N.C., Binder, E.B. (2016). Gene-Stress-Epigenetic Regulation of FKBP5: Clinical and Translational Implications. Neuropsychopharmacology, 41(1), 261-274. Link

• Taleb, N.N. (2012). Antifragile: Things That Gain From Disorder. Link

• Galatzer-Levy, I.R., Huang, S.H., Bonanno, G.A. (2018). Trajectories of resilience and dysfunction following potential trauma: A review and statistical evaluation. Clinical Psychology Review, 63, 41-55. Link

• Meichenbaum, D. (1996). Stress inoculation training for coping with stressors. The Clinical Psychologist, 49(1), 4-7. Link

• Shonkoff, J.P., Garner, A.S., Siegel, B.S., Dobbins, M.I., Earls, M.F., McGuinn, L., Pascoe, J., Wood, D.L. (2012). The lifelong effects of early childhood adversity and toxic stress. Pediatrics, 129(1), e232-e246. Link

• Kabat-Zinn, J. (2003). Mindfulness-Based Interventions in Context: Past, Present, and Future. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 10(2), 144-156. Link

• Ratey, J.J., Loehr, J.E. (2011). The positive impact of physical activity on cognition during adulthood: a review of underlying mechanisms, evidence and recommendations. Reviews in the Neurosciences, 22(2), 171-185. Link

• Palmer, C.A., Alfano, C.A. (2017). Sleep and emotion regulation: An organizing, integrative review. Sleep Medicine Reviews, 31, 6-16. Link

• Gomez-Pinilla, F. (2008). Brain foods: the effects of nutrients on brain function.

• Hofmann, S.G., Asnaani, A., Vonk, I.J., Sawyer, A.T., Fang, A. (2012). The Efficacy of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: A Review of Meta-analyses. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 36, 427–440. Link

• Emmons, R.A., Stern, R. (2013). Gratitude as a Psychotherapeutic Intervention. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 69(8), 846-855. Link

• Gard, T., Noggle, J.J., Park, C.L., Vago, D.R., Wilson, A. (2014). Potential self-regulatory mechanisms of yoga for psychological health. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 8, 770. Link

• Ozbay, F., Johnson, D.C., Dimoulas, E., Morgan, C.A., Charney, D., Southwick, S. (2007). Social support and resilience to stress: from neurobiology to clinical practice. Psychiatry (Edgmont), 4(5), 35-40. Link

• Dweck, C.S. (2006). Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. Link

• Meichenbaum, D. (1996). Stress inoculation training for coping with stressors. The Clinical Psychologist, 49(1), 4-7. Link

• Shonkoff, J.P., Garner, A.S., Siegel, B.S., Dobbins, M.I., Earls, M.F., McGuinn, L., Pascoe, J., Wood, D.L. (2012). The lifelong effects of early childhood adversity and toxic stress. Pediatrics, 129(1), e232-e246. Link