What is Mental Resilience?

The way different individuals deal with the stresses of life is largely dictated by their level of mental resilience.

Mental resilience means the ability of an individual to respond to stress and adversity in a healthy way. Being mentally resilient is not necessarily a personality or genetic trait that you are born with or without. Rather, it’s a set of skills and coping mechanisms that can be learned. Mentally resilient people aren’t immune to stress – but they have learned and practiced coping techniques that help balance negative emotions with positive ones.

Having mental resilience allows you to deal with life’s challenges, reach your potential and form positive relationships. It also helps you feel better in your own skin, have the confidence and self-esteem to connect with others and appreciate your experiences and enjoy the environment in which you live. In a nutshell, developing mental resilience can help you handle the ups and downs that life throws at you.

How can you develop mental resilience?

Like any new skill, developing mental resilience takes practice.

PERMENTIS Mental Wellbeing Model

Developed by our team of registered psychologists, the PERMENTIS approach to mental resilience is based on a biopsychosocial model of health.

This approach states that:

  • biological (physical structure and function of the human body),
  • psychological (thoughts, emotions, and behaviors), and
  • social (socio-economical, socio-environmental, and cultural) factors

all play a significant role in human health. The PERMENTIS model is a holistic and practical approach to encourage greater wellbeing in individuals, and underlies much of our work with FIFO Workers.

Nine building blocks of mental wellbeing

The PERMENTIS Wellbeing Model outlines nine building blocks of mental resilience related to biological psychological and social factors. When regularly practiced by individuals, improvement in mental resilience, wellbeing and relationships for FIFO workers and other individuals, occurs.

The nine building blocks are:

P = Perspective and Positivity
E = Eating right
R = Rest and Relaxation
M = Mindfulness and presence
E =  Exercise
N =  Need and meaning (having goals and/or purpose)
T =  Talk to connect
I =    Improve and grow
S =  Serve others

Is there help to develop mental resilience?

At FIFO Focus, we have developed programs to help individuals living the FIFO lifestyle to develop mental resilience and cope with the stresses they face in this lifestyle.  We also have resources for employers to support their people in maintaining good mental health and wellbeing. We also support partners to understand how they can play a part in supporting and encouraging mentally resilient partners, and develop their own skills to cope with the unique pressures of being a FIFO partner.

Contact us to find out how FIFO Focus can help you support you in created better mental wellbeing around the FIFO lifestyle.

The content in this post is for informational purposes only and should not be taken as medical advice. We recommend consulting with a registered health practitioner or contacting us for more tailored support.

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