Stress (roughly the opposite of relaxation) is a medical term for a wide range of strong external stimuli, both physiological and psychological, which can cause a physiological response called the general adaptation syndrome, first described in 1936 by Hans Selye in the journal Nature.

Resilience can help with stress and adversity

Stress :: Resilience can help with stress and adversity

Resilience is the ability to adapt in the face of trauma, adversity, tragedy or even significant ongoing stress. People who have resilience harness inner strengths and tend to rebound more quickly from a setback or challenge, whether it's a job loss, an illness or the death of a loved one.

A new feature on MayoClinic.com helps users test their resilience levels and provides tips to build resilience.

The feature focuses on 12 characteristics of resilient people and ranks each user's scores after a series of questions. The questionnaire uses a gauge developed by experts at Mayo Clinic of how resilient an individual may be based on some of the characteristics that resilient people tend to have.

"People who are more resilient have the ability to say to themselves, 'OK, this bad thing happened, and I can either dwell on it or I can learn from it,'" says Edward Creagan, M.D., a Mayo Clinic oncologist in Rochester, Minn. "Resilient individuals have cultivated a sense of forgiveness, and regardless of the setback or slight, they're able to box it up, and let go of it."

Tips featured on MayoClinic.com to help individuals become more resilient include:

Use humor and laughter
Learn from experiences
Remain hopeful and optimistic
Accept and anticipate change
Work toward goals
Learn new things about yourself
Think better of yourself

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