Social Sustainability
Psychological Resilience
Definition
Psychological resilience is the process and outcome of successfully adapting to difficult or threatening experiences, maintaining or recovering mental wellbeing in the face of adversity, trauma or significant stress. It is not a fixed trait but a dynamic process shaped by individual resources, relationships, community support and institutions — and it can be strengthened through intervention.
References
Supports definition and framing.
Overview
How it is used
The concept is used in disaster mental health, adaptation planning, workplace wellbeing programmes and climate psychology, complementing infrastructural with human-capacity approaches to resilience.
Why it matters
Resilience agendas often focus on physical assets; psychological resilience recognises that adaptation ultimately depends on people's capacity to cope, recover and act.