Stress and Resilience in the (Post-)pandemic World: Psychobiological Considerations

Some people can deal with stress calmly and maintain their composure, even in the face of massive physical and mental strain. Others feel overwhelmed even by lower levels of stress and suffer from psychosomatic problems and depressed mood. Research has provided us with knowledge about the physiological effects of a variety of stressors and trauma. Moreover, there is a good body of theory on stress coping from a psychological perspective. Stress is an interaction between an individual and the environment. An individual’s cognitive evaluation of threat and the available coping resources plays a role in this regard, along with emotions (e.g. fear, anger) and physical adaptation processes such as an increased pulse and a rise in blood pressure. People who manage stressors well show successful coping, and repeated successful experiences of stress can create resilience to life’s adversities. So far, various studies have shown that different parameters of resilience can influence the processing of physical illnesses such as certain cancers. It has also been shown that transition crises such as the perimenopause can be more easily overcome if an individual has high resilience characteristics. Overall, it can be assumed that resilience can favorably influence both psychological and physical stress management.