Resilience And Why It Matters As You Age

By: Dr. Beth Templin

Reslience is a term that has gained more popularity over the past few years, but what does it actually mean?

And why should you care about it as you age? By definition, resilience is the capacity to endure, or recover quickly from a stress. In the medical world, it's also know as physiologic reserve, and refers to your body's ability to tolerate, and recover form increased demands - whether it be an illness, an injury, an increased physical workload, or added emotional stress.

Your physiologic reserve tends to decrease with age. Think of it as a tank of gas. When your tank is full, it's easy to navigate construction, or wait while an accident gets cleared.

When your tank is near empty, and an unforeseen event happens, you are less likely to reach your destination. Similarly, when you have an abundance of physiologic reserve, you can easily recover from an unplanned illness or injury.

As your physiologic reserve diminishes, you struggle to overcome the same illness or injury. For example, someone who is active and healthy can usually recover from about of pneumonia, or a urinary track infection (UTI) pretty easily. The same illnesses can be devastating to another person, who already has underlying health and mobility issues.

We see it all the time. We also see this happen when someone can "bounce back" after an injury like a fall, where as others take much longer to recover from the same type of injury. The biggest difference is how strong the body is beforehand. The stronger and more robust the physiologic reserve, the better the capacity to recover from a stressful stimulus to the body.

Other examples include someone who is weak and frail. If they lift a heavy grocery bag or laundry basket, they are at a higher risk of injuring themselves, compared to someone who lifts weight on a regular basis.

Resilience also includes your emotional toughness. Have you ever noticed how some people are able to stay optimistic, even in the face of bad news, or an unanticipated crisis, while others may be devastated by the simplest inconvenience?

How To Build Resilience

If you guessed the answer is exercise, you'd be right. Exercise is one of the best ways to improve not only your medical health, but your strength and endurance as well. As you build up your fitness levels, you have a better ability to recover quickly from any physical or emotional demands, illness, or injuires that may come your way.

Caregivers Need Resilience Too
I think we often forget about the huge toll being a caregiver can take on someone. Not only do you need to be healthy and strong enough to take care of yourself, but you have a loved one counting on you.

What we see too often is that caregivers will do anything to help their loved one get stronger, or more mobile, but they often times will not prioritize their own needs. This leads to caregiver burnout from being "on" emotionally all the time.

This also places caregivers at a higher risk of injury, if they are trying to keep someone steady on their feet, or trying to help them in and out of bed. The physical demands can be so high. My advice to caregivers is to ask for help, to make sure your needs (physical, social, emotional) are being met. Take care of yourself, so you can continue to take care of your loved one.

? Dr. Beth

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