For our physical health we know what the body needs and we work on it. Too often we neglect our mental health, but we can train that too. We spoke to René Träder about resilience.
René Träder is a psychologist, journalist and author of “Das Leben so No! I do! ”. In it he lists all eight building blocks of resilience. He shows us how we can get out of our carousel of thoughts, why self-efficacy helps us to persevere and how we deal with the sometimes tough requirements when it means: Live vegan, never drive again or only buy fair food and fair fashion.
By the way: This is a slightly shortened version – you can find the full conversation on the Utopia podcast:
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Nora Braatz: Right at the beginning: Can you, René, briefly explain what exactly is resilience?
René Träder: The term comes from the Latin: “resiliere”. That means something like “jumping off” or “bouncing off” and refers to our psyche: How robust is it when there are disturbances and stresses – above all from the outside, ie stress, crises, problems, blows of fate?
I like to describe resilience as the immune system of the psyche. We all know the body’s immune system. And we often ask ourselves: What can I do to stay healthy? I can do sports, I can eat healthily, I can get enough sleep. We all understand that. Unfortunately, we often exclude the psyche. It just has to work, I have to endure it, I have to go through here now. But I always want to tell people that health is physical health plus mental health.
When it comes to sustainability, we often feel pressured. It is suggested to us: You have to live vegan now! You have to save your electricity! Stop eating avocado! Don’t drive a car anymore! In the worst case scenario, this can lead to saying to yourself: Ok, I won’t do anything anymore, I’ll stick to my old lifestyle. Here, too, resilience is important to us. Do you have any tips on how to deal with this stress?
When we are under stress, an anxiety is often triggered or an anxiety is in the background and triggers the stress. The stress you just described is the fear of being rejected by the people around you. Because some people might not eat avocado anymore and then I see myself as a worse “avocado sinner”.
We are either afraid that we will be rejected by others, or that we will reject ourselves and say: Oh dear, so much suffering on this planet and I am also increasing the suffering. It can be that I then feel hopeless and think: That is terrible.
The question is how can we deal with this stress? I think it is very important to look at your own values and ask yourself: What is important to me? How do I want to live? And how can I get in the direction I want with small decisions?
It is not true that we surrender to the stress and have no more energy and find it all very bad. Instead, we should try to change little things in a constructive way and be friendly and gentle with ourselves. And say: Ok, I’ll take a closer look now. I find out more and watch a documentary. I want to understand that and make good decisions.
You also say in your book about resilience that habits should be integrated in small, “homeopathic” steps. This is often easier than, for example, switching your own diet to vegan overnight.
Perhaps there are people who want to live vegan overnight because they cannot bear to consume an animal product. And if you can do it overnight, then of course you can do it that way and don’t need a step-by-step plan.
But it’s also completely okay if you slowly approach the topic and, for example, first read: Where are animal products in it? What can I reduce? Then you might also develop a desire to try out new recipes. We need joy in the things we do, otherwise we won’t do them sustainably.
Thank you René! The full interview can be heard on the Utopia podcast.
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More on the subject:
- Resilience: This is how you train your emotional resilience
- Frustration: This is how you learn to deal with it
- Coping with Stress: These methods and exercises will help you
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