Have you ever thought that you always seem to have things going wrong in your life? Or that guy at work/girl down the gym/family member/friend always seems to just cope so well with life difficulties? They’re always happy, nothing ever gets you down? Well, there may actually be a genetic reason for just that!
BBC journalist Sian Williams has been investigating resiliency skills and their genetic implications. She found that Dr Michael Pleuss of Queen Mary University in London has detected through DNA testing that a ‘resiliency gene’ may account for 30 – 50% of the differences found amongst people in their reactions to adverse life experiences. The idea is that this gene may affect how our brain transmits certain chemicals or our ability to perceive certain situations. Dr Pleuss’ research has however found that those with a ‘resiliency gene’ present not only is affected only slightly by adverse life experiences, but they may also be only very slightly affected by any positive experience in their life; suggesting that it may not be the wish we all want to come true to find this gene within our DNA code.
Ms Williams also spoke to Professor Martin Seligman – the ‘father’ of positive psychology who developed the Penn Resiliency Programme. The programme is designed to educate people to challenge any negative or catastrophic thinking, to teach leadership and social skills as well as improving upon our character strengths. This programme, originally piloted in American schools, has now been rolled out to the US Military and results have found that incidences of PTSD, anxiety & depressive disorders have significantly reduced as well as substance abuse problems being halved.
Seligman has identified what is known as the ‘Hope Circuit’ – a neural pathway that begins at the frontal cortex of our brain and travels deep into our limbic system (the system responsible for our emotions and memories). Up to now, we utilise what is known as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) to stimulate this circuit by changing our thinking which in turn can alter our feelings and then behaviour. It is Seligman’s hope that soon we will be able to stimulate the circuit biologically.
That being said, even Dr Pleuss admits that our ability to cope with adverse experiences is a very complex interplay between our genetic make-up and our experiences. Other important factors that we should consider when trying to increase our resiliency levels are:
Having a strong support system
Being able to retrain your brain away from fear and threat; having a positive outlook
Learning to reflect and challenge negative thinking
Being able to seek help when required
Have an ability to live with uncertainty
If you would like to find out more information about how CBT training can help you, then get in touch with us today.