[excerpted from, 9 Keys to Building Resilience: Health Psychology ©2023]

A daily dose of gratitude will boost your resilience.

Much has been written about gratitude, and as a mindset and practice, it’s powerful indeed. When we’re appreciative, even for small things, life becomes richer; we see the gifts all around us. When we express our gratitude to others, it enhances their wellbeing, too. This considered practice adds to optimism, as we develop a habit of looking for the good everywhere, and increases the presence of meaning in life.

Our core resilience is boosted by the practice of gratitude in its effect on our optimism; even in adversity, in those times most difficult, we’ll tend to seek out what we can still appreciate, what’s still positive, of value, worthwhile, meaningful. Developing this sense of gratitude while in the throes of adversity, however, isn’t likely to be successful; we do well to begin this practice now, and make it an ingrained habit, as if storing money in the resilience bank for times of adversity to come.

As I awaken each morning, my little cat inevitably curled up beside me, I breathe deeply and am grateful: for another day, for a deep and cleansing breath, for a drink of pure water awaiting me at my bedside, for that little cat. When I retire for the night, I’m filled with gratitude just to lay my body down in bed again – one of the loveliest moments of each day – and review my day, identifying simple moments of beauty, of love, of joy, and once more I’m grateful.

In their review of recent research on gratitude and resilience, Kurian and Thomas (2023) identified the enhancement of trait gratitude on coping skills related to presence of meaning, and on positive reappraisal or emotional regulation. Gratitude also contributed to increased resilience and coping in the study of Klibert et al. (2019), in part due to elevated mood.

Gratitude is often viewed as a form of social bonding, when we’re grateful for other people or the benefits we receive from them. In middle childhood, gratitude facilitates social and emotional attachment, which in turn creates more trait gratitude in adolescence and becomes a feedback loop, as well as a protective factor against depressive symptoms (Scott et al., 2021).

Naturally, we can feel grateful and practice gratitude in other ways than those of social bonding. When we’re grateful for a sunny day, or for health, or any number of other aspects, perhaps we’re bonding with the natural world, to the self, or to a deity if religious; we may be grateful to fate, or to life itself. In any case, our gratitude contributes to various types of bondedness (as opposed to isolation), positive mood, self-efficacy, and a general belief in a benevolent world.

In fact, gratitude has also been identified as beneficial when directed toward the self, in identifying traits and skills one perceives oneself to contain, for example. In facilitating self-compassion and self-acceptance, gratitude can amplify positive psychological functioning and specifically, resilience (Homan & Hosack, 2019). It can be quite different to say, “I’m grateful” rather than, “I’m glad” that I have a particular skill; in the former, even if my gratitude has no object (I’m not grateful to a deity nor to another person, nor even particularly to myself for gaining the skill, which would be the latter case instead), from a position of humility I’m merely, yet powerfully, grateful for same. Humble before the universe, perhaps.

Gratitude has been strongly associated with resilience in the face of adversity. During the recent pandemic period, when medical professionals in high-incidence areas were under profound duress, both health care professionals and hospital staff of a ‘red zone’ in Italy demonstrated gratitude as protective, associated with decreased burnout and perceived stress, and increased hardiness and self-efficacy (Giordano et al., 2022).

In the particularly high-risk population of military veterans, gratitude has been demonstrated as beneficial to mental health. In an analysis of data from the National Health and Resilience Veterans Study of 3,151 US veterans, McGuire et al. (2021) identified an association between trait gratitude and increased resilience in forms such as social support, presence of meaning, and optimism; the researchers further noted decreased risk of posttraumatic stress disorder, mood disorders, addiction, and suicide.

Along with optimism, gratitude can also counteract suicidal ideation in sexual assault survivors experiencing symptoms of posttraumatic stress, as seen in a study of Kumar et al. (2022). What’s more, for those at the high end of the spectrum for these traits, the association between PTSD symptoms and thoughts of suicide was no longer found. In a related study, adolescent suicide risk, especially among girls, appears to be mitigated by a generalized presence of gratitude (Rey et al., 2019).

It can be quite challenging to find gratitude in the midst of crisis, or sustained chronic stress. Yet again, if we can practice gratitude daily in times of relative stability, we can feed our resilience reserves – and be better prepared when adversity comes.

One of those ways, which we’ll explore further below, is in writing about gratitude. The research backs it up: focusing on experiences of gratitude in one’s life, especially through writing, enhances positive reappraisal, which we saw in the introduction as a form of emotional regulation strongly correlated with resilience (Boggio et al., 2020).

So – let’s get grateful, and add this to our resilience-building techniques.

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Exercises:

As with a couple of our keys already, begin by gaining clarity. Brainstorm or mind-map what gratitude means to you, sources of gratitude in your life. You might also consider making a list, or engaging in deep contemplation, or a conversation with a likeminded person.

The gratitude journal is by now a classic – and also very effective, if you’re the journal-writing sort. Consider prompts, not just what you’re grateful for that day but particular categories; one day your writing could be about aspects of family for which you’re grateful, while another day it could be for personal characteristics, aspects of nature, your beliefs, or many other things. (If you can’t think of anything, there are plenty of gratitude prompt lists to be found online.)

Similarly, a gratitude box or jar, that you decorate or make special in some way and keep somewhere visible, is useful. Each day write on small slips of paper anything for which you’re grateful; it could be something or someone permanently or regularly in your life, or something charming, funny, or meaningful that happened that day. On occasion when you need a boost, reach into the jar and pull out one of these slips of paper to read and remember; gratitude has its effect on us in the remembering, too.

Use of a note app in your phone might be helpful. Throughout each day, whenever anything gives you a moment of pleasure or inspires gratitude, note it in a few words on your note app. At the day’s end, transfer those to your journal or gratitude jar. This will increase your mindfulness during the day in seeking all those moments worthy of gratitude – and remember: sunshine, a cool breeze, a nice deep breath of clean air, the strength of your body, the smile of a stranger – you’re surrounded each day by opportunities for gratitude.

Identify a small, transitional object – something meaningful that you carry with you always, as a reminder to be grateful.

If you have a friend or family member who’s also focused on gratitude, make a pact to text one another once a day to share something for which you’re grateful. (Sometimes, it might be that you’re grateful for that person.)

Post once a day on social media: Today I’m grateful for…. Sharing your gratitude with others increases its effect considerably, and you might inspire others to add their own comments of gratitude. Or join an online gratitude group, if it suits you.

Meditate on the topic of gratitude. You’ll find that it fills your heart.

Make a playlist of songs related to gratitude – and play it often.

References:

Boggio PS, Giglio ACA, Nakao CK, et al. (2020). Writing about gratitude increases emotion-regulation efficacy. Journal of Positive Psychology 15:6, 783-794. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2019.1651893

Giordano F, Cipolla A, and Ungar M (2022). Building resilience for healthcare professionals working in an Italian red zone during the COVID-19 outbreak: A pilot study. Stress and Health 38:2, 234-248. https://doi.org/10.1002/smi.3085

Homan K and Hosack L (2019). Gratitude and the self: Amplifying the good within. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment 29:7, 874-886. https://doi.org/10.1080/10911359.2019.1630345

Klibert J, Rochani H, Samawi H et al. (2019). The Impact of an Integrated Gratitude Intervention on Positive Affect and Coping Resources. International Journal of Applied Positive Psychology 3, 23-41. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41042-019-00015-6

Kumar SA, Jaffe AE, Brock RL et al. (2022). Resilience to suicidal ideation among college sexual assault survivors: The protective role of optimism and gratitude in the context of posttraumatic stress. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy 14:S1, S91-S100. https://doi.org/10.1037/tra0001141

Kurian RM and Thomas S (2023). Gratitude as a path to human prosperity during adverse circumstances: a narrative review. British Journal of Guidance & Counselling. https://doi.org/10.1080/03069885.2022.2154314

McGuire AP, Fogle BM, Tsai J et al. (2021). Dispositional gratitude and mental health in the U.S. veteran population: Results from the National Health and Resilience Veterans Study. Journal of Psychiatric Research 135, 279-288. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2021.01.020

Rey L, Quintana-Orts C, Mérida-López S et al. (2019). Being Bullied at School: Gratitude as Potential Protective Factor for Suicide Risk in Adolescents. Frontiers in Psychology 10:662. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00662

Scott V, Verhees M, de Raedt R et al. (2021). Gratitude: A Resilience Factor for More Securely Attached Children. Journal of Child and Family Studies 30, 416-430. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-020-01853-8