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HealthGlobal issues

Resilience - What Makes the Soul Strong

January 12, 2024

Around one billion people struggle with stress-related illness globally - and that figure is rising. What protects those with good mental health? Is their resilience innate?

Dokumentation | Resilienz - Was die Seele stark macht
Image: SWR
Image: SWR

 

Or is the ability to withstand chronic stress and crisis something that can be learned?

 

 

 

 

 

Image: SWR

 

In the search for answers, the film visits some of the leading figures in resilience research. The filmmakers also interview epigeneticists and neuroscientists. In the largest European resilience center in Mainz, Germany, researchers conduct a long-term study to explore the mechanisms deployed by people who enjoy good mental health despite stress and crisis.

 

 

Image: SWR

In southern France, the film meets Boris Cyrulnik, a pioneer of resilience research. His credo: when it comes to resilient behavior, it’s not just down to us - society and politics also have a responsibility to create appropriate conditions for stable psychological health. And the film tells the moving story of two families united by tragedy: following the violent death of their two sons, who were friends, they struggle to find their way back to some semblance of normal life.

 

Image: SWR

 

Our experiences, our environment and our genes - all influence our powers of mental resilience. Resilience isn’t a magic word or a promise of happiness, but a life-long learning process.

 

 

 

 

Broadcasting Hours: 

DW English

SAT 20.01.2024 – 11:03 UTC
SAT 20.01.2024 – 22:03 UTC
SUN 21.01.2024 – 05:03 UTC

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