{"id":4975,"date":"2024-01-21T20:47:25","date_gmt":"2024-01-21T18:47:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mytherapist.gr\/?p=4975"},"modified":"2024-01-21T21:21:54","modified_gmt":"2024-01-21T19:21:54","slug":"christopher-reeve-a-mentally-resilient-person","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mytherapist.gr\/en\/mental-health-articles\/emotions\/christopher-reeve-a-mentally-resilient-person\/","title":{"rendered":"Christopher Reeve: A mentally resilient person"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Actor Christopher Reeve, who became world-famous when he portrayed \"Superman\" in the Hollywood film of the same name in 1978, suffered a serious injury during an equestrian competition in 1995. The actor was thrown from his horse, and within a few seconds, \"The Man of Steel\" lost all strength and became quadriplegic. After the tragic accident, he became actively involved in advocacy, founding the \"Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation\".<\/p>

In 2003, Dr. Roberts Brooks, in an article on his personal website drrobertsbrooks.com, presented Christopher Reeve as a representative example of a psychologically resilient person. The article was based on an interview the actor had given to the magazine \"Attache\".<\/p>

According to Brooks (2003), this interview is truly powerful, because through his words Christopher Reeve teaches lessons in resilience, motivates people to take action, and encourages a positive way of facing adversity.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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More specifically, Christopher Reeve mentioned, among other things, that:<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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1. Don\u2019t get stuck trying to figure out why it happened. As Christopher Reeve noted, feeling anger after a traumatic event is understandable. But once you survive, the next step is to make sense of it and discover a new, meaningful way to live.<\/p>

\"I believe paralysis is a choice. I am paralyzed in the literal sense, but in many ways I am free. Many people are free of physical limitations, but they are paralyzed by fear and anxiety, depression and feelings of helplessness. They have no faith that their lives will improve. And they are as good as paralyzed.\"<\/em><\/p>

Christopher Reeve<\/p>

2. Look for solutions, not limitations. If someone decides to put blinders on and focus only on limitations, they end up limiting their possibilities.<\/p>

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3. Psychological resilience does not mean denying emotions like sadness or anger, it means managing them so they do not trap someone in stagnation. For several years, Christopher Reeve spent the first 20 minutes of every morning crying, or dreaming about his life before the accident. However, once those 20 minutes were over, he returned to his daily responsibilities.<\/p>

\"My whole schedule requires me to stay in the present. There is so much to do.\"<\/em><\/p>

Christopher Reeve<\/p>

Christopher Reeve did not deny his feelings, he cried when he felt it, but he practiced personal control by setting limits on the emotions that were blocking his progress.<\/p>

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4. Stay occupied. The actor emphasized the importance of committing yourself to some form of physical activity, or to advocacy. He believed that ongoing physiotherapy helped him regain movement in parts of his body that seemed impossible to move immediately after the accident. Advocacy, on the other hand, involves fighting for a cause, a vision, or an ideal. For each of us, it is important to prioritize our values and make sure we invest time and energy in activities that reflect them. If we do not live by those values, we may end up living empty lives filled with dissatisfaction.<\/p>

5. Do not look for a quick fix. The actor believed that the most important goals take time to achieve. Long-term goals are best achieved when they are broken down into smaller goals, and into smaller but meaningful accomplishments.<\/p>

Christopher Reeve was a psychologically resilient man, and an example to follow, because he reminds all of us that the key difference between a winner and a loser is not what happens to you, but how you respond to what happens to you. Christopher Reeve became eternal for his courage.<\/p>

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By Penny Kotina, psychologist |\u00a017\/11\/2022<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Actor Christopher Reeve, who became world-famous when he portrayed \"Superman\" in the 1978 Hollywood film, suffered a serious injury... <\/p>","protected":false},"author":236822084,"featured_media":4976,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[766568642,766568659,766568661,766568677],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arthra-psychologias","category-aftopepoithisi","category-synaisthimata","category-thymos"],"acf":{"article-authored-by":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t