Resilience often happens in moments of courage. When we call on our inner strength and stamina to weather life’s storms, this is resilience. We don’t always do it perfectly and being resilient doesn’t mean that we deny reality—but discovering our resilience matters. In fact, there are ways we can build it.
At PMD Alliance, we’re always looking to grow resilience for our whole Ecosystem of care—the person with a movement disorder and everyone around them, from family to medical providers and therapists, to caregivers, friends, and community groups.
This is exactly what our Ecosystem Council seeks to do: really explore and understand resilience. Because the better we understand what resilience is, the better we can know how to build it to serve everyone impacted by a movement disorder.
Our Ecosystem Council is made up of people who represent every aspect of the Movement Disorder Care and Support Ecosystem©. This includes people with movement disorders, spouses, support group leaders, social workers, physicians, and more. It’s not a typical advisory committee; we gather to get curious, explore, and learn the best way ahead, together.
These past 18 months have been particularly trying for all of us—our healthcare system is stressed, we’ve experienced social isolation, loss, and grief. In people with Parkinson’s, all of this could impact the expression of motor and non-motor symptoms. So learning what makes us more resilient matters, now more than ever.
What we understand so far is that resilience is not one thing. It’s built through connection, especially with people who share our experiences with movement disorders. It’s built through knowledge and real, honest talk about therapies and the road ahead. It’s built through self-forgiveness and compassion and adequate support.
It’s built together. We make each other stronger.
As PMD Alliance heads into our seventh year, we will continue to get curious about resilience and the Ecosystem Council will be leading the way so that we all can live with more peace, more quality of life, and more possibility.
