Human shield, the

Mental health experts are increasingly convinced that resilience -- the ability to roll with however many punches life serves up -- is one of the keys to well-being. Some people are born with that quality, while others faced with adversity can slip into mental illness or destructive and self-destructive behaviour. But as Nora Underwood points out in her new Star Dispatches ebook, The Human Shield: Why Resilience Is the Hottest Thing in Mental Health, researchers and clinicians now realize that resilience can be taught. She explores programs across Canada for soldiers, police officers and schoolchildren to help them weather difficulties in their work and their lives and emerge as stronger, more resilient people.