A few small risks make life colorful and our minds strong

Busch: Societies are very complex and diverse. It is difficult to make a general diagnosis, especially as our perception is often distorted by the few who manage to draw attention to themselves very loudly. What I do feel, however, is a certain overstimulation due to the sheer mass of negative information and events that affect us. 

People react very differently to this. One group becomes passive, anxious and withdraws. The second group becomes thin-skinned, aggressive, angry, sometimes even criminal, because the fuse is simply too short. And a third group, and unfortunately this is the smallest group, takes the action described above. They simply lend a hand in their immediate environment, do their job, volunteer and are there where they are needed. These are people you can rely on and who rise above themselves in a crisis.

Busch: What would help from the political side would be professional competence. Professional politicians who have either dropped out of university or have never worked a day in their lives will never enjoy the trust of large sections of the population who have to fight for their livelihood every day.

Honesty and reliability would also be something that politicians should rediscover as a value. In a real world that is spinning ever faster, and in a virtual world in which people can hardly distinguish between truth and lies, these two qualities are true virtues that people long for.

But we can also do something ourselves. We can resolve for ourselves again and again to put our trust in people. It can be difficult to overcome this hurdle. But democracy depends on trust. On both sides.

Busch: When the discussion is deadlocked, it certainly helps to make it clear that every person is more than the political opinion that he or she embodies. Every person has many facets. When you meet people, it is important not only to emphasize what divides them, but also to see what connects them.

This was also important for me in my forensic work, when I had to prepare expert reports on offenders. If you know what this person has done, it's very difficult to approach them on a neutral level because the emotions resonate or you feel disgust. It helped me to imagine that this person who committed a robbery might be a very loving family man. Or that the person who hit a woman might be an animal lover.

We often make the mistake of completely rejecting people or, conversely, completely idealizing them – and both erode the basis for exchange and dialogue.

Busch: Part of our resilience is innate or learned in early childhood and can hardly be influenced. The other part benefits from very basic recommendations that sound like old-fashioned tips from women's or men's magazines: It's all about physical well-being, meaning eating healthily, getting enough and good sleep, exercising and being active in nature.

Personal relationships are also a very important source of strength, especially in crises and difficult times, so you should take care of your partner, family and friends. Sharing the burden on different shoulders makes it easier for everyone. 

To strengthen resilience, it is also important to experience yourself as "self-effective". Life and work should be organized in such a way that we can experience small successes again and again, that we can solve some of our problems. We experience this self-efficacy all the more intensely when we move a little outside our personal comfort zone and take calculated risks. A few small risks or micro-adventures make life colorful and our psyche strong. A slight uncertainty activates us and can be used wisely; I call this uncertainty energy. We realize what we can achieve – – and that is usually much more than we think. This is how we develop a sense of security in ourselves. This strengthens our mental immune system and our resilience immensely. Humor is also important for resilience.