Why We Must Rethink Emotional Resilience—and What One Doctor’s Breakthrough Teaches Us

 

In an age marked by rising anxiety, burnout, and emotional fatigue, our understanding of resilience is being called into question—not by popular slogans or self-help mantras, but by rigorous psychological research.

One of the most compelling voices in this conversation is Dr. Kennedy Oberhiri Obohwemu, a Nigerian medical doctor and public health scholar whose groundbreaking work is offering a fresh lens on how people endure and recover from emotional hardship.

Dr. Obohwemu is the mind behind the recently published Self-Comforting Attitude Theory (SCAT) and the Self-Comforting Attitude Scale (SCAS)—a framework and psychometric tool that examine how individuals perceive their own self-soothing behaviours. 

These new tools build on his earlier contributions—the Self-Comforting and Coping Theory (SCCT) and Self-Comforting and Coping Scale (SCCS)—which focused on what people do to regulate themselves emotionally during distress.

Together, these four instruments form what he calls the Self-Comforting Framework—a world-first model that integrates both internal attitudes and external behaviours into our understanding of emotional resilience.

"At the heart of this framework is a cultural challenge: the belief that resilience is about grit, stoicism, and suppressing vulnerability. We glorify pushing through, “but we ignore the quiet labour of staying emotionally afloat," Dr Obohwemu state while commenting his  achievements.

His research shows that how people view their own coping strategies—such as mindfulness, emotional reframing, or self-talk—significantly impacts whether they use them.

If someone views self-soothing as indulgent or weak, they may avoid it altogether, even when it could prevent more serious mental health issues.

This insight, experts say, has profound implications. In low-resource settings, marginalised communities, and high-pressure environments like classrooms, hospitals, or corporate offices, emotional regulation is often expected but rarely supported. 

By providing a scientifically validated way to assess both attitudes and actions, the Self-Comforting Framework offers a more holistic, culturally adaptable approach to mental health.

The implications stretch beyond psychology. What if schools taught children how to comfort themselves, not just how to pass tests? What if employers valued emotional wellbeing as much as output?

What if mental health systems supported daily resilience instead of reacting only to crisis?

Dr. Obohwemu’s work proposes a paradigm shift—where comfort is no longer seen as a luxury or a weakness, but a foundational part of survival and strength.

His own journey reflects the theory he’s built. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, alone and unsupported in a new country, he relied on self-soothing behaviours to cope with profound isolation. That lived experience, he says, evolved into a scientific pursuit—and now, into a global conversation.

“Not all strength is loud,” he reflects. “Sometimes it’s a quiet moment of self-reassurance—unseen, uncelebrated, but vital. And now, it’s measurable. That, too, is progress.”