Post traumatic stress or growth?
We hear a lot about PTSD: post-traumatic stress disorder. But we hear a lot less about the reverse: post-traumatic growth!
Whatever the cause, traumatic stress is something most all of us have experienced, survived, and hopefully continued on to be able to flourish and thrive!
Whether we have experienced
- divorce,
- bankruptcy,
- serious accident,
- loss of job,
- life-threatening illness,
- death of a loved one…
you name it and it causes stress!
(I’ve experienced 4 of the above! What about you?)
And the stress is real. Many people who experience hardships in life and get through them don’t come out weaker, they come out better.
It doesn’t mean we don’t suffer, but when we come out on the other side we hopefully have learned some powerful lessons that enable us to live better lives.
From a study reported in an article Flourish: A visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-Being:
They studied 1700 people who reported at least one traumatic event and took “well-being” tests as well. To the researchers’ surprise, individuals who’d experienced one awful event had more intense strengths (and therefore higher well-being) than individuals who had had none.
Individuals who’d been through two awful events were stronger than individuals who had one, and individuals who had three (raped, tortured, and help captive for example) were stronger than those who had two.
So it sounds like Nietzche was right:
We are much stronger than we may have realized. So we can be grateful for the strength we gain from the traumatic events we have experienced.
4 Comments
For me the strange event in my life was the stroke. I didn’t feel it but it had happened. My first day in the hospital was full of tests and questions. By day 2 I knew something had happened because I could not read anything and had no words to describe what I could see. (language skills were gone ). Days 2 and 3 were to often find picture card exercises and I had to memorize what I could see to be ready with words for the next visit. Day 4 found me at home with a few months of exercises at home and at the hospital. Went from words, to sentences, to paragraphs, and so on. I guess you had reattach connections in your head which also gives one the opportunity to make a few changes in outlook on life. Victory brought back both of my language skills and if I still have problems putting names on something – I don’t worry about it. Positive outlook on life is one of the other changes – not much room now for negative stuff. ( I had to learn some stuff over again ). Just happy to be around – and have my camera with me. Strange stroke event, but nice positive outcomes.
Earl, you certainly exemplify the strength that comes from trauma! Your life now seems to be both calm and happy, even though you had to go through a lot to get there! Thanks for sharing your story.
We love to travel. We go and whatever happens..happens. We want to enjoy our lives while we are able and take the issues of growing older as they happen wherever we are. From Key west, Naples Florida, Hilton Head, SC, Savannah, SC, Highpoint, NC, to Palm Springs, CA., plus . Cheryl had one hospital stay in NC, we were ready to face what life throws at us, I can’t say we look forward to anymore health issues All of those communities we have had emergency/hospital/surgeries and stressful times. Recently told that I could not drive, fly for two months we had each other, our puppy Charlie and many things from home to keep us comfy, yes it was serious and terribly stressful, yes tears were shed but it is what it is and we are doing what we want to be doing BEFORE we can’t do it any longer. we look forward to tomorrow . Life is great.
Denny, you are a great role model for doing what you want to be doing before it is no longer possible! No matter where we are, we are living our life and keeping our focus on enjoying it means we have a happier experience. Thanks for sharing!