Post Traumatic Growth

In the course of discussing mental illness, I’ve written quite a bit about PTSD and its devastating impacts. If you have had the misfortune of experiencing some sort of traumatic event, you don’t need me to tell you just how much this can negatively impact your life, because you live it every day. PTSD isn’t a small problem: According to available statistics, 1 in 13 people will develop PTSD at some point in their lives.

However, I don’t want to talk about PTSD today. I want to talk about a different concept: Post Traumatic Growth.

I’ve been thinking a lot about this one of late – mainly because I want to know what circumstances make it possible. PTSD, or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, is the concept of showing positive growth or change after a devastating event. It is basically the idea that you can turn a negative into an incredible positive and come out stronger in the aftermath of suffering.

According to this article from the American Psychological Association, PTG is different than resilience, which is the factor that determines if you can recovery from a traumatic event. One inventory holds that these five factors determine if you experience PTG:

• Appreciation of life.
• Relationships with others.
• New possibilities in life.
• Personal strength.
• Spiritual change.

How we measure PTG isn’t as important to me as determining how to encourage someone to experience it, and I think this is an important question for people who suffer a traumatic event – how can they not only get through it, but grow from it?

According to the article, some people are predisposed to experience PTG. There are also a variety of other factors, including the type of trauma, the circumstances and the age of the individual in question (being 8 or younger decreases the chances of PTG). Furthermore, people who are more open to new experiences and extroverted are more likely to experience PTG. One study also found that there may be genetic connections to PTG, with individuals who had certain variations of the gene RGS2 being found as more likely to experience PTG.

As I’ve said repeatedly, I’m no doctor or therapist – I just play one on this blog. However, being able to show post traumatic growth strikes me as an incredibly difficult thing, one which requires a ton of support and therapy to prove. I would think that there is a real connection to optimism and resilience – to the notion that you can find light in the darkness. For many, a traumatic event – such as an assault or accident – proves to be too much to ever recover from.

However, I’d also hope that knowing that PTG is possible – indeed, achievable – can give people a new appreciation on life, on trauma, and even on depression. I mean, look at the article above, or just search for the subject. The internet is replete with examples of people finding light in the darkness, of using a traumatic experience to grow and change and become better people. Knowing that this is out there – that there are people who’s lives have been made better by trauma – that should inspire hope in all of us who are suffering.

Folks, I’m grateful for my depression and anxiety. It gave my career purpose and meaning and allowed me to use my experiences to make the world a better place. And, I suppose, that’s the best way I can look at what otherwise could have been a crippling illness.

Any thoughts on the concept of PTG that you want to share with us? As always, leave them below!