Turning trauma into growth

Focusing on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is like the tail wagging the dog.

Consider the example of a flood victim:

First, a victim may relive the disaster in dreams time and again.

Second, they may be left numb psychologically… “didn’t even go to his dad’s cemetery” and “neglecting domestic duties – they don’t mean anything any more, Can’t sleep, can’t eat.”

Third, anxiety, hyper alertness and phobic reactions to events that act as a reminder.

There may also be a feeling of guilt not helping others in the flood.

Extreme response is suicide or depression but the most usual response is resilience – a relatively brief episode of depression plus anxiety, followed by a return to the previous level of functioning.

post traumatic stress vs post-traumatic growth

If all we focus on is the stress, rather than growth, it creates a self-fulfilling spiral.

PTSD is a combination of anxiety and depression. It helps to know that bursting into tears is not a symptom of PTSD but a symptom of normal grief.

The next post in this series on ‘flourishing’ will examine post-traumatic growth