The surprising benefit of going through hard times
For those people who have faced trauma or adversity, the end result can be growth and a renewed sense of self.
It’s not just the “starving artists” who use their own issues of love and loss to get inspired to create something great.
Over the last two decades, psychologists Richard Tedeschi and Lawrence Calhoun coined the phrase “post-traumatic growth” and many others have also dedicated themselves to researching it in over 300 studies.
Essentially, post-traumatic growth refers to people who experience a life changing transformation after facing challenging circumstances. Researchers found that almost seven out of 10 survivors of trauma report having some sort of positive psychological growth.
The growth can vary in its scope, from a greater appreciation for life itself, a renewed love for family and friends, a keener eye to the beauty in nature, a spiritual connection with a higher being, or a renewed energy for work or charity.
For instance living through a car accident may lead the survivor to decide to change jobs or move across the country, as they have the light bulb moment that life is short. Someone who has lost a child may find the inner strength and passion to set up a charity in the hope that others won’t have to live through the pain that they have experienced.
It’s not the case for everyone though – not all people survive and thrive, and many experience the more commonly known post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Why is it then that some come out on the other side of trauma on the up, while others stay low?
The model of post-traumatic growth created by Tedeschi and Calhoun states that people naturally make decisions every day that are based on their own beliefs and assumptions that have been formed over a lifetime. When trauma hits, these beliefs and ideals are shaken to the core, not unlike an earthquake, and all of a sudden our most basic foundations of life can become unhinged. Left to rebuild, many people let go of these preconceived ideas and start over from the bottom up.
“A psychologically seismic event can severely shake, threaten, or reduce to rubble many of the schematic structures that have guided understanding, decision making, and meaningfulness,” Tedeschi and Calhoun write.
The process of rebuilding the core structure of the individual’s belief system tends to start with some very challenging emotions such as anger, grief and anxiety. The growth tends to occur concurrently with, rather than instead of, these emotions.
The individual needs to start over, pulling together new meanings and assumptions of the world around them, based on their new information about how the world works.
By seeing themselves as survivors rather than victims, they can feel strong and wise rather than weak and vulnerable. From there, they may feel that they are getting closer to their true self.
Things that we took for granted, such as our families, friends, steady income, or a comfortable home – can suddenly feel like the greatest assets in the world. This renewed sense of life as a gift can open doors to creativity such as art or photography which seek to capture the beauty of the world.
Has your outlook on life changed as a result of trauma? We would love to hear your story in the comments.
Related links:
Overcoming pain using the power of the mind
The 4 tricks guaranteed to make you a morning person
5 extraordinarily simple ways to be happy