{"id":1453801,"date":"2022-04-26T08:15:54","date_gmt":"2022-04-26T12:15:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1453801"},"modified":"2022-04-26T08:16:00","modified_gmt":"2022-04-26T12:16:00","slug":"how-your-trauma-can-lead-to-serious-personal-growth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-your-trauma-can-lead-to-serious-personal-growth\/","title":{"rendered":"How Your Trauma Can Lead To Serious Personal Growth"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhow-your-trauma-can-lead-to-serious-personal-growth%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1453801&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/sold-e1650678007548.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p>So much of what we think we know about post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is wrong. As a war veteran diagnosed with this condition, I know  it is not a condemnation. Rather, it can be used as a springboard to a happier, more fulfilled life.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Post-traumatic stress does not equate to post-traumatic stress disorder. Instead, it can lead to post-traumatic growth. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC6394282\/\">It did for me, and it can for the estimated 300 million people in the world with PTSD<\/a>, especially in the psychological wake of Covid and the wars that have been fought all over the globe.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>If we want to rebuild ourselves and our economies after this pandemic, it\u2019s time we stop viewing traumatic experiences as a hindrance. Rather, with the right mindset, perspective, and practices, they can be the necessary step towards the beauty of post-traumatic growth and the personal transformation that comes with it.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m walking proof of the power of post-traumatic growth. I moved from India to the United States at the age of 13. Soon after that, I got heavily into drugs and alcohol. I descended into a world of self-harm and self-destruction. I even lost two friends to that lifestyle and was on the brink of the abyss myself.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>After watching \u201cBlack Hawk Down,\u201d I quit using drugs and decided to enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps, despite scoliosis, flat feet, and a blood disorder that two doctors told me would kill me in boot camp. In 2007, I deployed to Iraq as an infantry non-commissioned officer. One of my jobs was to walk in front of our vehicles looking for bombs before they could be used to kill me and my fellow Marines.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Upon returning home, I struggled with survivor\u2019s guilt, couldn\u2019t handle being in crowds, and was hyper-vigilant of loud noises. As a result of these symptoms, I was diagnosed with PTSD. However, as I came to learn over time, post-traumatic stress is not indicative of post-traumatic stress disorder.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In war, loud noises meant death. Consequently, the brain becomes more alert and wary of such conditions. It\u2019s a perfectly normal response, it\u2019s not a \u201cdisorder.\u201d It\u2019s simply the mind\u2019s way of keeping us alive. When we frame natural responses to traumatic events as a disorder, then that narrative becomes internalized and that belief shapes our reality, and ourselves.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2>My PTSD Became My Growth Engine<\/h2>\n<p>My PTSD is my growth engine. As a result of learning to harness, confront, and indeed seek fear, I now run ultra-marathons, climb mountains, sky dive, and scuba dive. I purposefully seek out activities that terrify me. In my mind, fear is no longer a barrier, but a necessary ingredient for personal and spiritual growth.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Richard G. Tedeschi of the University of North Carolina is among those who have been studying \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/hbr.org\/2020\/07\/growth-after-trauma\">post-traumatic growth<\/a>\u201d for the past quarter-century. A program that Tedeschi oversees, the Boulder Crest program, has revealed that a regular post-traumatic growth approach to trauma treatment could allow many veterans to lead more connected, purposeful lives.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>This is not a new idea; the spiritual importance of suffering is a fundamental tenet of many major religions, from the concept of Dukkha in Hinduism and Buddhism to the crucifixion in Christianity. Using suffering as a path to enlightened states of being is an eternal feature of the human psyche.<\/p>\n<h2>Facing Problems Head-On<\/h2>\n<p>To trigger post-traumatic growth, we must face our feelings and uncomfortable thoughts head-on. We must embrace them, untangle them, and work through them.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.researchgate.net\/publication\/47756155_Post-traumatic_distress_and_the_presence_of_post-traumatic_growth_and_meaning_in_life_Experiential_avoidance_as_a_moderator\">Studies show<\/a> that the greater the levels of post-traumatic stress, the greater the growth, but only in individuals with low levels of \u201cexperiential avoidance,\u201d a tendency to avoid feelings, emotions, or experiences.<\/p>\n<p>As one example, we might refer to the words of Rabbi Harold Kushner, describing life after the death of his son: \u201cI am a more sensitive person, a more effective pastor, a more sympathetic counselor because of Aaron\u2019s life and death than I would ever have been without it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>We need to reframe trauma into a common aspect of the human experience that triggers positive growth. Such moments have the power to instill a new appreciation of life, renewed reflection, personal strength, and spiritual change.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2>Addressing Widespread PTSD<\/h2>\n<p>After the war, my torment didn\u2019t disappear. I just transformed it into an ally. Studies suggest that around <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC5047000\/#:~:text=In%20one%20major%20study%20of,as%2020%25%20to%2030%25.&#038;text=As%20many%20as%20500%2C000%20U.S.,have%20been%20diagnosed%20with%20PTSD.\">25 percent of the veterans <\/a>who have served in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have been diagnosed with PTSD. <\/p>\n<p>Of course, trauma isn\u2019t just reserved for those who have seen war. After Covid, many educational researchers have noticed an uptick in children suffering from the condition.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Fundamentally, we have to understand that post-traumatic growth is not only possible but that it can be taught. By implementing resilience training in schools, and by offering post-traumatic growth training to adults in the workplace, we can work to remove the stigma associated with this condition. The science of post-traumatic growth also needs to be incorporated at a foundational level into the ideologies of health-care systems across the world.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>After Covid, war, and just the suffering we experience on a regular basis, this is a message that we desperately need to hear: Trauma can either break you \u2014 or build you up into someone better and stronger than before.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<p>\n  Akshay is a veteran of the U.S. Marines, speaker, entrepreneur, author, and founder of Fearvana.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>So much of what we think we know about post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is wrong. As a war veteran diagnosed with this condition, I know it is not a condemnation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":719,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1453801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1453801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/719"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1453801"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1453801\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1453801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1453801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1453801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}