Why People Who Endure Psychological Struggle Can Grow Faster

Are you feeling overwhelmed, depressed or especially anxious? Have you recently endured an emotional or exhausting experience that left you feeling sad, miserable or disillusioned with life?

Believe it or not, everyone encounters these traumatic experiences that play a significant role in the growth and personality traits of every human. Studies suggest that one in three people suffer from traumatic experiences that will shape the outcome of day-to-day life. Depending on the circumstance, the impact of trauma can wreak havoc and even destroy a persons entire belief system.

In case you might be asking yourself, here are just a few examples of traumatic experiences:

Car accident

A death in the family

Criminal assault 

Sexual abuse

Severe neglect as a child

Whether this comes in the form of nightmares, anxieties or flashbacks; trauma can bring up all the same feelings as the actual event or experience, while disabling the individual from thinking rational.

But why am I telling you this?

Well, many psychologists believe in a theory called "Post Traumatic Growth" and at a time when life can seem so busy and stressful; this positive belief system can seem like a breath of fresh air.

PTSD and the Theory of Post Traumatic Growth (PTG)

As you may know, symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress (PTSD) can last for weeks, months and years. For the unfortunate, these symptoms can even last forever and go untreated for the rest of their life. Traumatic stress is also something that might not appear until years after an event or experience, and one month is often cited by medical professionals as the minimum duration for the condition.

Meanwhile, Post-traumatic Growth (PTG) refers to a positive psychological change that enables a person to reach a higher level of function following a traumatic experience. In other words, psychologists Lawrence Calhoun and Richard Tedeschi developed a well-respected theory that in spite of whatever might be happening in the present for a person, the future can be brighter than ever.

But that's just part of the story...

According to these psychologists, PTG can be evaluated through the extent of growth that a person has achieved in the wake of traumatic stress. More specifically, assessments will focus on how this individual responds to areas such as appreciation of life, mental strength and personal relationships.

How Trauma Therapy Can Help Initiate Pot Traumatic Growth

At the same time, one needs to escape the clutches of PTSD in order to see the light and this is undoubtedly the most difficult part. For example, toxic shame is a mental illness and not just a belief that one does bad things, but that one is a bad entirely. It's an irrational way of thinking but the overwhelming power of this belief will often leave this person trapped within a vicious belief system.

And that's just part of the story...

You see, studies show that people are most often unable or unwilling to listen when feeling emotional. For those who suffer from toxic shame, this feeling is so constant and overwhelming that rationality goes out the window, and they find it near impossible to make sense of what is going on.

Needless to say, this is exactly where trauma therapy comes into play for mental health.

Sticking with the example above for toxic shame, most people are simply unaware that anything is happening and a therapist is needed to help them understand the situation. However, a therapist might explain to the person how their "bad mood" transitioned into a personality trait over time.

Final Thoughts

According to Tedeschi and Calhoun, people that manages to escape their younger years without any major trauma is likely to struggle in later years when faced with similar issues. On the other hand, people that suffer from traumatic stress can use these challenging times and experiences to develop a new understanding about the world and their own self. What's more, they can learn how to create a more rational way of thinking and the kind of lifestyle they might want to experience in the future.

Moral of the story: There's always light at the end of the tunnel.