PLAGIARISM SCAN REPORT
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April 16, 2022
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The positive growth that trauma brings with it
Pathak, Aakansha
IPM02147
Section B
With the world facing traumatic events like the Russia-Ukraine war and the global COVID-19
pandemic as a collective entity, while individuals try to survive their own wars against personal
traumatic experiences, the need to talk about and understand the aftermath of trauma has
become extremely important in the psychological community. According to Jim Rendon (2015)
at TIME, 75% of people are bound to experience a traumatic event at least once in their lives
while 80% of the clientele at counselling centres are trauma survivors (Jones & Cureton, 2014).
These statistics are bound to have changed, on the higher end, due to the unimaginably tough
times the globe has witnessed in the past couple of years. With a phenomenon that connects so
many people, it is quite unsettling that trauma has always been seen as a nightmarish negative
haunting people’s lives. Thus, it is only right to question if all parts associated with trauma are
indeed as dark as they seem, or is there a glint of hope that can be searched for in all that
appears to only consist of misery.
This glimmer of hope is often referred to as Post-Traumatic Growth (PTG) by psychologists and
these purportedly positive growth symptoms are measured by survivor responses in five areas;
from their appreciation for life, relationships with people surrounding them and the new
possibilities they can see in life to the deep personal strength and spiritual change they have
noticed and experienced in the aftermath of the traumatic and possibly life-altering event they
have gone through (Collier, 2016). Ignoring the technicalities of the concept itself, it is of value to
look at the ways in which PTG can be achieved by trauma survivors. Regardless of the different
intensities of trauma experienced by different people, it usually brings them to a common ground
of perceiving the world from a newfound lens that, though after a lot of effort and struggle, helps
them to slowly unravel and overcome the unconscious negative patterns that have become a
part of their daily lives after the traumatic experience. Creating a collective growth environment,
accepting and letting go of the hell one must have survived while talking to and connecting with
several others who have similar experiences can greatly help survivors to realise their own
strength and move forward in life (Tedeschi, 2020). PTG is also seen to be positively related to
the amount of resources available that allow the survivor to work for others who have
experienced similar situations and help them conquer those same nightmares.
The essence of PTG can be captured by what Anne Morrow Lindbergh, a trauma survivor who
endured the kidnapping and murder of her baby, wrote in her memoir, “...suffering alone doesn't
make for wisdom. One has to remain vulnerable, open to more suffering and to more love”
(Kushner, 2017). Post-Traumatic Growth isn’t about glorifying trauma. It is about finding
resilience in times that aren’t under human control. It is about survival while relearning how to
stay alive in the face of the most horrific adversities. But most importantly, it is about growth that
reveals the true transcendence of human strength and the power of collective love.
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Sources
Can Trauma Help You Grow? | The New Yorker
http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/can-trauma-help-you-grow
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