Understanding the soulful connections between PTSD, and PTG

From Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) to Post-Traumatic Growth (PTG); what all souls need to know about connections between stress, trauma, healing, and positive growth.

Life can often break us apart. and leave us feeling as if a part of our soul is missing.

Post-traumatic stress disorder can break us apart from ourselves, and others.

Stress and trauma connects our souls.....

Stress is without a doubt a difficult component of life, but equally speaking it comes with the territory of being a human being living among human beings. We all face anxiety at times, especially in the current global climate where pandemics of all sorts are rife, and services and resources remain stretched among populations. While some of us walk through stress with ease, for others, stressful events can be traumatic. Furthermore, trauma caused by various events such as: abuse; neglect; injustice; grief; and loss, can sometimes feel too difficult to overcome. More frequently than ever, human beings are getting caught up in unique 'internal pandemics,' for which many feel there is no "cure,"and while some recover from their dis-ease, others remain stuck in suffering.

One of the keys to assisting those who are suffering is to help them understand that they are not alone. We are all human beings capable of feeling hurt and pain, and while our souls may have different wants, needs and desires, we are all familiar to one another when bad things happen to us because we each understand what hurt feels like. In this sense, trauma can connect us and bring our souls closer together.

Trauma is a universal experience among all human beings.

Each of us experience trauma at some point in life, whether it's witnessing a violent event or being exposed to highly stressful situations, observing a death, or encountering abuse. Trauma is an extremely distressing life event itself, but for some, it's the after effects of dealing with the trauma that are the most difficult to handle. Thankfully, many societies have recognized the need to offer help to those who experience trauma, but while numerous people access community supports during and after times of difficulty, some individuals remain stuck in suffering.

Emotional suffering can cause deep-rooted pain and anxiety leading us to hide from ourselves and others

The term "stress" is broadly used among people in society, but to truly understand a person's tension, we need to delve deeper and understand the type of anguish he or she is experiencing. When working with people affected by trauma, it is important to explore all the missing and broken parts of their soul in order to understand their self-reflection and views of the world.

We each react to life differently.

Following a traumatic event, people usually develop a normalized response to stress which diminishes over time. However, in cases of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the symptoms associated with the traumatic event do not go away, and the person becomes disordered by his or her stress response. Symptoms of PTSD include: persistent increased arousal that wasn't present before the trauma, such as: sleep disturbance; difficulty concentrating; irritability; episodes of anger; becoming easily startled; and hyper-vigilance. In addition, a person experiencing PTSD avoids stimuli associated with the trauma, such as: avoiding thoughts, feelings, conversations, places, or people that remind the individual of the trauma; has difficulty recalling important details of the trauma; increasingly withdraws from significant activities that were once pleasurable to him or her; detaches from others; and demonstrates reduced capacity to engage in intimate connections in relationships such as showing care and empathy to his or her partner, and participating in sexual practice.

Taking first steps to heal ourselves is vital in the fight against stress and trauma...

Sadly, so many people suffer PTSD in silence. Many of us don't reach out because we feel a sense of shame, guilt, and embarrassment, and believe that no one will truly understand our traumatized past, and the thoughts and feelings attached to our suffering. "How can anyone possibly understand what I've been through?" is a common question we may ask ourselves, and then we answer it by not seeking the help and support that we truly need. As difficult as it is, taking the first step to reach out to caring others, can help you breathe a sigh of relief, and put you on a path to recovery. One of the most significant factors that disconnects our soul from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and connects us to Post-Traumatic Growth is seeking the help and nurturing we need.

When others honour the suffering of an individual's exposure to trauma, this can trigger the start of recovery for that individual because he or she will likely begin to feel a sense that his or her feelings and self-worth matter, and are important and worthwhile to others.

The best healing we can offer our souls comes from ourselves but often we don't know how to access our inner resources, and need help and guidance from others to open the doors to self-recovery. Finding people who can honour our suffering can be one of the most self-rewarding, compassionate things we can do for ourselves, and it indicates steps towards developing self-love, and post-traumatic growth.

Stepping forward on the path to recovery.

After trauma has occurred, it can be so difficult to refocus our energy and feel good about ourselves again. The future may seem bleak, and because we can't see the road ahead, but we know the path we have already traveled, we end up feeling stuck in the past. The sad news is that we can't undo what has happened to us, but the good news is we can change the way we approach the future.

While trauma and stress may incite feelings of helplessness, they can also challenge us to make changes to our lives, and take a stand to value ourselves when no one else will. Post-Traumatic Growth (PTG) then, comes about through changing our self psychology as a result of our traumatic struggles. The term Post-Traumatic Growth was coined by psychologists Richard Tedeschi, Ph.D., and Lawrence Calhoun, Ph.D., in the mid-’90s who believed that highly challenging life circumstances and adversity can actually propel us towards positive growth. PTG is not simply a return to normal functioning, it is becoming a stronger soul because of our suffering, and connecting with the pain and hurt our soul feels rather than avoiding it. In PTG we harness the strengths and skills we gained through surviving trauma, and use them to personal advantage. We incorporate learned wisdom into our daily lives and begin to see the world from a more mature and open perspective accepting that all experiences are simply experiences that we can each learn from.

When we transition from PTSD to PTG, we begin to demonstrate functioning that allows us to accept our vulnerabilities and see ourselves as strong individuals, rather than seeing ourselves as weak and incapable. We also start to feel more compassion, care, and empathy towards others, and rather than isolate ourselves as we did during PTSD, we begin to open up more to others and feel a yearning to understand their life experiences. Another aspect of moving into Post-Traumatic Growth involves viewing fear from a different perspective. When we enter PTG we start to see fear as something that can be overcome; we begin to feel comfortable with challenge, and we are able to acknowledge that while we have suffered, we also have the skills and capacity to navigate through difficult feelings, thoughts, and emotions. In Post-Traumatic Growth we begin to view life in different ways than we did before our trauma. We acknowledge that both hardships and pleasures must be experienced to allow us a more well-rounded life. While we suffered pain and despair during Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, in Post-Traumatic Growth we now begin to use both our good and bad life experiences in deeper ways than we did before our suffering. The overall result of shifting to a place of positive growth is that the soul no longer feels weak; it recognizes it has been through an abyss of suffering and has survived, and can utilize the wisdom learned to help improve its functioning, as well as the functioning of others. Being in a place of PTG is empowering because it frees us from the negative control of trauma and allows us to look at ourselves as strong, healthy-minded, whole individuals once again.

Stress, trauma, healing and positive growth are all interrelated. If we begin to understand that we are free to connect to healing and positive energy in the same way that we are also free to connect to pain and suffering, we can start to realize new thinking and Post-Traumatic Growth, and begin to see ourselves as whole individuals once again.

Helping an individual understand how stress and trauma have affected his or her soul will provide a person greater control over managing his or her pain.

Our minds and bodies absorb the impacts of stress and trauma, but the greatest suffering is felt within the soul which is the very core of our existence. The soul empowers both our conscious and subconscious states therefore when we feel emotional pain, we feel it deeply in our core. If our core becomes damaged, we are affected in all areas of human activity. Safely exploring aspects of the soul's functioning during counselling can help clients recognize and understand which characteristics of themselves are inaccurately performing due to exposure to trauma. Clients can then work towards rectifying their dysfunction and creating positive change.

Acknowledging past hurt can create a healing future. People suffering PTSD need their trauma to be wholly recognized, validated, and understood, and then have it connected to positive parts of themselves so that they see potential strengths in their soul, new meanings in life, fresh appreciations, and increased opportunities to better relationships.

Coping with adversity is never an easy task, but it can be tackled with the right tools and the right support network. The wonderful thing about our souls is that they are capable of immense healing. While we may not be able to stop our exposure to stress and trauma, we can integrate the presence of pain into our core selves, and build a way forward. By internally processing our hurt experiences through counselling, and other healing modalities, we can utilize trauma in empowering ways, effectively diminishing post-traumatic stress responses, and building post-traumatic growth both in ourselves and our lives.

PTSD is simply a state of being and it need not be permanent. Yes trauma can break us, yes we can feel shattered inside, but with compassionate support, nurturing and guidance, our souls can piece themselves back together, and we can jump start the road to Post-Traumatic Growth, and recovery.

#trauma #growth #recovery

References

Akhtar, M. (2017). What is post-traumatic growth? pp. 46 - 64, London, UK: Watkins.

Schiraldi, G. R. (2009). The post-traumatic stress disorder sourcebook (2nd Eds.), p. 6, USA: Mc Graw Hill.