This must be one of the easiest reads about trauma that passed me by in 2023. What is post-traumatic growth? by Miriam Akhtar, one of the UK's leading positive psychology practitioners is a tiny book you can easily read in one day.
I know about PTS, PTSD but PTG is something new for me. We know that we can grow after adversity but this term coins precisely the essence of what trauma does to us. Our perspective about what happened and not what happened is the source of our trauma, anxiety and malaise.
I have found it ironic that only after the World War One the mental health of the soldiers intrigued the doctors and later on it was diagnosed as PTSD instead of "nostalgia" (17th century) or "war neurosis" ( Honigman, a german doctor). Only in 1980 the term of PTSD was chosen to reflect the fact that this is happening not only to people who went to war, but also to the victims of Holocaust, rape, natural disasters etc. The definition given by the American Psychiatric Association for PTSD is a trauma and stress related disorder than can arrise from exposure to actual or threatened death, serious injury or sexual violation. To this I would also add any form of abuse (verbal, emotional, mental, sexual, physical) or harassment. Some experts prefer to think of PTSD as a psychological injury rather than a mental disorder. I completely agree with this.
The coping/ internalizing mechanism for PTSD is depression and anxiety for women and rage, aggressive behaviour and substance misuse for men. Addiction is a coping mechanism, not the problem!
The book has real life stories brought to you by the author of people who have grown from severe adversity. Reading their confessions is touching and inspiring. I was also impressed that Miriam shared her own PTSD story after she lost her mother 40 years later after the loss of her dad in the same hospital with the same health issue. She was also cyberstalked and after all of this piled up she was diagnosed. I admire anyone who has the courage to write and reveal their own struggles to me and to the entire world.
Post traumatic growth is about a change in the self, in relationships, in philosophy of life. You are a different person once you managed to turn the ship around and rise above your trauma. A traumatic event which leads you to PTG will also guide you to the benefits of a new you: personal strenght, closer relationships, greater appreciation for life, spiritual development.
Miriam writes down some strategies to help anyone to grow from any trauma. Baby steps like: sleep well, breathing exercises, nature walks, connecting with new people, cutting down toxic/ not nourishing connections and growing new ones, having a support group, volunteering, massage, having a gratitude journal, trying new things and developing new skills, being kinder with yourself and others, physical activity ( swim, run, walk, stretch, anything that makes you move), think of your strenghts, eat healthier, think of a resilience hero and emulate them, write in a journal to discard your emotions and not the least ask yourself this - how might your strenght in..........help you achieve the goal of.......? Fill in the blanks.
I truly hope that this book will help anyone who feels lost and hopeless. I surely know how it is to be there, on the lonely scary road. There is always hope.
