When life is sweet, it thanks and celebrates; when it’s bitter, it appreciates and grows. Thus Shauna Niequist titled his book Sweetsweet, the recognition of everything that happens to us, good or bad, is the basis of the search for fullness, true happiness, even the situations that make us suffer deserve gratitude, because they form the basis of our intellectual, emotional and spiritual growth.
In fact, pain and bitter experiences are powerful reinforcements to build your deep personal growth, a suffering from which you can initiate momentous changes to create a better version of yourself, it has a name, it’s called post-traumatic growth.
- It’s psychologists Richard G.
- Tedeschi and Lawrence G.
- Calhoun.
- Who in the mid-1990s originally investigated post-traumatic growth (PTGI.
- Its acronym for Post-Traumatic Growth Inventory).
- Researchers found that 90% of people who experienced a traumatic event?and the pain that accompanies it is exposed to at least one factor identified as post-traumatic growth.
This set of circumstances poses great challenges to a person’s coping resources and raises important questions about understanding the world and coping with pain. These circumstances contribute to a profoundly significant process of personal change.
The five pillars of the GITP are
Post-traumatic growth comes with the attempt to adapt to a set of very negative circumstances that can lead to high levels of psychological stress, realities such as large personal crises, which in the first place often generate unpleasant psychological reactions.
Growth does not occur as a direct consequence of the trauma, but as a result of the individual’s struggle with the new reality, marked by the consequences of the trauma. Essential sequelae to determine the degree of post-traumatic growth.
Some factors may indicate post-traumatic growth that is associated with the growth of adaptation after exposure to trauma; in this sense, it has been shown that spirituality is strongly correlated with post-traumatic growth; in fact, many of the most deeply spiritual beliefs are the result of exposure to trauma.
Social support has been well documented as a buffer for mental illness and stress response. With regard to post-traumatic growth, not only is there a high level of social support before exposure associated with growth, but there is also neurobiological evidence that reinforces the idea that social support will shape a possible pathological response to tension.
It has also been found that, in post-traumatic growth, the ability to accept situations that cannot be changed is crucial for adaptation. It has been concluded that agreement with reality is a significant indicator of post-traumatic growth.
We all know stories of people who have strengthened and discovered a profound meaning in their existence after a great tragedy, in fact, it is precisely at this point that some of the greatest, most real and fictional heroes were built.
For example, if we made a list of fictional superheroes, we would surely include almost everyone from Superman, Batman and Spider-Man. The latter two, like so many other fictional heroes, establish a crusade against crime when their loved one or loved ones are killed. Superman lives a different kind of tragedy, but we have much more to say about this character if we talk about the story of the actor who originally played it.
Christopher Reeve, the actor who originally played Superman in the films, was quadriplegic due to a horse accident, a tragedy that even made him consider suicide. Ironies of life. However, this is where Reeve awakened his real Superman, for with the same determination as his character, he became one of the people he defended and fought for people with spinal cord injuries.
This is just one example of how severe limitation, serious illness, or profound loss can lead to an inner revolution. This painful earthquake is just the tragic circumstance that takes all the furniture out of our heads so that with the new life experience, you can put everything in place in a much better way.