Tonight's picture was taken in March of 2009. That afternoon, we took Mattie for a walk down to the National Mall. This was the beauty of living in the city, we could walk out our door and be in and amongst all the national monuments and activity. It was a glorious spring day and I brought a loaf of bread with us, as Mattie loved to feed the birds. Needless to say, Mattie made a lot of feathered friends that day! I can picture this moment like it were yesterday, when I thought my family would always be intact.
Quote of the day: You must remember that your story matters. What you write has the power to save a life, sometimes that life is your own. ~ Stalina Goodwin
This morning I received a message from a friend. As we were talking about issues, she mentioned the term Post-Traumatic Growth. As this was a term she was recently introduced to and wanted to share it. I unfortunately am quite familiar with the term. Hearing it is like petting a cat backwards. I absolutely despise the term. To me it is a Pollyanna, sugar coating placed on a very life altering and painful situation. I hate to break it to the research community, but some situations do not provide growth and they can't be wrapped up in a pretty bow!
So what is post-traumatic growth? It is a theory that explains this kind of transformation following trauma. It was developed by psychologists Richard Tedeschi and Lawrence Calhoun in the mid-1990s, and holds that people who endure psychological struggle following adversity can often see positive growth afterward.
To evaluate whether and to what extent someone has achieved growth after a trauma, psychologists use a variety of self-report scales. One that was developed by Tedeschi and Calhoun is the Post-Traumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI). It looks for positive responses in five areas:
- Appreciation of life.
- Relationships with others.
- New possibilities in life.
- Personal strength.
- Spiritual change.
Given this whole concept sets me off, I decided to do a search on the Internet to see if this term is controversial or has been disproven in some way. Turns out, I am onto something because research is now indicating that post traumatic growth may be associated with a higher risk of mental illness. NO SURPRISE TO ME! To learn more, check out the Complicated Truth of Post Traumatic Growth.
Leading this research is Dr. Eranda Jayawickreme, a psychology professor at Wake Forest University. He mentioned there is an intuitive appeal or I would say a hope that from a trauma experience we can put it into context, learn, and grow from it. That there is a reason for our suffering! But as Dr. Jayawickreme delved into the Post Traumatic Growth research, he found serious flaws in the concept.
Dr. Jayawickreme’s main concern, is the scientific method behind the research and the way that post-traumatic growth is most commonly measured. He does not doubt that some people experience a positive transformation after trauma, but believes that these research flaws have led the research community to overestimate how likely such growth is to happen.
One issue is the phrasing of the survey items. Almost all studies use the “Post-Traumatic Growth Inventory” (PTGI), in which participants are asked to consider a series of statements describing potentially positive changes and then report how often they have experienced them, from 0 (“I did not experience this change as a result of my crisis”) to 5 (“I experienced this change to a very great degree as a result of my crisis”). As Dr. Jayawickreme says, “You can't report a change for the worse." This could prime people to report growth, as participants may be reluctant to circle 0 for every single question.
I think we are all individuals and that translates down to traumatic experiences as well. Some of us may want to look at the positive, to evaluate and reflect on growth and others of us, may find this difficult. For me defining the multiple traumas I have faced and associating any of them with growth is offensive. I think it is impossible to talk about trauma without talking about distress and perhaps resilience but maybe those of us faced with trauma should just be supported whether we are reporting distress or growth (or both at the same time) without imposing a narrative or JUDGMENT on our recovery.
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