Post-traumatic growth (PTG) is the term for what happens when someone who struggles psychologically from past trauma and adversity or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), comes to experience positive, and maybe even transformative changes in their mindset and behavior. Over time, a survivor’s focus shifts away from their trauma, moving toward a new purposeful narrative that may include possibilities for a better future. A key factor for PTG is the ability for the sufferer to create an emotional distance from the traumatic event and realize that it doesn’t define who they are.

Potential benefits may include:

(1) A sprouting of personal strength
(2) An ability to relate to others more deeply
(3) An openness to new possibilities and maybe even greater opportunities
(4) A greater appreciation of life
(5) Spiritual and existential change

It is important to note that not everyone who experiences PTSD can or will also experience post-traumatic growth. Those who respond to trauma by assuming control, manage much better.

Contrasting PTG is that of “learned helplessness” where a person acquires an altered state of being, that can occur after a person has experienced a stressful situation once or repeatedly. The individual comes to believe that they are unable to control or change their negative situation or future circumstances. Eventually, the person stops trying to change their conditions, even when opportunities for positive change become available. This thought process puts extra wear and tear on the nervous system, as the HPA-axis is constantly engaged in order to cope with and manage the inner stresses on the psyche. This can further lead to the general adaption syndrome (GAS) were the body sees the continued heightened level of stress as the new norm, and consequently psychophysiological mechanisms become affected. 

After reading The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma, I have a better idea of how mental wounds can heal or stay fresh, active and continue to live on in a sufferer’s mind. Over my past years as a martial artist, tai chi and yoga teacher, almost all of my teachers (masters in their respective fields of expertise) spoke of how the mind protects the body, as conversely and more often synergistically, the body protects the mind. The mechanisms that control our physiology that are affected and managed by are nervous system, embody this exact relationship between our mind and body. What really embraced my attention was the concept that if our being is not able to react and take some level of control over a traumatic situation, we may well be caught in a never-ending loop of reliving the original trauma, often leading to the learned helplessness that I spoke of earlier. Our nervous system, along with our mind, body and spirit will continue to perceive the original trauma as present threat until reprogrammed to be otherwise.

I was taught and encouraged to teach others also, that in a self-defense or other traumatic situation, a victim will almost always fair better emotionally and mentally if they try to defend themselves against a would-be attacker. In spite of the obvious potential for becoming injured, killed or otherwise, a victim at a particular time or place, need not accept that they will forever be a victim. I know this to be true from the hundreds of students that made their way to our schools and pursued self-defense instruction and classes, often after already having experienced some type of personal abuse, crime, or assault. However, at the time of my interaction with such individuals I was not following any scientific data nor studies, but rather my firsthand observations and conversations I had with many of my students. More recent research on my part, has led me to various studies of how yoga has been studied and implemented in the treatments of symptoms from traumatic events, such as fear, anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Macy et al., 2015). Additionally, other research has been studied regarding specifically how self-defense training can be used as an intervention as a psychotherapeutic treatment for traumatic events (Rosenblum & Taska, 2014). Yoga, qigong, tai chi, martial arts and other mind-body practices have proven the test of time for hundreds if not thousands of years within other cultures. Hopefully, are scientific and medical communities will continue to pursue their due diligence to confirm how beneficial these methods can be for those in need within our fast-paced and often stressful lifestyles.

References:

Van der Kolk, B. A. (2014). The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma. Viking.

Macy, R. J., Jones, E., Graham, L. M., & Roach, L. (2015, December 9). Yoga for Trauma and Related Mental Health Problems: A Meta-Review With Clinical and Service Recommendations. Trauma, Violence, &Amp; Abuse, 19(1), 35–57. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838015620834

Rosenblum, G. D., & Taska, L. S. (2014, March). Self-Defense Training as Clinical Intervention for Survivors of Trauma. Violence Against Women, 20(3), 293–308. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801214526048

____________

I teach and offer lectures about holistic health, stress management, qigong, tai chi, baguazhang, meditation, phytotherapy (herbs), music for healing, self-massage, and Daoyin (yoga).

I look forward to further sharing more of my message by partnering with hospitals, wellness centers, VA centers, schools on all levels, businesses and individuals that see the value in building a stronger nation through building a healthier population. I also have hundreds of FREE education video classes, lectures and seminars available on my YouTube channel at:

https://www.youtube.com/c/MindandBodyExercises

www.MindAndBodyExercises.com

www.Amazon.com/author/jimmoltzan

Mind and Body Exercises on Google: https://posts.gle/aD47Qo

Jim Moltzan

407-234-0119