Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can feel like the end of your story. After surviving a trauma, you experience resulting mental health disruption and PTSD symptoms. You feel indelibly affected by difficult times in your past. But, this sense of being frozen or stunted is often an illusion, born of not knowing enough about the possibility of post-traumatic growth.
With the right treatment, you can heal from PTSD and experience the benefits that come with post-traumatic growth, starting whole new chapters of your life. Dr. Ronald P. Winfield and the team at Greater Lowell Psychiatric Associates, LLC, of North Chelmsford, Massachusetts, provide effective treatment for PTSD, including helping you with symptoms and also addressing the root causes of your trauma.
In this blog, we take a closer look at the promise of post-traumatic growth (PTG), and what this could mean for you. Are you ready to find out what life holds for you after trauma and survival?
Going through tough times affects your health deeply. That includes experiences of violence, loss, powerlessness, and vulnerability. You may carry physical reminders of traumatic experiences you’ve survived in the past, and, often, your mental health shows the effects of trauma, as well. Many people who survive trauma go on to develop PTSD.
PTSD is a complex mental health condition. Your symptoms may include anxiety, depression, insomnia, appetite changes, flashbacks, and nightmares. Once your PTSD is diagnosed by a mental health professional, you can begin the process of healing mentally and emotionally.
Your PTSD treatment with Dr. Winfield can include talk therapy, medication management, and approaches like eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) to help your brain adjust to having survived a traumatic experience. And, as you heal, you may find that you’re experiencing post-traumatic growth.
While going through trauma undeniably causes many types of harm, afterward, you have the opportunity to grow as a person. Post-traumatic growth can occur at the same time as PTSD. And, as you recover from PTSD, your "PTG" becomes a bigger and more central part of your ongoing life story.
Types of common post-traumatic growth include:
Having survived significant hardships, your self-confidence can increase, and your inner strength and resilience become more central to who you are. You've been through some of the worst of what life has to offer, and come out the other side.
About half to two-thirds of people with PTSD eventually experience post-traumatic growth. You may become more wise, more compassionate, or more centered. What's important to note is that you’re more likely to benefit from these powerful positive mental changes if you receive the right treatment and care for your PTSD.
With Dr. Winfield’s support, you can cultivate growth as part of your recovery after trauma. To learn more about growing as a person after surviving a traumatic life event, contact Dr. Winfield at Greater Lowell Psychiatric Associates. You can schedule your confidential initial consultation appointment by calling now, or you can book with our online tool today.
