Five kinds of Post-traumatic Growth

1. My priorities have changed. I’m not afraid to do what makes me happy.

2. I feel closer to my friends and family.

3. I understand myself better. I know who I really am now.

4. I have a new sense of meaning and purpose.

5. I am better able to focus on my goals and dreams.

From the Ted talk by Jane McGonigal:

http://www.ted.com/talks/jane_mcgonigal_the_game_that_can_give_you_10_extra_years_of_life.html

A Psychology Today essay that echoed the same message:

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/what-doesnt-kill-us/201301/have-you-experienced-posttraumatic-growth

I don’t mean to imply here that if you haven’t experienced all of these parts of growth that you’ve done something wrong. Or that you always feel happy about this growth. Sometimes I am angry about the growth I’ve had to go through after my own trauma. And I don’t think that going through the trauma was worth the growth. I don’t know if you can measure and weigh things that way.

Nonetheless, I feel like people sometimes misunderstand what post-traumatic growth looks like. It can seem selfish that after trauma, you turn inward and when you turn outward again, you are different. You suddenly realize that you have to give yourself some priority, and a brush with death can force you to focus on daily pleasures, in part because you need to have some reason to keep living.