They say what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger. The term used for this positive psychological change is posttraumatic growth and it’s actually more common than its better know opposite that involves negative stress (PTSD).
Results seen in people that have experienced posttraumatic growth include some of the following: greater appreciation of life, changed sense of priorities, warmer, more intimate relationships, greater sense of personal strength, and recognition of new possibilities or path’s for one’s life and spiritual development. ~ Wiki
There is a caveat however; it only works if you learn to get out of the way of the next big hurt coming down the line! Those of us with addiction problems seem to skip this lesson and instead of growing stronger, we just become better at tolerating or masking pain.
The bright spot for those of us with substance issues is that there is a huge potential for posttraumatic growth, it is actually a necessary phase critical to long term recovery. It’s not enough to attend meetings or work the steps; even total sobriety is just a start. Despite the shattering impact of addiction, for those in early recovery it is the only life they know and a return to this baseline is eminent without a change in people, places and things. One can get help in detoxing, forced to stay clean, but it is solely up to the individual to seek out and maintain a steady posttraumatic growth.
