Have you ever heard of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)? It is a mental health diagnosis that refers to a person having difficulty recovering after experiencing or witnessing a tragic event. PTSD is commonly associated with war veterans due to the intense tragedy they experience. PTSD symptoms are made up of arousal symptoms, avoidance symptoms, re-experiencing symptoms and cognitive and mood symptoms. Arousal symptoms look like hypervigilance, angry outbursts, being “on edge” and trouble sleeping. Avoidance symptoms look like staying away from triggering places, people, and/or thoughts. Re-experiencing symptoms look like flashbacks and nightmares. Cognition and mood symptoms look like memory lapses of the traumatic event, loss of pleasure in activities, negative thoughts about oneself and the world, and distorted thoughts like guilt and shame.

The world pandemic that we are all experiencing can be seen as a traumatic event. We are all collectively experiencing a tragedy. How scary is that? Pretty frightening! But what if I told you that we are not all doomed to acquire PTSD from the trauma of this pandemic? What if I told you that you can come out of this stronger than ever before? A trauma is not the event itself; it is the present experience of the past event. Buckle in and read carefully! The next portion of this blog is important!

Trauma is not the event itself; it is the present experience of the past event. What does that mean? Let’s look at it in relation to COVID-19. Trauma is not the pandemic itself. The pandemic is a tragic event, however, that does not necessarily mean that we will walk away from it traumatized. Trauma is the present experience of the pandemic. Here’s where you have a little say so. How do you want to experience the pandemic? You can choose. What lenses will you wear?

I’m going to choose optimist lenses. I am going to choose to look at the pandemic as an opportunity for growth. Post-traumatic growth (PTG) refers to positive personality change following traumatic life events. We all have the choice to choose post-traumatic growth! So ask yourself, how can you grow from this pandemic? What lessons can you take from this tragedy?

Spoiler alert!! This does not mean that many of us will still not walk away from this with PTSD symptoms. It sucks AND we will be okay because we also have the choice to choose PTG. It’s all about perspective. So I’ll ask one more time, which lenses will you wear?

Check-out the Emotional Wellness Tab and Self-Affirmations Tab for more on post-traumatic growth.