March 27, 2010 - Post-Traumatic Growth

Well, well. Here’s a new psychobabble buzz-word: post-traumatic growth.

OK, it’s more than just one word, it’s a couple. It echoes the dreaded “post-traumatic stress disorder” (PTSD), although it ends up being a good thing, not a bad. Mostly, anyway. To get to the good, you have to slog through some pretty rough stuff.

I read about post-traumatic growth in an article, “Cancer’s Silver Lining,” by Don Vaughan, in CureToday.com. The author lists “five common growth outcomes” of being a cancer survivor:

• A deepened appreciation of life.
• Enhanced relationships with others.
• An appreciation for personal strength and endurance.
• Setting out on new pathways or pursuing new interests and opportunities.
• Spiritual growth and development.

I’d have to say – with no trace of bragging in my mind, just gratitude – that I’m 5 for 5 on that list.

I didn’t achieve any of those things myself. They’ve been gifts.

Cancer’s not an experience I’d wish on anyone. But if you have to get it, you may as well make the most of it. As I wrote in a much earlier post, try to emulate Jacob as he wrestled with that mysterious adversary of his at the fords of the Jabbok. See if you can put your scary opponent into a half-Nelson until he dispenses a blessing or two.