Images of children suffocating from collapsed buildings in Iran, Lebanon & Israel, the state of the government in South Africa, military posturing between the United States and China. We are all familiar with hardship. Some people go through poverty and abuse, while others may require the support of a center for addiction treatment to navigate their darkest hours. Others confront bullying, illness, loss or the end of relationships. Suffering is inherent to life, although it exists in different ways and to differing extents.
As we witness the struggles of others and experience our own, many of us seek the significance that might make the experience more bearable. The benefits of finding meaning from misery can be immensely powerful. Cancer patients can find greater awareness and psychological strength, those who have undergone great loss can make sense of it and even find benefits and less distress, and addicts at a center for addiction treatment can find a new freedom and happiness.
Viktor Frankl, a psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor, wrote extensively about this process after witnessing that his fellow concentration camp inmates were more likely to survive the horrors if they held onto a sense of meaning. Frankl described how conditions of extreme deprivation and cruelty enabled the prisoners to attain incredibly high levels of gratitude for tiny things, such as a colourful sunset or memories of family and loved ones. “We were grateful for the smallest of mercies,” he recalled.
The Science of Post-Traumatic Growth
To understand how this process is possible, researchers in the mid-nineties found an amazing phenomenon called post-traumatic growth which is when a person experiences positive changes resulting from a life crisis. It goes beyond resilience. By searching for something good in something terrible – a process often encouraged at a center for addiction treatment – we can use adversity to attain a higher level of psychological and spiritual awareness.
Five positive changes exhibit post-traumatic growth and give us a useful framework to make the best of life’s worst circumstances. The first is personal strength. Tragedy leaves us vulnerable where we may feel weak but it can paradoxically lead us to view ourselves as stronger. The second is relationships where a deeper bonding with family and friends and/or survivors of similar situations can bring people closer together. The third way to grow from life trauma is enhanced gratitude for not only our lives but the good things that exist in it, even the little ones.
Finding New Purpose at a Center for Addiction Treatment
The fourth is beliefs which may change or be strengthened. We may evolve existentially to see our purpose in the world differently. We benefit from trying to reconstruct or reaffirm our sense of meaning, often with the guidance of a center for addiction treatment. The fifth change is new possibilities. After emerging from the wreckage of trauma, we may perceive new opportunities that are available to us. Such as changing to a career that is truly our passion after losing a job.
We are in charge of moving through adversity and controlling our recovery. This does not imply that suffering is belittled or that trauma is good, only that there is a way to flourish and thrive despite it. For many, the journey begins by choosing a center for addiction treatment that understands this path to growth.
“When we are in the midst of pain and suffering, indeed we are our most human.” – Viktor Frankl. At our center for addiction treatment, we help you find that humanity again.
Reach out today
If you are ready to turn your adversity into a new beginning, we are here to help. Contact us at Ocean Bay Recovery to start your journey.