What Doesn't Kill Us

August 22, 2011
“Trauma,” with its connotation of experiential shock and protracted emotional pain, has become one of the bywords of modern culture. Yet, maintains British psychologist Joseph, trauma can lead to personal growth and a richer life, including a “reprioritization of values” and a greater appreciation of the gift of life. While part of the still relatively new movement of positive psychology, Joseph is not pollyannaish; he acknowledges that the stress that follows trauma can be intense and extensive. The most helpful part of Joseph’s book is a postscript in which he offers guidance for readers trying to manage their emotions, including six markers of growth, beginning with taking stock and expressing change in action. The book fails to differentiate between types of trauma—surely someone who has witnessed a murder, suffered rape, or been tortured undergoes a different recovery process than someone who has been in a serious car accident—and offers only cursory descriptions of such therapeutic treatments as “compassionate mind training.” As traditional views of the consequences of trauma have been too dour, Joseph’s claim, in this otherwise informative and thoughtful book, that trauma can lead to an “existential journey to a richer life” may be a touch too upbeat.

September 1, 2011

A traumatic event can have positive effects, writes the author, by jolting us into valuing friends and families more and being less concerned with ephemeral pleasures.

Joseph (Psychology/Univ. of Nottingham; Post-traumatic Stress, 2010, etc.) is a proponent of positive psychology. As someone who grew up in Northern Ireland during the height of that country's political violence, he has had firsthand experience of the effects of traumatic events. At the time, the author was drawn to tales of superheroes who stood up to violence and made the world a better place. In his professional capacity, he has treated trauma victims beginning with survivors of the 1987 Herald of Free Enterprise shipwreck, in which 193 out of 500 passengers were killed. Joseph also draws on a wealth of historical sources such as the writings of Holocaust survivors to substantiate his critique of the current definition of PTSD. In his opinion, while the diagnostic term was valuable in calling attention to the disorder during the Vietnam War, increased broadening of the criteria to include relatively trivial events such as the defeat of a favorite football team and reliance on medication to treat PTSD are problematic, especially since statistics show that the majority of those suffering genuine trauma do not develop full-blown PTSD. Joseph believes that misdiagnoses can become self-fulfilling prophecies, and he suggests that those who do experience full-blown PTSD may benefit by becoming more resilient in confronting and mastering adversity. They may even experience greater happiness in the long run. Conversely, "swallowing a magic pill" to alleviate psychological distress may stand in the way of "an existential journey to a richer life."

A sure-to-be-controversial, provocative challenge to prevailing wisdom on how to deal with stress.

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