4 ms·

> When I ask about the risks of contractors developing PTSD, a counselor I’ll call Logan tells me about a different psychological phenomenon: “post-traumatic gr

> When I ask about the risks of contractors developing PTSD, a counselor I’ll call Logan tells me about a different psychological phenomenon: “post-traumatic growth,” an effect whereby some trauma victims emerge from the experience feeling stronger than before. Wow. Wow. Is this really a thing, excusing forced trauma by claiming it makes people better?

darkpuma 8y ago
You seem outraged at the suggestion that this could happen. Post-traumatic growth is an actual phenomena: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posttraumatic_growth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posttraumatic_growth Of course that's no excuse to downplay the occupational hazard of PTSD. But it's a real thing; facebook didn't make it up.
dsfyu404ed 8y ago
People respond in varying manners to traumatic stress. Post traumatic growth is simply the other extreme. For example, some people take traumatic stress at really poorly (PTSD). Some people develop a world outlook to the tune of "well no matter what happens life is looking up from here" (post traumatic growth). The counselor is looking at the glass half full. You kind of need to be a glass half full person to persist in that line of work.
- watwut 8y ago
  PTSD is not an issue of attitude while your description of post traumatic growth is nothing but attitude. The two are incomparable. The actual benefit of what you describe as growth is quite low to offset clinical PTSD which affects life quite a lot.
  - darkpuma 8y ago
    PTSD isn't universal. Not everybody that experiences trauma will develop PTSD. So it's not a matter of "you have PTSD but at least your outlook on life has improved."* Rather, sometimes with some people, trauma won't induce PTSD but will cause post-traumatic growth. Research suggests there is a correlation between PTSD and post-traumatic growth, but it's not a hard and fast rule. Furthermore there are many factors in play. The nature of the trauma and the predisposition of the person experiencing the trauma both seem to play a big role in whether or not post-traumatic growth is likely to occur. People with social support networks or spirituality are more likely to experience post-traumatic growth. Perhaps for related reasons, trauma that is systematic or collective (such as being a prisoner of war) is more likely to induce post-traumatic growth than trauma which is personal or individual (e.g. sexual assault.) (Furthermore, no matter how distasteful the possibility may seem, it is possible that post-traumatic growth can take people past whatever their baseline was prior to the inducement of PTSD.)
    - watwut 8y ago
      The point is, people with PTSD suffer and their lives are influenced significantly. They have harder time to keep jobs due to symptoms, their relationships are influenced as they are harder to be around, they are more likely to abuse alcohol or drugs, they generally need help. Other people experiencing post-traumatic growth does not offset all that. It does not make for losses and answer to "is it overall beneficial for people to go through that" is still no. Counselor answer suggests yes and that is what people take issue with. Whether one can have PTSD and post traumatic growth at the same time is different question.
cmiles74 8y ago
Personally, I found the implication that performing this job was actually making the contractors "stronger" to be stomach churning. I certainly wouldn't want to approach Logan for help with my own mental health.

darkpuma 8y ago

You seem outraged at the suggestion that this could happen. Post-traumatic growth is an actual phenomena: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posttraumatic_growth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posttraumatic_growth Of course that's no excuse to downplay the occupational hazard of PTSD. But it's a real thing; facebook didn't make it up.

dsfyu404ed 8y ago

People respond in varying manners to traumatic stress. Post traumatic growth is simply the other extreme. For example, some people take traumatic stress at really poorly (PTSD). Some people develop a world outlook to the tune of "well no matter what happens life is looking up from here" (post traumatic growth). The counselor is looking at the glass half full. You kind of need to be a glass half full person to persist in that line of work.

watwut 8y ago
PTSD is not an issue of attitude while your description of post traumatic growth is nothing but attitude. The two are incomparable. The actual benefit of what you describe as growth is quite low to offset clinical PTSD which affects life quite a lot.
- darkpuma 8y ago
  PTSD isn't universal. Not everybody that experiences trauma will develop PTSD. So it's not a matter of "you have PTSD but at least your outlook on life has improved."* Rather, sometimes with some people, trauma won't induce PTSD but will cause post-traumatic growth. Research suggests there is a correlation between PTSD and post-traumatic growth, but it's not a hard and fast rule. Furthermore there are many factors in play. The nature of the trauma and the predisposition of the person experiencing the trauma both seem to play a big role in whether or not post-traumatic growth is likely to occur. People with social support networks or spirituality are more likely to experience post-traumatic growth. Perhaps for related reasons, trauma that is systematic or collective (such as being a prisoner of war) is more likely to induce post-traumatic growth than trauma which is personal or individual (e.g. sexual assault.) (Furthermore, no matter how distasteful the possibility may seem, it is possible that post-traumatic growth can take people past whatever their baseline was prior to the inducement of PTSD.)
  - watwut 8y ago
    The point is, people with PTSD suffer and their lives are influenced significantly. They have harder time to keep jobs due to symptoms, their relationships are influenced as they are harder to be around, they are more likely to abuse alcohol or drugs, they generally need help. Other people experiencing post-traumatic growth does not offset all that. It does not make for losses and answer to "is it overall beneficial for people to go through that" is still no. Counselor answer suggests yes and that is what people take issue with. Whether one can have PTSD and post traumatic growth at the same time is different question.

cmiles74 8y ago

Personally, I found the implication that performing this job was actually making the contractors "stronger" to be stomach churning. I certainly wouldn't want to approach Logan for help with my own mental health.