07-01 resilience education

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Post-traumatic Growth: Something Good Can Come Out of A Trauma!

know that there can be a

very positive side to bad

experiences along the jour-

ney of life.

Trauma can cause us to

grow, to come through the

experience as a stronger

individual, to be better in

some significant ways. But

do not forget that this post-

traumatic growth occurs inthe context of suffering and

significant psychological

struggles. As we learn

about this subject, be sure

to maintain a sense of em-

pathy for the pain and suf-

fering of trauma survivors.

For most trauma survivors,

post-traumatic growth and

distress will coexist for a

time as the growth emerges

from the struggle with cop-

ing; not from the actualtrauma.

The traumatic event stimu-

lates within us a resiliency

we typically did not know we

possessed beforehand.

After going through the bad

experience, and struggling

with the natural (normal)

mental and emotional upset

that ensues, we discover

within ourselves a whole

new view of life and a wholenew ability to see things in a

different perspective. And,

yes, it takes time and work

to get there.

Consider these facts:

A person can develop in

the same meaningful

ways without having to

experience trauma.

This may be a new idea to

you, but it is a reality: Trau-

matic events we experience

often lead to something very

positive in our lives! We

usually look at Combat and

Operational Stress Control

(COSC), and/or Post-

traumatic Stress Disorder

(PTSD) entirely from a nega-

tive perspective. Combat

can be traumatic, and psy-

chiatric challenges such as

PTSD are very real. There

are also situations which

may cause a person who

has never gone to war to

have to deal with the same

challenges in life. We often

see this played out in the

lives of law enforcement

officers, fire fighters, and

emergency response per-

sonnel. Any person may

experience trauma in their

life and go through the

same thing.

You may have experienced

traumatic events, or a time

of unrelenting stress in your

own life; or seen this in the

life of someone close to you.

Yes, there may be a nega-

tive impact of stress, but itmay also open the door to a

period of growth! After go-

ing through the experience,

you may be a better person

in some way; more focused

on the truly important things

of life, and more resilient.

To fully understand trau-

matic stress, we need to

The trauma is still not

good - even when

something good comes

out of it. The bad ex-

perience is still bad. It

would be great if no

person ever faced trau-

matic events. But it is

good to know that hav-

ing gone through this

experience one can

come out the other side

of it healthier, more

mature, and more fo-

cused.

The growth that often

comes out of trauma is

not automatic. When

the trauma is followed

by emotional and psy-

chological healing, we

become open to signifi-

cant and meaningful

growth.

So, what must one do to

seek and experience both

healing and personal growth

after trauma? We must get

help in processing through

the traumatic event to move

beyond invasive thoughts

and painful memories. We

must not self-medicate with

alcohol or other drugs that

numb the pain but also in-

hibit our ability to heal andgrow. This process cant be

done on our own, even if we

want to do it alone. It re-

quires talking this stuff out

to engage our brain in such

a way that we can heal and

grow; it requires another

person to listen, care, and

help us reframe our

thoughts and experiences.

Marine & Family Programs

July 2011

Volume 1, Issue 1

Schedule of

Events/Workshops

06 Jul ImprovingSelf-Esteem

0830-1130

08 Jul BASIC Train-ing

0800-1200

11 Jul UrinalysisCoordina-

tors Course

1300-1600

12 Jul StressManagement

0830-1600

13 Jul AngerManagement

0830-1600

14 Jul Alcohol 101

0830-1130

18 Jul UrinalysisCoordina-

tors Course

1300-1600

19 Jul StressManagement

0830-1600

20 Jul AngerManagement

0800-1600

RESILIENCE EDUCATION


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July 2011 Page 2

Post-traumatic Growth: Something Good Can Come Out of A Trauma!

(cont)

Did you know:..

Here are some of the re-

sources:

your unit chaplain, your

doctor, the mental health

department at the Naval

Hospital, Division Psych,

Deployment Health, Sub-

stance Abuse Rehabilita-

tion Program, the Commu-

nity Counseling Center, and

Resilience Education. Just

dont keep it bottled up

inside you, because thatwill make it far worse and

will keep you from the pos-

sibility of experiencing Post-

Traumatic Growth.

So, what must one do to

seek and experience both

healing and personal

growth after experiencing

trauma? We absolutely

must get help in processing

through the traumatic

event, so that we can move

beyond the invasive

thoughts and painful

memories. We absolutely

must not self-medicate

with alcohol or other drugs

that numb the pain but

also inhibit our ability to go

through the necessary

process that makes the

healing and growth possi-

ble. This process cant be

done on our own, much as

we may desire that to be

possible. It requires talking

this stuff out to engage our

brain in such a way that we

can heal, and that requires

another person to listen,

care, and help us

reframe our thoughts and

experiences.

It is a well-known fact that

trauma often results in

disorders (physical and

emotional), with ongoing

personal distress. Just

know also that alongside

those well-known results of

trauma there is the very

real possibility of growth on

many levels.

We are blessed here at

Camp Lejeune with numer-

ous people in several dif-

ferent specialties who are

equipped to help in this

process and want to do so.

Where to start? The most

important thing is that you

start in the recovery proc-

ess!

iors, including abuse of

other drugs and alcohol,

have also been reported.

Multiple factors are likely at

work:

Misperceptions about

their safety. Because

these medications are

prescribed by doctors,

many assume that they

are safe to take under

In 2009, approximately 7.0

million persons were cur-

rent users of psychothera-

peutic drugs taken non-

medically (2.8 percent of

the U.S. population). This

class of drugs is broadly

described as those target-

ing the central nervous

system, including drugs

used to treat psychiatric

disorders (National Survey

on Drug Use and Health,

2009). The medications

most commonly abused

are:

Pain relievers5.3 mil-

lion

Tranquilizers2.0 mil-

lion

Stimulants1.3 million

Sedatives0.4 million

Among those who abuse

prescription drugs, high

rates of other risky behav-

Caption describing

picture or graphic.


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Page 3July 2011

Did you know: (cont.)

the motivation, pre-

scription drug abuse

comes with serious

risks.

Reference Cited: NIDA

(National Institute on Drug

Abuse)

any circumstances.

This is not the case:

prescription drugs act

directly on the same

brain systems affected

by illicit drugs; thus

their abuse carries

substantial addiction

liability and can lead to

a variety of other ad-

verse health effects.

Increasing environ-

mental availability.Between 1991 and

2010, prescriptions for

stimulants increased

from 5 million to 45

million, a 9-fold in-

crease, and opioid an-

algesics increased

from about 30 million

to 180 million, a 6-fold

increase.

Varied motivations for

their abuse. Underly-

ing reasons include: to

get high, to counter

anxiety, pain, or sleep

problems; or to en-

hance cognition(although they may, in

fact, impair certain

types of cognitive per-

formance). Whatever

Who is Your Role Model?

Ultimately, if you want toavoid being glum and you

wish to approach the world

with optimism, perhaps you

can start with changing

who you view as your role

models.

Aristotle believed that peo-ple learned to be virtuous,

by modeling the behavior

of moral people in their

lives. Think about some of

the things in your life that

you do, or have done, that

youre not so proud of. Did

you do these things be-

cause you are inherently

bad? Or, did you see

someone in your life model

this behavior for you? Al-though some of our bad

habits might be attributed

to genetic predispositions,

most negative behaviors

are often learned, and rein-

forced by people who

model these bad behaviors

for us.

One should never underes-timate the impact gener-

ated by people around us,

and who come in and out

of our lives. The old adage,

misery loves company, is

correlated to this idea of

the importance of role

models. If your friends are

typically miserable or nega-

tive, it should come as no

surprise that you might

exist in a dismal state ofbeing. Contrastingly, if you

surround yourself with posi-

tive people, the modeling

of this good behavior

might actually rub off on

you.

June 27, National HIV Testing Day,

Camp Johnson


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Bldg 302Holcomb Blvd

Camp Lejeune,

NC 28547

Phone: 451-2865

Fax: 451-4912

Resilience

Education

Were on the web:

www.mccslejeune.comFor more information, please contact our

office at 451-2865.

Drug Education for Youth (DEFY) Program

Drug Education for Youth (DEFY) has extended the signup date for the Youth

Leadership Camp, which is slated to begin this August.

Military I.D. cardholders with children ages 9 to 12 can enroll until July 15. The free

program teaches children about the dangers of drugs, bullying, peer pressure, and

many other things that children face on a daily basis. DEFY participants also go on

field trips to fun and interesting places, which reinforce their other camp

experiences.

The DEFY Program operates all year long. DEFY doesnt have to stop at the end of

the summer leadership camp. It continues throughout the school year. We highly

encourage parents to allow their children to continue being a part of the program

until completion. After the summer camp, we meet the last Saturday of every

month until May.

The DEFY Camp starts at 8:00 am and ends at 4:00 p.m. During that time, children

are given a morning snack, lunch and an afternoon snack.

This is a complete program. It is not solely about drug education. DEFYs goal is to

empower military youth to build positive, healthy lifestyles as drug-free, successful

citizens. We focus on a wide spectrum of topics including physical fitness, nutrition,

gang resistance, internet safety, and other subjects in an effort to reach this goal.

07-01 resilience education

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