"That which does not kill us, makes us stronger"?
How much people believe they’ve changed often isn’t associated with how much they’ve actually changed. frankie's/Shutterstock.com
In our culture, there's this idea that enduring a tragedy can be good for your personal growth. You'll have a newfound appreciation for life.
You'll be grateful for your friends and family. You'll learn from the experience. You'll become more resilient.
This theme appears in media coverage, time and again, in the wake of natural disasters and terrorist attacks.
But what does the science say?
Is there actually value in pain and suffering? Was philosopher Frederich Nietzsche onto something when he said, “That which does not kill us, makes us stronger"?
A powerful narrative
As psychologists, we've been studying this question for the better part of the last decade.
We're not the first to grapple with these questions. Psychologists Richard Tedeschi and Lawrence Calhoun have written about how, after experiencing loss or trauma, people reported feeling a greater appreciation for life, closer to their friends and family, stronger, more spiritual and more inspired. They dubbed this phenomenon “post-traumatic growth."
The appeal of this finding is obvious. It shows there's a silver lining to tragedy. It's also consistent with the biblical theme of redemption, which says that all pain and suffering will ultimately lead to freedom.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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