Following recent upheaval, I was pleased to find Weekend University lecture by Dr Steve Taylor PhD and Big Issue interview with actor Gabriel Byrne about his new film Death of a Ladies Man, communicating that there is hope or growth in situations of insurmountable challenge, even facing death. 

According to Dr Taylor this is one of the most well researched areas of psychology in the last 20 years. While not denying distress in the face of trauma, he states about half of trauma survivors experience post-traumatic growth, described in five domains: embracing new opportunities, forging stronger relationships, cultivating inner strength, appreciating life more deeply, and a spiritual change.

In some cases, there is even a new sense of self-identity or self-system, different to the previous self, almost as if a second stronger person emerges from the trauma than the person before, known as post-traumatic transformation. He asks the question, how can we harness the transformational potential of traumatic experiences and events?

The belief that stress is only harmful can create an additional burden itself, so first also consider, as noted by Gabriel Byrne, that it is possible: ‘there is a crack in everything, that’s where the light gets in’. 

Looking for opportunities that may accompany the stress, such as helping others with similar experiences, as well as those with ‘openness to experience’ personality traits who are curious to explore new ideas/sensory experiences, or those more able to connect with others, these have been shown to increase the likelihood of post-traumatic growth.

Many people do not experience an upside to trauma, however. And not all of us may feel immediately ready to embrace the Nordic art of sisu, roughly translated from Finnish as resilience and perseverance. Sometimes we may need to draw on other resources to restore our equilibrium before we can feel ready to move on.

Studies show connecting with nature can have a calming effect, reducing heart-rate, stress hormones, and blood pressure. A human drive to connect with nature may be due to this being the environment we evolved and thrived in.

The advantages of being in nature have been shown to be particularly strong if you feel connected to it in some way via an activity. 

Even watching films of nature or looking at photographs may help. A study of post-operative recovery in hospital patients, showed those in rooms with windows overlooking a natural scene had shorter hospital stays and needed fewer painkillers than patients in similar rooms with windows facing a brick wall.

The idea that ‘blue’ spaces close to water may be even better than ‘green’ emerged about a decade ago and may similarly be related to our deep evolutionary link to water.

While the simple passage of time may help in psychologically coming to terms with traumatic events, this might not be enough. In my film Letitia, the artist uses writing lyrics for music as one way to cope with overwhelming events. The documentary film Amy, about Amy Winehouse, similarly suggested she started writing lyrics to cope with depression (over difficult family circumstances). Perhaps there is even some truth in the saying : art is medicine against the fear of death.

References

J Barnes (2020). The Nordic Art of Sisu, Find Your Resilience. White Lion Publishing.

C de Lange (2022). Into the blue. New Scientist. 16th July, Page 38

RS Ulrich (1984). View through a window may influence recovery from surgery. Science. Apr 27, 224(4647): 420-1