Buidling Resilience: 4 Responses to Tragedy, Trauma, and Adversity

Have you ever wondered why some people bounce back stronger from life's harshest blows while others feel stuck and broken? Tune into our latest episode of the Resilient Solutions Shortcast, where I will unpack the four primary ways we react to trauma, adversity, and challenges. Drawing from my experience as an Army Chaplain, Licensed Mental Health Professional, and Crisis Response Specialist, I offer a unique lens on resilience. Inspired by Dr. W. Lee Warren's transformative book "Hope, the First Dose," this episode delves into the emotional turmoil and psychological barriers we face in times of crisis, providing you with practical tools to navigate these stormy waters.

Join me as I explore the concept of "crashers"—those who find it challenging to regain their footing after traumatic events—and how these reactions intersect with the disorders discussed in "The Character Edge." You'll gain a deeper understanding of the patterns that lead to emotional numbness and learn strategies to break free from them. With the support of expert insights and research, this discussion is designed to equip you with the knowledge and strength to face adversity head-on. Walk away with not just hope but a robust toolkit to foster resilience in your personal life, relationships, and faith.

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Transcript

John 0:00

Resilient Solutions Shortcast, season 4, episode 10. Four Responses to Trauma, adversity and Challenges. Have you ever had to deal with bad news, a bad diagnosis, a car accident, some type of trauma, challenge or other type of adverse events? Did you know that we tend to respond to these events in one of four ways? Well, in my podcast today, I will review and reveal the four ways people respond to trauma, challenges, adversity. Through this, I hope you're able to kind of identify the way that you respond and hopefully give you some tools and tips on how you can respond even better. My name is John Thurman and you're listening to my podcast, john Thurman's Resilient Solution Shortcast, where I help you become more resilient in your personal life, your relationships and in your faith. So glad you joined me today. Let's jump right in and talk about four responses to trauma, challenges and adversity. Thanks for joining me.

John 1:07

As we begin, I'd like to share with you a little bit of my background. I spent 22 years in the Army Reserves and the National Guard and part of that time I had the privilege and honor of serving with the 351st Mobile Army Surgical Hospital yes, a MASH unit, it was an Army Reserve unit right here in Albuquerque, new Mexico. During that time we had a little thing happen called Desert Storm, and for Desert Storm I was actually mobilized and worked as a chaplain clinician in the US Army's world-famous burn unit and I need to tell you that was pretty challenging. I trusted the Lord with my deployment as to where I would go and when I arrived at BAMC I was told I'd be working in the burn unit. Pretty huge challenge there, because I had lost a brother to fire in a car accident five years earlier and when I found out I'd be working there I was thinking, lord, I don't know if I can pull this off. God was good, he gave me some fellow chaplains that walked me through that and during that seven-month time there I had a very fruitful ministry because I could identify with the patients and their families, because I knew about the burn and I knew that a burn could take a family member away. That was a significant growth season in my life in ministry. I've also worked in the hospital and dealt with people with critical injuries, with terminal diseases and things like that, and so I've had the opportunity, through being involved in these different crises and natural disasters and being up close and personal when people found out really bad news to have some inclinations to how people respond.

The First Response - The "Crasher"

John 2:42

The research has been there for years. A number of folks have written about it. Most recently I really appreciated what Dr W Lee Warren, a Christian neurosurgeon and New York bestselling author, has shown us about how people respond. The model I'm using today is from Dr Warren's book Hope, the First Dose. I encourage you to get that. I want to thank my daughter, who's a nurse, who encouraged me to start listening and reading Dr Warren. He's a great encourager. He's a truth teller and if you've been through some trauma and tough times in your life you need to read him. So let me give you a review of his model and I'll use one other model so we can kind of understand how people respond to trauma, adversity and challenges.

John 3:25

Their first response is that of the crashers. These individuals who once seemed to navigate life joyfully, lots of times with a strong faith, often find themselves shattered by an alarming diagnosis or traumatic life events or adversity. Emotionally they crash and struggle to recover. Part of this is because they become fixated on the trauma. They're shattered by the alarming diagnosis or the traumatic life event. Emotionally they crash and they struggle to recover. They become fixated on the trauma or the bad news that they feel increasingly less alive. Notably, dr Warren notes that they may become emotionally numb, experience a state of being like dead inside, even as they continue to live physically because they've given up hope.

The Second Response - The "Dipper"

John 4:11

And in the book, the Character Edge Leading and Winning with Integrity, the authors identify four different categories. Also, and to correlate with the crashers that Dr Warren talks about, they talk about the disorder that Dr Warren talks about. They talk about the disorder. Disorder occurs when adversity results in adverse change and adjustment and the individual doesn't recover over time. Instead of demonstrating a resilient trajectory, they continue to become depressed and anxious and develop PTSD. It's important to note here that that disorder accounts for only about 15% of the population that face adversity. 15% is big, but it's not everybody. There's another 85% that are able to move through it. So the first response to adversity, trauma and challenges is the crashers or someone who is facing a potential disorder. Dr Warren goes on to talk about the second type, which are the dippers.

John 5:04

These folks generally lead ordinary lives, but they face significant challenges, maybe a serious medical diagnosis, maybe even some type of trauma or challenge or adversity, and while these hardships or issues might temporarily disrupt their life, they often find the inner strength and faith to recover and rebuild their lives and strengthen their resistance. With time and crucial support from their loved ones, their community, their family, they navigate their struggles and ultimately embrace a richer, more meaningful life, experiencing post-traumatic growth. Even when they have setbacks, they remind themselves it's possible to get up and move forward. In the book the Character's Edge, the authors use a similar model here and they say these people experience resilience. Resilience occurs when a person's adjustments returns to their baseline following a period of adversity, a trauma or some type of setback. In other words, they're like the old Timex commercial they take a licking and keep on ticking. They may get knocked down, they may be winded, they may be even damaged and hurt, but rather than laying on the ground, they actually refuse to lay on the ground and they get up and they move forward. And this is really where most people are.

John 6:15

The third group are known as the untouchables. They represent people with remarkable resilience. Sometimes this is through training. Sometimes this can be through personality, nature, nurture. They're mentally tough people. Now some of my friends will say, well, they're just masking their pain. No, there's solid research that shows there's a group of people that are untouchable. They're just hardwired. They deal with stuff, but they don't let it hold them back. So these untouchables are represented by people with remarkable resilience. They're able to seemingly navigate life's challenges with invincibility. They might confront multiple medical issues with a real mindset and a heart set that they'll get through it. They maintain their faith. They pursue their personal growth and happiness. They're connected, they're purposeful and they're driven.

John 7:05

You might even say they're invulnerable, and that invulnerability occurs when the person endures in adverse events with no apparent change. It might be a divorced person who they're able to move forward their life, find new meaning and find love again. Two or three things about this person, though. They tend to be more physically, spiritually and emotionally prepared for hard times. That may be because they've experienced some trauma and hard times during their life before and experienced post-traumatic growth. And these invulnerable people are there. They have several tools that they use. Number one is they use their spiritual connectivity. They're lifelong learners. They're working towards fitness. They have clear goals. They believe they have a mission in life, and one of the things I'll talk about in the book is the importance of knowing your life mission. As a Christian, we have some guidance from the Lord as to what that should be. So that's the untouchables.

John 7:56

The next group are the climbers. These people experience growth Dr Warren refers to them as climbers and they really have a growth mindset. This group, according to Dr Warren, was one of the biggest surprises. This group typically starts from a low point, often marked by a history of abuse, addiction, challenges, previous illnesses, loss or other adverse events. This group typically have faced multiple challenges in their life and, at least statistically, probably not a lot of hope for good outcome. And yet the remarkable thing about this group of people is this transformational journey they take. It's incredible. The negative news or challenging event prompt them to discover faith, joy and either unearth or rekindle a sense of purpose, leading to remarkable achievements.

Characteristics of Post-Traumatic Growth

John 8:43

One of the interesting things about this group is this is like the poster child, if you will, for people who experience post-traumatic growth. Maybe they experience a season of abuse, maybe they have a lot of war trauma, maybe they have a lot of personal trauma and challenges in their life, and yet somewhere down inside of them, something says I refuse to let this define who I am and they find the resources to move forward. So many stories about this, both throughout ancient history, current history and even today. It's just amazing. So with these climbers, or what the other authors refer to as the growth group. So with these climbers, or what the other authors refer to as the growth group, growth occurs when a person becomes stronger emotionally, spiritually, physically and psychologically. They build better social relationships and develop stronger character strengths because of the challenge they've been through.

John 9:35

The research in this field reveals specific characteristics, and these characteristics are byproducts of the trauma or the event. Matter of fact, it shows that there are specific character traits that strengthen as a result of being assaulted, living through a natural disaster or surviving a deadly disease or experiencing some other type of traumatic event, and I've heard these stories in my office. If I've talked to veterans and survivors of trauma and people who face significant challenges in their life, many of the people who've gone through traumatic experiences show these positive character traits as they move through it. Number one they many times talk about how they've changed their life perspective. They have more of an eternal view of things. Their spiritual growth has been deeply enhanced. They have an increased awareness of God's purpose and dream for their life and they get attached to it. So we see spiritual growth. We also see to a person an increased sense of personal gratitude for life. Many times you'll see these people will have an abundance of just gratitude for little things for air, for space, for jobs for other people. Two or three other characteristics that we see as a result of post-traumatic growth are kindness, an awareness, a deeper sense of love and appreciation. Another thing that we'll see is many times their hearts are strengthened.

John 11:00

In reviewing the literature on post-traumatic growth, it's more common than PTSD. Yet when you hear the news today, people talk so much about trauma and they talk very little about post-traumatic growth. The latest research trauma-informed research talks about how people do experience post-traumatic growth. So I want to encourage you, no matter where you are in this journey, to look at how you can experience post-traumatic growth. So I want to encourage you, no matter where you are in this journey, to look at how you can experience post-traumatic growth or personal growth. It's there. It literally is just a choice away. Well, let me ask you a quick question as we're going to close. Have you identified how you respond to trauma, to adversity and challenges? All of us are human and we have our own unique personalities. We have our own unique ways that we experience life. But I want to encourage you here to look at how you respond.

John 11:47

Are you a person who tends to crash and give up hope? Are you someone who surrenders to the disorder? Are you someone who takesers to the disorder? Are you someone who takes a hit, gets knocked down, but you get back up, and you're someone who has learned to experience resilience? You're a dipper. You may be knocked down, but you're not out and you're moving forward.

John 12:05

Are you one of those folks who's invulnerable or untouchable? You are stretched in such a way where this stuff just doesn't bug. You are stretched in such a way where this stuff just doesn't bug you. Or you are a grower or a climber. You've experienced some bad things. You've had some setbacks, you've been knocked down. You might have some abuse and trauma in your life, but you refuse to give into it. You see, there's a real temptation to idolize our pain, to turn our trauma into a little god or to an idol. Don't surrender to that. Fight through it. You will become a better person, but you've got to have the courage and the faith to step forward. Plus, you need support. You might need a therapist, you might need friends, you might need some prayer partners. I hope you'll learn from these today and hang in with me and subscribe to this channel, because I'll be talking more about this. I believe as Christians, we have a real capacity and understanding to experience life in many fresh ways, not just for ourself, but for others. We can be encouragers and dealers of hope to other people through what the Lord is doing in our life.

John 13:08

Thank you so much for joining me today, and you can learn more about me at my website. So much for joining me today and you can learn more about me at my website, wwwjohnthermannet. That's johnthermannet. If you need to reach out and start a conversation, you can reach me by email, which is john at covertmercycom. John at covertmercycom. Thanks so much for joining me today. My name is John Thurman and you've been listening to my podcast, john Thurman's Resilient Solutions Shortcast, where I help you become more resilient in your personal life, your relationships and in your faith. And remember this is the day that the Lord has made and I will make a choice to rejoice and be glad in it. Thanks, take care, god bless. See you next time.