At least 20% of Americans struggle with mental health and the numbers seem to be increasing worldwide. Living diminished lives from diagnoses such as PTSD, anxiety, depression and more, the hope is always that people will heal and grow through their trauma – transforming their pain into purpose and trauma into triumph.
Posttraumatic Growth Day is here to raise awareness about and draw attention to this deep need while encouraging families and communities to help!
How to Celebrate Posttraumatic Growth Day
Celebrate resilience and show appreciation for life’s path on this PTG Day! Observe Posttraumatic Growth Day by participating with some of these ideas:
Raise Awareness About Trauma
An important way to participate in Posttraumatic Growth Day is to raise awareness and start the conversation about trauma and PTG, allowing people to see the possibilities for the future, recognizing that there is more in life than the suffering they are currently going through.
PTG Day offers an opportunity to raise awareness about growth when people share their own personal stories of growth as they have overcome obstacles and transformed their life experiences.
Stories can be shared personally with friends, family members and others, or they can be put on social media sharing the way they have gone from struggle to strength.
Help Others Grow After Trauma
Folks in the community can get involved with Posttraumatic Growth Day by getting trained and signing up to volunteer or making a donation for organizations who help those in need.
This might include a wide range of local or national veterans organizations, as well as mental health groups and nonprofits.
Get Support for Posttraumatic Growth
Whether the need for posttraumatic growth is personal or for a friend or family member, Posttraumatic Growth Day is a great time to organize support for those who need it.
Check with a local mental health professional, or contact the PTSD Alliance for resources and support.
History of Posttraumatic Growth Day
Even though there was no official name for it prior to the late 20th century, the symptoms experienced from traumatic events, including wars and natural disasters, had been a notable part of the human experience for many centuries prior to this.
Doctors studied those who were “shell shocked” or later those who had “post-Vietnam syndrome”.
The term “posttraumatic stress disorder” or PTSD, made its official appearance in 1980 in the DSM-III published by the the American Psychiatric Association.
The term was often used to describe trauma that had come out of the experiences of military service members, but it has also become a household term that describes trauma from a wide range of sources.
Even some of the simplest parts of life can be very difficult for those with PTSD, and the work that is done to grow and transform through traumatic experiences is worth celebrating. Posttraumatic Growth Day was started in 2023 with a link to PTSD Awareness Month.
The day was established through the Boulder Crest Foundation, which is a non-profit organization that is committed to improving the life experiences of veterans and their families.
Posttraumatic Growth Day comes with the purpose of encouraging acknowledgement of growth beyond trauma, as well as recognizing that some of the most profound insights can emerge from some of the darkest human experiences and moments.
Facts About Posttraumatic Growth Day
From “Shell Shock” to a New Psychology of Growth
The idea that trauma can lead not only to lasting distress but also to positive change emerged relatively recently in psychology.
In the mid‑1990s, psychologists Richard Tedeschi and Lawrence Calhoun synthesized observations from survivors of combat, bereavement, serious illness, and disasters and coined the term “posttraumatic growth” to describe enduring improvements in areas such as relationships, appreciation of life, personal strength, spirituality, and life philosophy that arise from struggling with adversity.
Posttraumatic Growth Is Often More Common Than People Assume
Large studies suggest that meaningful growth after trauma is not rare.
A VA Health Services Research brief on U.S. veterans found that about 50% of all veterans, and 72% of those who screened positive for PTSD, reported at least moderate posttraumatic growth related to their worst traumatic event, particularly in areas like valuing relationships and new life possibilities.
Growth and Distress Can Coexist After Trauma
Research consistently finds that posttraumatic growth does not simply replace pain or PTSD symptoms.
Studies using the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory show that people can report high levels of both distress and growth at the same time, suggesting that growth reflects how survivors rebuild their beliefs and priorities, rather than a quick “bounce back” or denial of suffering.
Re-Thinking Your Core Beliefs Can Spark Growth
One of the strongest psychological predictors of posttraumatic growth is the shattering of core beliefs about the world and the self.
When a crisis forces people to repeatedly rethink assumptions such as “the world is safe” or “bad things will not happen to me,” those deep cognitive struggles, combined with support and coping resources, are linked to later reports of greater personal strength, closer relationships, and a clearer sense of life purpose.
Talking About Trauma Helps Turn Rumination Into Meaning
The theory of posttraumatic growth emphasizes the role of “deliberate rumination,” where people purposefully reflect on what happened and what it means.
Research suggests that repeatedly telling one’s story to supportive listeners, whether in therapy or informal conversations, can help shift intrusive, automatic thinking into more constructive reflection, making it easier to weave the trauma into a new, more coherent life narrative.
Veterans’ Programs Are Beginning to Target Growth, Not Just Symptom Relief
Some modern trauma programs for veterans are built around cultivating posttraumatic growth rather than focusing only on reducing PTSD symptoms.
A 2023 study of a peer-based, posttraumatic‑growth‑oriented training for U.S. veterans reported substantial and sustained increases in growth scores, along with reductions in PTSD symptoms that were maintained 18 months after the program ended.
Looking Forward, Not Just Backward, Supports Recovery
Long‑term studies indicate that how people view their future can influence whether they experience growth after trauma.
Individuals who maintain a stronger “future time perspective” and see possibilities ahead, rather than remaining anchored in a negative view of the past, are more likely to report posttraumatic growth over time, suggesting that cultivating future‑oriented goals can be an important part of healing.
