Stating that unexpected and sudden traumatic events such as earthquakes and natural disasters increase people's coping strength, experts say that crises benefit people if they can be turned into opportunities and this situation is called transformative trauma . Stating that the traumatic events encountered in such situations do not change, but the coping strength of individuals increases, experts emphasized that some concepts are important to increase the coping strength.
NPISTANBUL Hospital Specialist Clinical Psychologist Özgenur Taşkın made an evaluation on post-traumatic growth. Özgenur Taşkın said that sudden traumatic events such as earthquakes and natural disasters increase the person's coping strength.
What is Transformative Trauma?
Noting that people with trust problems and perfectionist structure will have more difficulties in crisis situations such as earthquakes, Taşkın said, "We hear the phrase 'I was traumatized' a lot during the earthquake process. But personality traits are very important here. It can be predicted that 'perfectionist' people will be affected too much in natural disasters and they will not be able to tolerate this situation.
Since people's need for 'basic security' is deeply shaken during the earthquake process, those who already have 'trust problems' and have a 'perfectionist' structure will have twice as much difficulty in this situation. It is also possible that people with psychiatric illnesses may be triggered after the earthquake."
Reminding the words of Winston Churchill, one of the British prime ministers, "Never waste a good crisis", Specialist Clinical Psychologist Özgenur Taşkın said, "Crises are not an opportunity, but they can teach us lessons if we transform them. This can be called transforming trauma. In such cases, the traumatic events experienced do not change, but the coping strength of people increases. Three concepts are very important in increasing coping strength.
These are meaningful production, meaningful relationship and transcendent purpose. These three concepts push us to return to our routines, to hold tightly to our loved ones who are still alive and to set goals. It will be a very important factor for our psychological resilience that the common pain we have experienced binds us together, that we return to our routines and set new goals in the name of science."
What are the Reactions After Trauma?
Stating that the reactions given after the earthquake may differ from person to person, Specialist Clinical Psychologist Özgenur Taşkın said, "The serious shaking in the search for security and meaning with the earthquake completely destroyed the trust areas in people and this created a very different need for trust from person to person.
For this reason, the reactions given after the trauma will also vary greatly from person to person. Even if the reactions vary from person to person, the pain is common. We are in great pain, but pain is a concept that can be transformed. We can grow together with pain. When we say that nothing will be the same after the earthquake, it is actually very important to address the post-traumatic growth of the person."