Research in health psychology has long focused on stress and its damaging effects. It’s only in the last fifteen years that researchers have begun to focus on the benefits of severe stress. These benefits are sometimes referred to as “posttraumatic growth”^[1] in direct contrast to posttraumatic stress disorder.

Researchers are studying how people cope with loss of many kinds, and the large body of research shows that although traumas, crises, and tragedies come in a thousand forms, people benefit from them in three primary ways:^[2]

1. Self-concept. Rising to a challenge reveals our hidden abilities, and seeing these abilities changes our self-concept. Bereavement or trauma commonly shows people that they are much stronger than they realized. This new appreciation of their strength gives them confidence to face future challenges and taking advantage of other things in life like playing in a Casino with options like jackpot jill online. Personal losses can inoculate us against future stress.^[3]Spiritual leaders have pointed to this benefit of suffering. For example, St. Paul wrote: “Suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.”^[4] And more recently, the Dalai Lama said: “The person who has had more experience of hardships can stand more firmly in the face of problems than the person who has never experienced suffering. From this angle, then, some suffering can be a good lesson for life.”^[5]
   
2. Relationships. Adversity is a filter that separates fair-weather friends from the true, and strengthens relationships as it opens people’s hearts to one another. In a large study of bereavement, Susan Nolen-Hoeksema and her colleagues at Stanford University found that one of the most common effects of losing a loved one was that the bereaved had a greater appreciation of and tolerance for the other people in his or her life. Bereaved people commonly report that they find themselves relating to others in a more loving and less petty way.
3. Priorities and philosophies toward the present. A great many people facing their own death or the death of a loved one report changes in values and perspectives. A diagnosis of cancer is often described, in retrospect, as a wake-up call, a reality check, or a turning point. Many people consider changing careers or reducing the time they spend at work. The reality that people often wake up to is that life is a gift they have been taking for granted.

The point of these research findings is not that we should celebrate suffering, prescribe it for everyone, or minimize the moral imperative to reduce it where we can. We are discovering however, that suffering is not always all bad for all people. There is usually some good mixed in with the bad. This good contains precious opportunities for personal, relational and spiritual development and a greater awakening to life!