This book delves deeply into the stories of people who survive and thrive after trauma. The diverse mix includes people from across the country who have grown as a result of accidents, grief, life-threatening illness, violence, terrorism, war injuries, brain injuries and emotional shock. Some PTG survivors are everyday men and women. Others will be well-known figures, such as Michael Milken, the junk bond king who experienced the traumas of both prison and prostate cancer and went on to single-handedly shake up the world of cancer research through his Milken Foundation, and Magic Johnson, who became an AIDS activist following his own HIV-positive diagnosis. Looking at a wide range of unanticipated traumas, Jolt will ask questions like these:
- What defines PTG?
- What is the process of change that people experience? How did a trauma survivor transform himself into an advocate?
- How does a trauma survivor’s sense of identity change? Who are they now? Are they stronger than before the traumatic event? And does the traumatic event live on with them?
- Why do some people go through trauma and never really recover, while others bounce back and transform their lives to have more purpose and meaning? What about the middle ground: people who are resilient in the face of trauma but don’t experience change?
- What lessons can be learned from the PTG experience to help people prepare themselves for inevitable jolts in their own lives?
