When people think about military mental health, the focus often falls on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and the invisible wounds that come with service. However, for many veterans, there is another, equally powerful, process that can emerge out of adversity: post-traumatic growth, often referred to as PTG.
Post-traumatic growth is a concept developed by psychologists Professor Richard Tedeschi and Professor Lawrence Calhoun. It describes the positive psychological change that can result from facing and overcoming significant hardship. PTG is not simply about recovering or returning to how things were before, it is about transformation. This can involve finding new meaning in life, building stronger relationships or discovering a resilience previously unknown to the individual.
In the United Kingdom, recent research indicates that around 30 to 35 per cent of military veterans self-report moderate or high levels of post-traumatic growth following operational deployment.
Growth after trauma does not usually happen quickly. Studies with UK veterans suggest that PTG is more likely when support is available both during and after formal therapy. The process often includes:
The work of Veterans In Action closely aligns with the best evidence around post-traumatic growth.
Recent research in the UK highlights that veterans who have experienced injuries during service, especially amputations, are more likely to report high levels of post-traumatic growth than those who have not. The struggle itself can become a stepping stone, provided the right support is in place.
For a long time, conversations about veterans and trauma have been dominated by narratives of loss and damage. Both modern science and first-hand accounts provide a different perspective. Growth, transformation and even hope are possible for those who experience trauma.
By focusing not only on the difficulties but also on the potential for growth, organisations like VIA can encourage more veterans to see not just what has been lost, but also what might still be achieved.
Growth does not imply that suffering is erased. It is a process of becoming, and in many cases, life after trauma can have purpose and meaning again.
If you would like more information about how VIA supports post-traumatic growth, or if you wish to share your story, please get in touch. Together, step by step, we can move from trauma to triumph.
I needed focus I needed something to fill my time, well maybe not fill my time but something to focus on like a target, a needed to get back my drive.
I started to help VIA ‘Veterans In Action’ and found something that I could do, use the old skills that I learnt in the army and more since I left which I did not register I had.
I had been missing that motivation to do something that I wanted to do and gain that level of self-gratification and achievement.
Everybody has a skill set, but it’s the motivation to use it we can lose, VIA have various projects on the go all the time, hopefully I have found my niche to help them and myself to gain personal gratification by being a member of a team again and a job well done.
After discussions I realised that it’s this which advances my mental well-being and my ongoing fight against depression and the feeling of worthlessness.
I have woken up, helping hand in hand with fellow soldiers suffering from labelled disorders finding strength from weakness, realising what helps them generally does helps me, the recognition has been an awakening.”
Ian ‘Chalky’ White former 17th/21st Lancers and B Sqn 22 SAS
Veterans In Action have been filming our expeditions for many years for our YouTube Channel, Veterans Expeditions Overland, and through this experience of not only running the expeditions but also capturing footage that enables veterans who have taken part in a place of reference to recapture how they felt by taking part.
The Veterans In Focus project enables veterans to learn new skills and record not only the expeditions we run but also the day-to-day work on all projects connecting them all together so everyone feels involved in all aspects of the work we do.
VIA take a long-term approach to helping veterans who suffer to enable them to grow within a project working alongside their peers. All this can be achieved within this project which can be ongoing and would allow veterans to learn new skills or to pass on skills learned during their time in the services
Some of the outcomes of the project are a sense of purpose, regaining confidence and working in an environment alongside other veterans where they can instantly feel relaxed, chilled-out, secure, and safe.
Veterans can work at their own pace, stop thinking negatively, concentrate, learn new skills, be part of building something, and most importantly where problems are understood this will positively impact mood and stress levels.
For those involved in the project, they can also get involved on an expedition HERE
I became involved with VIA in 2010 after my life took a turn for the worse and was invited along to do some fundraising with them. This helped me no end and in time my life got back on track. I completed a Union Flag Walk with them from Cape Wrath to Land’s End which again helped as walking and talking with other veterans with similar stories was a great help in understanding how I was feeling. I gained control of my life again.
In 2019, I took part in an overland expedition travelling through the Spanish Pyrenees and whilst away my life took a turn for the worse again due to family problems back in the UK. On my return I had to start again and rebuild and focus on the future and with the help of Veterans In Action I got back on track and took control.
I now own and run my own courier business.
Mark Colman former Royal Engineers
To date, we have travelled 25,000 miles travelling through 30 different countries and some of them several times both on overland expeditions for humanitarian aid through the pandemic and more recently supplying medical humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
It is important to note that to take part in one of our overland expeditions we insist that veterans get involved in the BUILD IT part of the project. The reason for this is part of the Post Traumatic Growth process which is our method for helping veterans so that veterans can grow within a team of their peers, learning new skills and relearning old skill sets that may have been forgotten after service.
Leading up to an expedition involves expedition training which will include off-road driving, navigation, camp setups, camp cooking and daily maintenance, something most veterans will understand from their time in the services.
It would be unfair for any individual to turn up on the day of an expedition who hadn’t previously been involved as everyone else would have been working together over a long period of time so due to the very nature of the mental health problems of those we take out on expedition turning up on day 1 for any individual could become very difficult to find where they fit in no matter how welcoming everyone was.
It is the involvement long-term on building the vehicles that enable veterans to grow that gets them to a place where they fully enjoy all aspects of the expedition experience starting from the minute that an overland expedition sets off.