Högskolan i Skövde

Traumatic incidences happen all around the globe. Some of the people who experience trauma

develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), while some do not. Even more interesting is

that some also experience growth afterwards (post-traumatic growth; PTG). The purpose of

this paper is to look at neural aspects of why some people develop PTSD and others PTG after

a traumatic event. To fulfill the aim, both PTSD and PTG will be reviewed to create an image

of the existing research in behavioral and neurological terms. In addition to looking at the

constructs separately, a chapter will also look at studies where both PTSD and PTG are

acknowledged collaterally in participants. When looking deeper into the theories of PTSD

divisions occur, and more research is needed to establish the most prominent explanation of

PTSD. PTG on the other hand has only been studied for a short period of time but yields

important insights into trauma-related outcomes. These fields need to be submerged and new

multidisciplinary definitions are needed for future research. The key to PTSD is suggested to

emerge within the new field.