The survivor surfaces.

• Position: Post traumatic stress disorder

How can we help ourselves and others navigate through the effects of trauma known as PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder)? More than 7,700,000 people suffer from PTSD at any given point in time. In 2015, the National Institutes of Health acknowledged that a person does not have to be injured physically to have PTSD. An infographic published by Mother Jones suggests that PTSD is far more common than physical wounds. The same news source quotes Robert Motta, professor of psychology at Hofstra University, as saying that post-trauma is a contagious disease because it also impacts those who are closest to a person who is suffering.

What many of us do not consider is the possibility that trauma may awaken dormant strength and self-realization, and might be an incredible driver for the exploration of otherwise unknown innate gifts within the survivor. Having experienced a trauma is not all bad or negative. Trauma not only grants us the opportunity to form a new community made of strong bonds and common ground, but to grow from everything we learn on the road to recovery.

An article in Scientific American discusses the possibility of specific types of trauma having unexpected uplifting side effects on the survivor, such as illuminated intelligence or "savant-like" capabilities, unknown to the individual before the trauma.

In my own experience, my right brain was awakened to new levels after what was the experience of physical, sexual, mental, and emotional abuse. This led to me befriending and working alongside the local painters in the Santa Ynez Mountains near Santa Barbara, Calif., and, months later, in 2003, finding my way into writing courses in Northern California, and later giving editorial feedback for a successful documentary in Hollywood.

I attribute my right-brain awakening to the resistance I felt to the knowledge held within my logical mind. My subconscious took the facts of my earlier kidnapping and rape and told my mind that the event quite plainly did not occur and that it was unsafe to think of it as having happened. My logical self then instigated denial of the traumatic experience and my right brain went into overdrive.

So, how can we ignite new...