Ariana Grande has been a successful icon of pop culture since she was a teenager. The South Florida native landed a role on Broadway, then on the Disney Channel in her younger years before releasing her first albums which gained international popularity. Today, the starlet is known for her incredible talents as a singer, her aptitude for celebrity impressions, and her devotion to fans. On her world tour in May of 2017, Grande played a show at the Manchester Arena in England where a terrorist attack would take place in the middle of the crowd. Children as young as eight years old were included in the tragic list of 22 people who lost their lives to a suicide bomber.
Grande was crushed by the event. Her resilience and commitment to spreading love was marked by the One Love Manchester benefit concert she organized and held just a few weeks later. The funds from the concert event went to the victims and their families. Though Grande seemed to have been handling the events as well as she could, recently she revealed to British Vogue, she struggles with PTSD. Specifically, she’s struggling with what can be described as “survivor’s guilt”, a common experience for people who survive a trauma.
Most people will experience trauma at some point in their lives. Each individual will respond to trauma differently because trauma impacts each person’s life differently. Though what Grande and her fans experienced in Manchester is without question trauma, trauma can be a lot of experiences. Judy Crane, author of The Trauma Heart explains that trauma is any single life event or series of life events which negatively influences how an individual sees themselves, the world they live in, and their place in that world. Seeing one’s own trauma experience as less than or less worthy of attention than others’ trauma experiences is part of trauma. In part a form of denial and in part a form of coping, “survivor’s guilt” can be an obstacle to fully acknowledging, embracing, and feeling the feelings associated with trauma. For many people who come to trauma treatment, letting go of their judgment against their trauma experience is a journey. It is a moment of profound realization when individuals realize that nobody dictates what trauma is. Trauma is incredibly personal.
“It’s hard to talk about because so many people have suffered such severe, tremendous loss. But, yeah, it’s a real thing,” she explained to British Vogue, “I feel like I shouldn’t even be talking about my own experience– like I shouldn’t even say anything. I don’t think I’ll ever know how to talk about it and not cry.”
Success in recovery from trauma will never mean “getting over” trauma or being unaffected by trauma. You will find success in recovering from trauma as you learn to live, without letting trauma and the effects of trauma run your life. You are as deserving as anyone to take hold of the chance to heal and recover from trauma.
The Guest House Ocala specializes in trauma treatment as well as the treatment of related addictions and mental health disorders. Call us today for information on our residential treatment programs: 1-855-483-7800