Positive experiences just after setbacks help you process them.

Positive experiences just after setbacks help you process them. 

I have experienced this first-hand and the literature underlines it. 

Immediately after the attack, I was driven into the arms of a French family who took me in as one of them. 

Two days later we were sitting at Humberto Tan 's table, believe it or not: that was a party. Then we were overwhelmed by half of the Netherlands with sweet messages and hugged by complete strangers on the street. 

It doesn't make the event any less intense, but it just helps: immediately seeing how beautiful life actually is. I am extremely grateful for that, because I know that 

the average citizen is not lucky enough to have the whole of the Netherlands aware of his suffering and trying to help him. 

I've been sharing this in my keynote for years, and my heart skipped a beat when I read about it in a recent study. Links to it can be found in the comments. 

Short: 
Because of our brain's adaptability, positive experiences right after trauma can help make new positive connections, which can contribute to the recovery of negative connections formed by trauma.

 Released happiness hormones reduce the production of cortisol and can serve as a buffer against negative effects. Plus, a beautiful experience and social support

 instill confidence, which helps with emotional recovery. Just like new, beautiful memories that counterbalance the negative memories of the trauma. 

You'd just be a refugee. Your country has been blown to pieces and you can sit here with the PTSD squirting out of your ears in an asylum seekers' centre. 

That's pretty much exactly what you DON'T need. But above all, it is nice to know that we can all mean something to people around us.

 Real human contact. Also in this case: all that matters! 

I keep saying it. 😉