When researchers distill the personal qualities that underpin positive outcomes in life, two traits come up consistently. The first is intelligence, the other is willpower. Unfortunately, increasing intelligence has proven to be difficult at best. Conversely, recent research indicates that willpower is something that we can increase and improve. In fact, much like a muscle, willpower can be fatigued from overuse and strengthened with consistent exercise.
At the heart of the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) model there is one concept that is found to be a common thread among many, if not most, mental health issues: experiential avoidance. There is a growing base of evidence that experiential avoidance is a factor in the development and maintenance of anxiety, depression, and substance abuse disorders, all of which have a high degree of comorbidity with trauma-based disorders. As regarding the trauma implicated in Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) specifically, the DSM-V posits an entire symptom cluster (one of three) of PTSD as revolving around experiential avoidance.
I’ve encountered this question many times over the last fifteen years—from friends and relatives, to college professors, and parents of clients.