UPSIDE

A compelling narrative and prescriptive look at harnessing trauma as a tool for growth, self-improvement, and a means to improving overall happiness.

When something horrible happens – an illness, a death, even an unimaginable event like the Boston bombings – people will often spout the age-old axiom: What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. But it wasn’t until a few decades ago that scientists started to examine this notion in earnest … and they found that it’s actually true.

As author and journalist Jim Rendon has discovered, “post-traumatic growth” is a real thing, and there is a burgeoning field of researchers and experts who are digging deep to learn more about it. It turns out that there are some key differences between those who are laid low by difficult experiences and those who are able to overcome tough times and emerge stronger. It's these surprising truths about trauma that Jim Rendon explores in Upside.

Comprised of interviews with leading researchers and trauma victims, Rendon translates and interprets victims' stories and researchers findings into a compelling narrative that illustrates the potential each of us has to overcome traumatic experiences and shift our happiness set point dramatically for the better.

Jim Rendon is a graduate of the journalism school at UC Berkeley. He is a former staff writer at SmartMoney magazine and Metro, Silicon Valley’s alternative weekly, and a veteran freelance journalist whose work has appearedin publications such as The New York Times, Mother Jones, Rolling Stone, and Fortune. He has written about posttraumatic growth for Marie Claire and The New York Times Magazine.