Quantum change: ten years later

Abstract

Ten years ago, 55 people shared their stories of personality transformation and sudden extensive cognitive and behavior changes. We termed this type of change "quantum change" (QC). The majority reported that because of their experience, their lives were much better, and most were confident the changes would last. Thirty people from the original study were re-interviewed. Most remembered quite vividly the QC experience reported 10 years earlier. The QC experiences fell along a continuum, with some describing their QC as a one-time event that dramatically changed the way they lived, others experienced repeated changes that were either of similar intensity to the initial experience or milder than the initial experience, and some framed the initial change experience as one aspect of a continuing growth process. These dramatic changes have continued, and none described a return to old ways of being.