What is Survivors Guilt?
Survivor’s guilt has been affiliated as a symptom of trauma, in which a person has been exposed to or witnessed a traumatic experience where others have died. This leads to emotional distress and often negative personalization regarding the outcome of events. Survivors’ guilt can also be experienced in those navigating grief, such as the unexpected death of a loved one. However, the term has also been used in non- life- threatening events such as, toxic workplaces or in first generation students. In these scenarios, the experience of “benefiting more than or at the expense of others” can create parallels to the feelings of survival guilt.
What Are the Signs of Survivors Guilt?
Psychological and physical symptoms for survivor’s guilt can often mimic symptoms of trauma, grief, depression and/or anxiety. Symptoms can include changes to sleep, appetite, flashbacks, irritability, lack of motivation, feelings of helplessness and self-blame.
Survivor’s guilt is also affiliated with guilt, regret, rumination and hindsight bias. This creates a cycle of feeling responsible for causing self-blame, replaying the events repeatedly, and overestimating one’s ability to control or change the outcome leading to overwhelming emotional stress.
What Can I Do To Cope With Survivors Guilt?
If you are experiencing survivor’s guilt, working with a therapist can help you identify and work through your symptoms. It is important to acknowledge the grief or trauma associated with your experience and give yourself enough time to heal. Therapists may utilize treatment models such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to help you identify automatic negative thoughts or cognitive distortions that may be associated with survivor’s guilt. We are here to help and happy to support you through this.
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