Survivor guilt

Survivor, survivor's, or survivors guilt or syndrome is a mental condition that occurs when a person perceives himself or herself to have done wrong by surviving a traumatic event. It may be found among survivors of combat, natural disasters, epidemics, among the friends and family of those who have committed suicide, and in non-mortal situations among those whose colleagues are laid off. The experience and manifestation of survivor's guilt will depend on an individual's psychological profile. When the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV (DSM-IV) was published survivor guilt was removed as a recognised specific diagnosis, and redefined as a significant symptom of Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

History

Survivor guilt was first identified during the 1960s. Several therapists recognized similar if not identical conditions among Holocaust survivors. Similar signs and symptoms have been recognized in survivors of traumatic situations including combat, natural disasters, and wide-ranging job layoffs. A variant form has been found among rescue and emergency services personnel who blame themselves for doing too little to help those in danger, and among therapists, who may feel a form of guilt in the face of their patients' suffering.

Sufferers sometimes blame themselves for the deaths of others, including those who died while rescuing the survivor or whom the survivor tried unsuccessfully to save.

Survivor syndrome

Survivor syndrome, also called concentration camp syndrome, or called K-Z syndrome on account of the German term Konzentrationslager, are terms which have been used to describe the reactions and behaviors of people who have survived massive and adverse events, such as the Holocaust in Europe, the Rape of Nanking, and the HIV/AIDS epidemic. They are described as having a pattern of characteristic symptoms including anxiety and depression, social withdrawal, sleep disturbance and nightmares, physical complaints and emotional lability with loss of drive. Commonly such survivors feel guilty that they have survived the trauma and others—such as their family, friends, and colleagues—did not.

Both conditions, along with other descriptive syndromes covering a range of traumatic events are now subsumed under posttraumatic stress disorder.

Social responses

Sufferers may with time divert their guilt into helping others deal with traumatic situations. They may describe or regard their own survival as insignificant. Survivors who feel guilty sometimes suffer self-blame and clinical depression.

Treatment

Early disaster response and grief therapy methods both attempt to prevent survivor guilt from arising. Where it is already present therapists attempt to recognize the guilt and understand the reasons for its development. Next, a therapist may present a sufferer with alternative, hopeful views on the situation. The emotional damage and trauma is then recognized, released and treated. With growing self-confidence the survivor's guilt may be relieved, and the survivor may come to understand that the traumatic event was the result of misfortune, not of the survivor's actions. Once able to view himself or herself as a sufferer, not one who caused suffering, the survivor can mourn and continue with life.

Examples

Waylon Jennings was a guitarist for Buddy Holly's band and initially had a seat on the ill-fated aircraft The Day the Music Died. But Jennings gave up his seat to the sick J. P. "Big Bopper" Richardson, only to learn later of the plane's demise. When Holly learned that Jennings was not going to fly, he said, "Well, I hope your ol' bus freezes up." Jennings responded, "Well, I hope your ol' plane crashes." This exchange of words, though made in jest at the time, haunted Jennings for the rest of his life. Jennings, who later became a country music star, expressed survivor's guilt about Richardson's death.

World War II Medal of Honor recipient, and actor, Audie Murphy is said to have suffered survivors guilt during the years after his return to the United States after the injury that put him out of the Army. He is said to have slept with a gun under his pillow for nearly 25 years, and talked frequently about those that had died in his unit, even though there was nothing he could have done to prevent their deaths.

As a result of the financial crisis which began in the 4th quarter of 2008, some of the biggest accountancy firms in Hong Kong had in early 2009 adopted the policy of requesting their employees to take unpaid leave with a view to reducing operation expenses. Notwithstanding the implementation of such draconian measures, the leading firms saw fit to take a further step to reduce running costs by laying off a significant but unquantifiable number of junior auditors during the 1st and 2nd quarter of 2009. By reason of the aforesaid, there was growing anger and discontent amongst the junior auditors towards their employers, in particular those leading accountancy firms. In October 2009, the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants (HKICPA) set out a list of suggestions in Prospective CPA Issue No. 52, a monthly magazine/brochure issued by HKICPA, advising its members that, in view of the economic downturn, “if they survive a lay-off, expect to feel 'survivor' guilt but don’t dwell on it because they could easily be next.” (emphasis added) In the same issue (i.e. Issue No. 52), HKICPA further advised its members that: (i) “not to expect a raise or a bonus—they're lucky to have a job; (ii) “expect to work more for less compensation”; (iii) “expect to take unpaid leave—this is a profession-wide trend anyway”; (iv) “appreciate unpaid leave because it allows everyone to stay in the game and it gives you time to take a break.”

References in popular culture

In the Academy Award winning film of 1980, Ordinary People, based on the novel of the same name, Conrad Jarrett is a young man who struggles with surviving a sailing accident which killed his older brother. As Jarrett realises that he is angry at his brother's recklessness, he confronts the very cause of his problems and begins to accept his own survival had nothing to do with his brother's death.

Other films that explore the concept of survivor guilt include I, Robot, First Blood, The Land Before Time, Stay (film), and Lethal Weapon.

In Rescue Me, an American TV show about New York City fire fighters, the main character Tommy Gavin, played by Denis Leary, suffers survivor guilt after his son is killed by a drunk driver.

Cloud Strife, a central character in many of the installments in the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, appears to suffer from survivor guilt, particularly during Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. Cloud often mourns the deaths of Aerith Gainsborough and Zack Fair and secludes himself from his remaining friends. It is likely that Cloud regrets that he wasn't able to protect Aerith from Sephiroth's attack. Also, Cloud probably feels guilty that it was he who survived the journey to Midgar when it was Zack who fought so hard (and ultimately gave his life) to protect him.

See also

• Miklos Kanitz
• twinless twin

Further reading

• Encyclopedia of Stress, Academic Press; 1st edition (April 2000)
• Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV, American Psychiatric Publishing; 4th edition (June 2000)