According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, most people experience a traumatic event at some point in their lives. There are a variety of forms of trauma from surviving a car accident to experiencing trauma from your parents growing up. Unfortunately, some people who experience trauma in their life may struggle with a term called “survival guilt”. In this article, you’ll learn more about what is survival guilt below.
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What is Survival Guilt?
Interested in learning more about what is survival guilt?
Survival guilt is a condition when you feel guilty for surviving a traumatic event. For example, if you are a veteran who experienced trauma at war, you may experience survival guilt because others you know may not have survived the same war you fought in. This can lead to feelings of guilt or shame where you may feel like you should not have survived or overcome the event when others had. Another example may be you may feel guilty like you didn’t do enough to save a loved one who passed away.
Left unresolved, trauma and survival guilt can build feelings of shame, guilt, and self-blame where you are constantly feeling anxious and questioning why a certain outcome happened during the traumatic event.
How to Cope and Overcome Survival Guilt
Now that you know what is survival guilt, it’s important to understand that you don’t need to feel stuck with feelings of shame or guilt from your past trauma. Below are several ways you can effectively break free from survival guilt.
- Acknowledge You Are Struggling with Survival Guilt: First, it’s important to understand and acknowledge what survival guilt is and how to deal with it. Oftentimes, these feelings of guilt or shame can go unnoticed.
- Talk with Trusted Family and Friends About Your Feelings: Consider opening up and asking for support from trusted loved ones who can help you process your emotions.
- Seek Professional Treatment to Work Through Feelings of Guilt: While asking for support from family members and friends can be effective, oftentimes loved ones do not have the experience for helping with a trauma sufferer, and they also should not be solely responsible for helping you work through feelings of unresolved shame or guilt. This is why it’s important to consider seeking professional treatment, such as talk therapy, to help you work through feelings of survival guilt to better understand the source of it and why you feel that way.
- Understand That You Are Not to Blame: Finally, many sufferers of trauma may blame themselves or ask “Why me” if they’ve survived a certain traumatic event that others have not. It’s critical to practice self-compassion and understand you are not to blame for the trauma you’ve endured. Self-compassion will help you gain confidence and move forward in a healthy manner.
Help Is Available
Now you know more about the question of what is survival guilt, and how you can work toward overcoming survival guilt so you can move forward and lead a healthier, happier quality of life. From acknowledging that you are struggling with survival guilt to seeking professional help like talk therapy, this is how you can positively work toward overcoming survival guilt. If you or someone you know is struggling with a mental disorder– help is available!
At The Bridge to Recovery, we are a leading mental health treatment center in Kentucky that helps patients heal and improve their mental health and well-being for the better. Gone are the days of suffering in silence with your mental illness. Our compassionate team of mental health professionals is here to help you safely progress along your recovery journey so you can improve your mental health and well-being. Ready to start your recovery journey? Contact us today!