This leads many to experience a feeling in their hearts that‘We should not be happy while others are suffering.’This reflects Survivor Guilt, a psychological phenomenon commonly seen in those who have faced crises or are aware of others’ losses and trauma.
Although previously considered part of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), scholars now recognize it as a distinct, more complex condition.
Thairath Plus invites you to explore the depths of this feeling of guilt, which does not arise solely from factual events but from a thought process interpreting one’s safety or chance to rest as an injustice. Why does this guilt linger, and how can we manage these inner feelings?
The core issue divides into two main types: content-based guilt, which arises from actual mistakes or harmful actions toward others, and existential guilt, a deep feeling questioning one’s worthiness of life or whether one truly deserves the chance to live.
In the first case, people often believe they caused the fault, but the latter is harder to heal, involving feelings of guilt simply because we‘are still alive.’Even knowing we did nothing wrong, these feelings link to deep-seated beliefs, such as viewing oneself as less valuable than those who passed away or expecting the world to be more balanced and fair than it is.
When reality conflicts with one’s desired sense of justice, it causes emotional suffering and leads to questioning one’s value in life.
Part of the reason this guilt persists is due to repetitive negative rumination. We repeatedly ask why we survived or if we could have done more, trying to find reasons in uncontrollable events, which only reinforces the belief that our survival is wrong.
Additionally, some deliberately deny themselves happiness, believing that enjoying life betrays those suffering, or they punish themselves to lessen their guilt, creating an endless cycle of self-reproach.
Research from the National Library of Medicine by Hannah Murray and colleagues highlights that a person’s baseline self-view greatly influences this. Those with low self-confidence or a pessimistic outlook tend to interpret their survival more negatively.
For example, someone who has long believed they are worthless may see their survival amid a crisis as unjust, thinking valuable people should have lived while they, deemed worthless, survived, deepening their negative self-beliefs.
Research suggests cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) as a way to break this cycle of suffering.
Therapists use questioning techniques to encourage broader perspectives and guided imagination to heal painful memories, such as creating imaginary conversations with deceased loved ones to unlock guilt and transform grief into creative energy.
Therapists often find that while patients intellectually understand they are not at fault, deep emotional guilt remains, so treatment must involve emotional experiences as well.
Methods include gathering feedback from others to reflect that no one blames the patient, or using techniqueslike the 'empty chair' methodto express feelings to the deceased, which helps bridge the gap between reason and emotion better than conversation alone.
In some cases, guilt overlaps with moral injury—psychological trauma from acting against one’s ethics—common in soldiers or healthcare workers. Such treatment is not just anxiety reduction like typical PTSD care but involves helping rebuild value systems and accept human limits over fate and death.
Ultimately, overcoming guilt is not about forgetting losses amid crises but accepting our lack of control over all events.
Transforming suffering from guilt into a meaningful life is the only way to prove that our survival is not a mistake. Breaking free from mental cages truly honors those who have been lost.