Coping with the hardships of survivor stress

As he saw more and more of his friends and colleagues lose their jobs, the man who had a secure job felt extremely fortunate and grateful that he had not followed his friends’ misfortunes.

Somehow, though, these feelings did not help him overcome a nagging anxiety that seemed to be with him much of the time.

He began to develop problems sleeping, at times his concentration was impaired, and he seemed to be losing interest in hobbies and recreation.

He had to admit it, he felt guilty for what had happened to his friends.

A few blocks away, a young woman received the results from a rigorous medical-school admission test.

At first elated with her high score, the feeling began to erode as she learned that many of her study companions and classmates had not done well enough to be considered for admission to medical school.

She wondered if there had been some mistake in the scoring.

She began to doubt her own worthiness in passing the exam with such a high score.

She even began to wonder if she wanted to enter medical school if the people she had learned and studied with could not join her.

These situations are examples of a phenomenon known as survivor stress.

Guilt, self-doubt, anxiety, and depression are often experienced by those who survive a tragedy or a loss such as a layoff or competition.

Survivors of automobile accidents and plane crashes, those in combat situations who come out alive and survivors of other similar scenarios are often treated for survivor stress.

Even victims of natural disasters may wonder why their homes were saved while the homes and property of their neighbors’ were destroyed or perhaps the lives of neighbors were lost.

With feelings of emptiness and despair, they ask questions like these:

Why did I deserve to live and he had to die?

Why not me?

If I survived this time, what is around the corner for me?

How can I be happy when I see so much grief and sadness?

Did I in any way contribute to this?

Can I enjoy my accomplishments in the face of others’ failure?

Following is some advice for crisis-debriefing counselors, teachers, coaches and others on what they can do to help people who are suffering from survivor stress:

Assure the survivors that their feelings are normal and are often seen in other survivors.

Give strong support during this period of potential isolation. Group support is often helpful after an accident or disaster.

Reassure them that they were not responsible for or the cause of the misfortune, not could they have prevented it.

Reassure them that it takes time to overcome feelings of survivor stress and, if at all possible, urge them to reduce other stressors in their lives.

A calm, familiar routine helps restore normalcy.

Harold H. LeCrone, Jr., Ph.D. Copyright © 1993