Understanding Survivor Guilt
Why do human beings suffer survivor guilt, and how can it be managed?
Updated May 19, 2026 | Reviewed by Michelle Quirk
It is a perplexing human response: Survivors are frequently stricken with profound guilt if they were in the company of others who were not so fortunate during a traumatic event. This can happen when there is no rational basis for feelings of failure; indeed, even those who respond heroically and save others’ lives are frequently overwhelmed by survivor's guilt .
A young man attending a concert on October 1, 2017, Scotty Petterson, acted heroically during the horrific Las Vegas mass shooting and saved many people’s lives, but afterward, he was engulfed by survivor's guilt. Tragically, Petterson took his own life in January 2021 at age 31 because, according to his parents, he was overwhelmed by the experience.
With more than 1 million lives lost to COVID-19 in the United States, survivor's guilt is something that will afflict thousands of people who recover from the disease when their loved ones do not. Why do human beings suffer survivor's guilt, and how can it be managed?
Feelings of fairness are powerful forces that draw human beings together into cooperative groups. Our sense of fairness is the bedrock of our complex legal system, which seeks justice for those who are harmed. Surviving a life-risking trauma when others in the group did not can spark intense feelings of unfairness. Such feelings of guilt are intensified for survivors because there is no way to even the score.
Feelings of failure are the second component of survivor's guilt. Survivors will often suffer dreadful feelings that they could have done more to prevent or cope better with the tragedy. Such ruminations fuel a vicious, inescapable cycle. “I shouldn’t have invited grandpa to Thanksgiving dinner during the pandemic,” is an inevitable reaction to a loved one becoming stricken with COVID-19 in this situation. But hindsight is 20/20, and regardless of the circumstances of any deadly traumatic experience, one can always imagine how the tragedy might have been avoided or better managed.
Both feelings of fairness and feelings of failure fuel the most powerful altruistic and heroic actions of people in life-risking situations. The captain of a sinking ship, insisting on being the last one to escape to safety or choosing to go down with the ship, does so because they could not live with themselves if they did otherwise. Maybe that is why our peculiar species experiences survivor's guilt—for the good of the group.
Survivor's guilt can be viewed as an aspect of grief or a debilitating symptom of posttraumatic stress disorder, but does categorizing this profound psychological reaction help? The fact is that there is very little research on this serious and very common, potentially life-risking disability.
In my view, understanding is the first step in managing anything. It is important to recognize that survivor's guilt is a natural response that is shared by all types of people. Viewed as a consequence of people’s feelings of fairness and failure, survivor's guilt is not so perplexing. The best of us are the ones who are stricken.
Share this post Facebook Bluesky Linkedin Email
There was a problem adding your email address. Please try again.
By submitting your information you agree to the Psychology Today Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy
R. Douglas Fields, Ph.D. , teaches at the University of Maryland, College Park and is the author of the book Electric Brain .
Get the help you need from a therapist near you–a FREE service from Psychology Today.
This article is part of the Bringwise Psychology Journal — daily insights on human behavior, mental health, and personal growth.