Many people diagnosed with cancer endure treatments and survive but have long-term physical side effects such as damage to their organs, pain, fatigue and problems with mental acuity. However, less often mentioned among survivor side effects is psychological trauma such as survivor guilt. Although the guilt may be unfounded, the emotion feels real to the survivor, and coping with it is a key to recovery and ongoing well-being.
Survivor guilt often hits not only cancer patients but also those who live through other traumatic events, such as natural disasters, accidents and war. Sometimes those who experience it don’t understand and can’t give a name to what they experience. They only know that they have a deep sense of sadness because they survived and others did not. Sometimes they imagine reasons why they might have been responsible for the deaths of other cancer patients they knew. They may feel regret that they did not encourage other patients, share treatment options or help in other ways.....
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