survivor guilt

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

survivor guilt - a deep feeling of guilt often experienced by those who have survived some catastrophe that took the lives of many others; derives in part from a feeling that they did not do enough to save the others who perished and in part from feelings of being unworthy relative to those who died; "survivor guilt was first noted in those who survived the Holocaust" guilt feelings, guilt trip, guilty conscience, guilt - remorse caused by feeling responsible for some offense posttraumatic stress disorder, PTSD - an anxiety disorder associated with serious traumatic events and characterized by such symptoms as survivor guilt, reliving the trauma in dreams, numbness and lack of involvement with reality, or recurrent thoughts and images