What Is Survivor’s Guilt?

After a road traffic accident, survivors often ask themselves “Why me?”, why did I make it through when others didn’t, or why wasn’t my suffering worse when someone else lost everything? This is called survivor’s guilt, and it’s one of the most silent, isolating parts of recovery.

It can show up in quiet ways: a restless night, an overwhelming sense of responsibility, or a lingering thought that you don’t deserve to move forward. On the outside, you may look fine, but inside, guilt whispers that you should have done more, or that healing means forgetting those who didn’t make it.

But here’s the truth: your survival is not a mistake. Feeling guilty doesn’t mean you’ve done something wrong. It means you’re human, carrying both the weight of what happened and the privilege of still being here. Healing starts when you allow yourself to grieve, to feel the guilt without letting it define you, and to remember that moving forward is not dishonouring anyone, it’s honouring your own life.

Survivor’s guilt is real and painful, but it doesn’t mean you’re undeserving of healing. Choosing to live fully is not a betrayal, it’s the deepest way of respecting the life you still have.