Survivor syndrome

Survivor syndrome

Survivor syndrome and concentration camp syndrome (K-Z syndrome) are terms which have been used to describe the reactions and behaviors of people who have survived massive and adverse events, such as the Holocaust in Nazi Germany and the bombing of Hiroshima. They were described as having a pattern of characteristic symptoms including anxiety and depression, social withdrawal, sleep disturbance and nightmares, physical complaints and emotional liability with loss of drive. [Raphael Beverley, (1986). When disaster strikes. PP 90-91. Century Hutchinson, London.] Commonly such survivors feel guilty that they have survived the trauma and others - such as family, friends, and colleagues - did not.Both conditions, along with other descriptive syndromes covering a range of traumatic events are now subsumed under post-traumatic stress disorder. [Wilson JP, & Raphael B Editors. Theoretical and Conceptual Foundations of Traumatic Stress Syndromes. The International Handbook of Traumatic Stress Syndromes, p 1. Plenum Press, New York. 1993.]

References in popular culture

In Kurt Vonnegut's novel "Bluebeard", the protagonist Rabo Karabekian's father had survivor syndrome from witnessing the Armenian genocide. Ironically, he only witnessed a small part of the event; simply hiding in a deserted village was traumatic enough. His wife actually witnessed the killings, and pretended to be dead while hiding under corpses, yet she did not develop survivor syndrome. In the book, the character Circe Berman talks about survivor syndrome, saying that it has a hereditary nature.

In the workplace

The term is also sometimes used to describe the impact on the emotions and behaviors of employees who remain in organizations where large-scale reductions in the workforce have recently occurred.

Symptoms include:
*lower motivation and morale
*reduced loyalty to the organization
*lower trust and increased skepticism
*feelings of guilt
*flashbacks

After effects include:
*lower productivity levels
*increased absences
*higher labor turnover

References

ee also

*Miklos Kanitz


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  • survivor syndrome — Psychiatry. a characteristic group of symptoms, including recurrent images of death, depression, persistent anxiety, and emotional numbness, occurring in survivors of disaster. Cf. survivor guilt. [1965 70] * * * …   Universalium

  • survivor syndrome — Psychiatry. a characteristic group of symptoms, including recurrent images of death, depression, persistent anxiety, and emotional numbness, occurring in survivors of disaster. Cf. survivor guilt. [1965 70] …   Useful english dictionary

  • Survivor syndrome — symptoms of insomnia, nightmares, anxiety, et cetera first described in Nazi concentration camp survivors …   Eponyms, nicknames, and geographical games

  • Survivor guilt — Survivor guilt, otherwise known as survivor syndrome, is the mental condition that results from the appraisal that a person has done wrong by surviving traumatic events such as combat, natural disasters, or surviving a lay off in a work place.… …   Wikipedia

  • survivor — c.1500, in the legal sense of one who outlives another, from SURVIVE (Cf. survive). Meaning one who has a knack for pulling through adversity is attested from 1971. Survivor syndrome is first recorded 1968 …   Etymology dictionary

  • survivor guilt — noun 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 …   Useful english dictionary

  • survivor guilt — Psychiatry. feelings of guilt for having survived a catastrophe in which others died. Cf. survivor syndrome. [1970 75] * * * …   Universalium

  • Syndrome de stress post-traumatique — Trouble de stress post traumatique Le trouble de stress post traumatique désigne un type de trouble anxieux sévère qui se manifeste à la suite d une expérience vécue comme traumatisante. c est une appellation liée a une approche behavioriste, et… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • survivor guilt — /səˈvaɪvə gɪlt/ (say suh vuyvuh gilt) noun feelings of guilt, sometimes unconscious, experienced by someone who has survived a catastrophe in which others have lost their lives or suffered significant injuries. Also, survivor guilt syndrome …  

  • Post-polio syndrome — (PPS), sometimes termed Middle age onset Post polio syndrome is a condition that affects survivors of poliomyelitis, a viral infection of the nervous system, after recovery from an initial paralytic attack of the virus. Typically the symptoms… …   Wikipedia

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