Survivor Syndrome and Us - Parshat Noach
We have often heard of post-flood Noah suffering from what has become popularly known as the survivor syndrome. Simply put, someone who survived a traumatic event while those around him didn't is often filled with guilt over having survived while others didn't, or a belief that he was not worthy of surviving, or shock and anger about the traumatic event or other reactions. Usually the traumatic event involved is a natural or violent event with casualties.
Yet it can occur in other situations as well. Dr. Steven Berglas, a former teacher in the School of Psychiatry at Harvard University, in a 2009 Forbes article, discussed this syndrome as occurring even in a downsizing of a company where the remaining workers experienced guilt, anger and other manifestations of survivor syndrome.
Noah, having survived the flood, writes Rabbi Berel Wein,1 was traumatized by the destruction and devastation he saw. Though his own immediate family survived, as we read in Parshat Noach,2 other friends and family did not. He may have even felt guilty about not being able to convince others that the flood was coming and they should repent and therefore he may have felt partly responsible for their deaths.
How does one overcome it? How can one continue his life while feeling this guilt, anger and shock? There is no one simple answer. We look for inspiration from family, friends, prayers, written material or professional help.
Dr. Viktor Frankl, holocaust survivor and author of the international bestseller Man's Search for Meaning,3 throughout the time of his incarceration in the Nazi death camps, never stopped believing that he had a future after the camps that included meaningful activity of teaching, writing and treating patients.
He was able to find meaning even in the darkest of times.
That may be the challenge for us - to find meaning even in a devastated life.
Noah got drunk and behaved inappropriately after the flood.
How would we wish to react to difficult situations? That is a great challenge for us! Let us face it head on and with courage.
1. Wein, Survival Syndrome
2. Bereishit 6:9-7:14
3. For some more information - Dr. Frankl and logotherapy
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