The survivors. The category of survivors and its various forms

The notion of survivor finds its place in literature in the 1960s and is associated initially with the effects of mass extermination during the Second World War. The fact of surviving extreme situations such as the Holocaust or war is linked to specific symptoms that may occur in persons who survived: a sense of impending doom, existential guilt, depression, isolation, identity and cognitive disorders, psychosomatic problems. In 1980 DSM-III includes the survivor syndrome into posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), underlining the triggering factor, which is the experience of life threatening event. The experience of trauma means also the experience of survival. The category of survivor has been redefined including into its notion the experience of indirect witnesses (secondary post-traumatic stress disorder). Nowadays, the notion of survivor is associated with such events as natural disasters, road accidents, cancer and prenatal losses (miscarriage and abortion). Survival in family context concerns especially siblings who are alive, while other children died or were killed. One can observe similarities and differences between various forms of survival what is discussed in detail in the case of abortion survivors. This paper presents an overview of research and clinical observations relating to various types of survivors indicating the theoretical significance of this category. The suffering of survivors highlights this part of human nature that does not allow anybody to feel good at the expense of another person’s life and indicates that people feel responsible for death of others and want to counteract their destruction.