: How do I incorporate "survivor's guilt" in my character? How would it affect his daily life? I have created a character who has survived through a massively traumatic event which, for him, lasted

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He needs to be reminded of the event, and not always in the same way. Sometimes the reminder could jump to his mind, unbidden, unwanted, and unexpected. Other times, maybe he sees victims of the traumatic event that were not as lucky as he, or perhaps relatives of victims. A shirt someone's wearing, a scar he gained, the way someone says something, a sound, a smell (especially smell). Without knowing the event, it's difficult to know what sort of physical or even mental reminders there would be, but you get the picture. I've had awful events in my life, but I'm not necessarily constantly berated by them; it's only after something reminds me. The reminders can be frequent, perhaps multiple times a day, but it's not often that a memory just sticks with me for a long time unprovoked...or perhaps unevoked (I know it's not a word).

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Along with researching survivor's guilt you can also try researching PTSD (and find similarities) and depression.

Chances of your character suffering a form of depression from the experience is likely high and there are a lot or resources relating to depression out there.

That said I have a character going through a form of survivor's guilt (along with regular guilt as well) and I found researching depression and PTSD helpful. Even if the character doesn't ultimately have PTSD or depression, you can find things that may relate to your character and build off it.

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