ABSTRACT
Human history is replete with naturalistic examples of extraordinarily good survival in extreme life-threatening situations. In this chapter, we draw on examples that come mainly from the destructive historical events of the past century, whose survivors described their experiences in autobiographies bearing witness to the deluge visited on them, their families, and their communities. The expression good survival was used both in the language of survivors themselves (e.g., Ginzburg, 1967, pp. 220–221) and in the terms experts used to describe survivors' responses in clinical or historical reports (e.g., Terr, 1979). Among survivors themselves, the notion of good survival surfaced rarely and attracted little notice in surroundings where “goners” stood out. Good survival continues to escape our own awareness even today, aided by a language that provides a much richer means of expression for the experience of decline.
