LibraryScenariosHow counterfactual thinking traps us in impossible guilt
Scenario

How counterfactual thinking traps us in impossible guilt

My best friend died in a car accident and I keep thinking if I had just called her that night to hang out she would not have been driving and would still be alive.

Mira
Online
The coach is replying

More people experience this than they realize.

What we've seen

The mind creates false causation to maintain the illusion that tragedy could have been prevented.

Ideas that help explain it
Worth thinking about

“Where Are You with Complicated grief — prolonged grief disorder?”

If this sounds familiar, the Library can help you find the bigger picture.