Have you ever been to a ceremony, party, pub, restaurant or even to a friend’s house or your house and had lots of fun, enjoyed your time a lot, but then when it all ended, you had very negative emotions and felt down, and wanted to leave back home to your room? Have you ever had a conversation with someone, and then suddenly you felt so frustrated and desperate? Have you ever wanted to eat something so bad, and after finishing the last bite you felt uneasy?
All these situations may lay under the big title of guilt. Why do we feel guilty in certain situations of our lives suddenly? Does our identity contribute to how we feel, and process this feeling? Guilt can be emotion with good values. At times, it can help us maintain the bond that we’ve created with others in our community and cause a painful consequence for actions that would weaken or strengthen the groups that we belong to. Your self-determination within that community can be affected by guilt feelings.
For some, the guilt of doing bad things keeps us from repeating it and helps us in changing our attitudes and behaviors, but for others, they might repress the guilt or let it take control.
Guilt is a feeling that has a very close relationship to remorse or deep regret. Guilt emerges from feelings when we realize we made some accommodations or steps far from the normal standards or maybe gone against the expected moral standards in each society. Some norms that cause people to feel guilty are usually from within the social standards or parent as well as from the religious setup. Guilt, like any other social feeling, comes with its effects. The effects may include anxious feelings or affected depression. Sometimes we may become confused in making decisions.
There are many forms of guilt such as parent-child guilt, guilt from religious or society beliefs, relationships, or love guilt.
The psychological effects of guilt can be profitable when they become inspiring to make root changes in our lives, but at other times they can cause distress.
When a person can’t fix a wrong that has been done, guilt can persist until they have the chance to modify what has been done. Guilt resulting from an action that can’t be repaired, such as when a person feels they indirectly caused another’s death, can have a lasting, negative impact on life unless this person seeks help meaning therapy that can often help address these emotions and reframe the feelings about the situation that has been done whether it is just in their heads or not.
Another effect of guilt is the guilt complex defined by persistent guilt over a harm a person believes they have caused although they might not have done anything wrong, yet they live in fear they will, or believe they will keep on making mistakes and “can’t do anything right.” A guilt complex can be associated with both shame and anxiety.
As for Physical manifestations of guilt, one with unresolved guilt might feel irritable or always on edge. They may be overly clingy or apologetic.
Feelings of guilt also often manifest as physical symptoms. These might include:
• Insomnia or trouble sleeping
• An upset stomach, nausea, or other digestive issues
• Stomach pain
• Muscle tension
• Head pain
• Tearfulness
Generally, addressing the guilt will help resolve these symptoms.
Guilt is an important social factor, intrinsically tied to social situations, our ideas about guilt (what is right and wrong) come from social factors and situations — education, family, work, etc. In the end what is most important is that educators, parents, friends, and family work to make sure that those around them (particularly children) have a sense of self-worth and self-determination, by showing people empathy and caring, we indicate that doing something wrong does not necessarily reflect on the person as a whole. By differentiating between the action and the actor.
Anyone can help prevent guilt and its negative connotations, while still encouraging a healthy sense of right, wrong, and guilt when necessary, and if one feels it’s necessary to seek professional help, we should not hesitate to help ourselves or others around us.
