Guilt

It’s normal to feel guilty every once in a while—we all make mistakes, and guilt actually teaches us to care about others in the process. That being said, guilt can be linked to things we can’t control, and we might experience it so intensely that it can interfere with our lives. This guide can help you identify when guilt may become excessive and can help you find ways to deal with it.
Person climbing up a set of steps from a tunnel

What is guilt?

People typically feel guilt when they feel like something bad that happened is their fault. At some point in life, you’ve probably made mistakes or done something you regret. Guilt is that feeling you experience in the pit of your stomach that makes you feel worried you hurt someone else, or that makes you self-conscious and self-critical. This is especially true if you’ve never come clean about your mess-up and instead fixate on what you could have done differently.

Guilt is different from shame: Guilt is about the action you performed (“I did something bad”). In contrast, shame is seen as being about you (“I am bad”). In this sense, guilt is more specific and is related to a singular event or behavior. Shame, on the other hand, is really a negative commentary about how a person views themselves or thinks others view them. 

What's causing my feelings of guilt?

Your cultural background, childhood upbringing, and brain chemistry have a lot to do with where your guilt may come from. For example, people are conditioned to feel guilty through their childhood experiences by being taught that certain behaviors or mistakes are “bad.” 

The desire to avoid guilt teaches kids how to interact in their lives, but it can also prevent people from focusing too much on others and not enough on themselves. Also, people who deal with a lot of anxiety are more likely to have lingering feelings of guilt. 

How should I deal with guilt?

Guilt can feel like a challenging emotion to address, but it’s still possible to deal with guilt even if the feelings have lingered for a long time. There are a few basic steps you can take to tackle guilt, starting with simply acknowledging that it exists: 

  1. Ask yourself if you can clearly point to an action you took that led to a negative outcome. Consider asking: what happened to cause this feeling, and what aspect do I feel guilty about? If it’s difficult to figure out on your own, consider talking to the people you feel may be affected to get their perspective.
  2. Identify what kind of guilt you’re feeling. If your guilt is a result of something you may have done incorrectly, do your best to use this as an opportunity for growth and betterment. If it’s not, ask yourself these questions–if the answer is yes to any of them, you may need to tackle some unhealthy guilt:

Things to try

Guilt can be a powerful and complicated web of emotions and experiences. Self-reflection is great for exploring how to use guilt to your advantage, and many tools are available to help you take the time and space to better understand yourself.
Acknowledge and avoid negative self-talk
  • Try journaling

  • Older man and younger man talking while on a walk

    Try talking about it

  • Ask for specific help

More Things To Try

What can I do now?

Acknowledging and being aware of your healthy and unhealthy guilt is an essential first step. It’s easy for something that happened to be bothering you and for you to not even realize it. Pausing to notice it, and name it as guilt, is a huge first step in feeling better. Since guilt teaches you about yourself, try to focus on ways to turn healthy guilt into something positive for yourself. Even if it’s a small change, harnessing the power of healthy guilt and recognizing the sources of unhealthy guilt can be invaluable for your physical and mental health and help you to approach the world with more confidence and empathy.