Some Guilt Is a Good Thing!

In some traditions (Jewish and Catholic come immediately to mind) guilt plays an important role.

It not only motivates people to do the right thing but goes on to torment them forever lest they forget the significance of their personal transgressions. The motivational direction is probably a good thing. The continuing self-flagellation, however, is not.

Guilt, in and of itself, is not a bad thing. It serves a useful purpose. Knowing the difference between right and wrong and feeling badly if one causes hurt or damage to someone else is not an illness. It is good guide. The problems come about if either 1) there is no guilt at all, or 2) the guilt is so powerful as to be disabling and actively interfering with a person’s ability to lead a successful life. When people joke about guilt, it is not necessarily a funny thing.

The word ‘guilt’ connotes wrongdoing and responsibility. The things that people feel guilty about are often not the results of causing deliberate harm. More often, the roots of guilt are found in actions not purposefully executed; Things done on impulse and out of anger. The responsibility for causing hurt to another or of violating some tenet of the faith a person ascribes to is not of the legal variety – but of the personal and moral type.

Not Having Any (or Enough) Guilt:

There are those who do not seem to experience remorse or guilt. Often, these are people who know the difference between right and wrong but tend to not regard those understandings as guidelines that apply to themselves. Clinically, this situation is characteristic of a condition called a Conduct Disorder. Our prisons are jam-packed full of individuals who fit into that diagnostic category. Some would argue that our legislative and executive chambers are also over-populated with such people.

The absence of guilt, all rationalizations notwithstanding, is not indicative of strength, courage or “rugged individuality.” Where all guilt is absent, a serious disorder of character is usually present.

Having Too Much Guilt:

Excess guilt is manifest in people who are immobilized by it. The guild has gone far beyond its useful role as a guide ( a là Jiminy Cricket) and has frozen a person in unforgiving and powerful regret. Such people are afraid to act for fear of doing the wrong thing and tend to feel undeserving of success, friendship or love. Excess guilt can be a seriously handicapping condition.

There is no limit to the things a person can feel guilty about. People can actually feel guilty about feeling good!

There is no one correct amount of guilt. It varies from person to person. Ideally, there is enough of it to remind us about how we want to be and not so much as to stop us from being or becoming that. People who lack any at all generally are not aware of it as a problem. People burdened with too much guilt can get help and successfully reduce it to a manageable and useful level.

Guilt: A little dab’ll do ya’!


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