Psychologist's Explanation: What is Guilt and Where Does It Come From

Almost everyone experiences guilt. This is an unpleasant feeling that prevents you from feeling normal. In the article we will understand where the feeling of guilt comes from.

What is guilt

Guilt is a socially formed feeling, it is complex and non-innate. As well as shame, it is formed by the parent or close environment of the child.

Sometimes, by consciously forming a sense of guilt, the parent receives ways to control and manipulate, fixing for the child the memory of the punishment for the misconduct.

Guilt is experienced as a problem. If you feel bad, you feel bad, you suffer self-destructively, then you are experiencing it. You will notice that you fixate too much on your thoughts, mistakes, torment yourself. You will feel that you are worthless and have no right to anything.

Guilt: Causes

Guilt arises when our actions, thoughts or desires go against our attitudes about right-wrong or good-bad. If a person understands that he is doing “wrong” or “badly”, then the brain begins to prepare him for a “deserved punishment”.

According to Freud, guilt arises from anxiety: our little "I" experiences it every time the "Super-I", the voice of conscience, requires it to be perfect. The more we want to become perfect, worthy of love, the more we are blamed by our inner judge.

Because of him, we treat ourselves as worthless.

• Related news:
• mental health
• emotions
• facts
• 6 June 2023

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