How can guilt affect your health?

Guilt is experienced when people engage in behaviors or actions that don’t align with their personal moral beliefs. In some instances, guilt can be a positive motivator that helps correct behavior and inform important actions and choices in the future after experiencing it. In other situations, guilt can become detrimental. It may cause physical strain, trigger the body’s stress response, and contribute to chronic stress and related health issues.

While it may make sense to feel guilt after cheating on a partner, if that guilt is still present and impacting your thoughts and feelings nonstop, it may be excessive. Other examples of excessive guilt may be all too familiar for some: mothers constantly feel that what they do isn’t enough, or children are driven to impress the family with perfect grades who feel that even those efforts aren’t enough.

Emotions have a physiological response in the body, and guilt is no different. Intense guilt can trigger the fight or flight response, causing a chain reaction within the body. The stress hormones that flood the body, and the physical processes this trigger may cause an intense physical response that results in headaches, nausea, shaking, dizziness, anxiety, and even high blood pressure.

While this response typically resolves itself when triggered, if intense guilt or other emotions are perpetually activating the stress reaction in the body, chronic stress and its complications may become an issue. Chronic stress can result in digestive difficulties, a weakened immune response, and cardiovascular health risks.

If you’re experiencing intense or extreme guilt, talking with a therapist can be very helpful. In a judgment-free environment, you can process your feelings and related events and get helpful feedback. Learning new ways to think about situations and to cope can be incredibly valuable. Guilt may also be a feature of depression and other serious mental health conditions, so if your guilt is accompanied by feelings of sadness, worthlessness, difficulty sleeping, changes in appetite, or other difficulties, discuss these with your counselor or your trusted medical provider.

If you are experiencing feelings of hopelessness or thoughts of suicide, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-272-8255 or visit your nearest emergency room.