What is the best way to get rid of guilt from the past?

Question

I did wrong,it was my fault,but it was 5 years ago.Problem is I'm still getting guilt over it.How best to handle this?

Answer 1

own up and say sorry or you will just have to make peace with yourself

Answer 2

A technique known as mindfulness would help you. People become depressed about the things that have happened in the past and become anxious about things that are due to happen in the future. Mindfulness is about living in the present, increasing our awareness about the environment and emotions that you are experiencing at that exact moment in time. This should allow you to free yourself from the depression you have taken with you from the past.

I may also be worth looking into psychotherapeutic counselling which allow you to discuss the thoughts about the past that are bringing you feelings of guilt within a safe and therapeutic environmet. This should help you to let these things go.

Talk to your GP about local counselling services. In the mean time remember that you have probably done more than most by accepting the blame for whatever happened which is an action you should be proud of. Perhaps you could use your current emotions as a motivator to get involved in helping a charity or other cause, maybe one related to whateverit is that your guilt is associated with. This may help you to feel that you have made some ammends.

Good luck and don't let this get you down.

Answer 3

Wish I knew, but 'moving on' isn't the answer.

Look at yourself and try to understand your motivations for what happened. If its appropriate a heartfelt apology could help you as much as anyone else.
If that is not appropriate you just have to make sure you do not do anything similar again.
Try to find closure, it means you have made a commitment to live with the problem whilst not forgetting your guilt. 'Moving on' doesn't convey any more commitment then an ability to walk away from what you are responsible for. Some people are able to do this without a seconds thought but for others it is incredibly difficult.

A member of my family was counselled to 'move on' from a particularly difficult situation, and it caused more problems that it cured

Answer 4

I'm a recovering alcoholic and have done many things in the past that were wrong and bad one of the things Ive had to learn is how to deal with the guilt this i learnt at AA I'm not suggesting you go to AA but maybe you need some counselling and try to deal with things a day at a time dont look back dont look to forward just try and keep things in the day

Answer 5

Sometimes you simply have to live with guilt, it is part of the human condition. If it is something that can be apologised for or something for which you can make amends or restitution then it sometimes helps. If you are religious pray for absolution or go to confession. Live your life in the knowledge of the guilt and do you utmost never to have cause to feel guilty again, in this way at least you will have learnt from it. Feelings of guilt do eventually fade but they have a habit of reminding you about it when you are feeling low

Answer 6

Always feel guilt but never apologise, That is like admitting you are weak.
But seriously, keep the guilt deep inside you until it manifests itself in the form of stomach cancer, then have it cut out by a doctor. It then becomes the doctor's responsibility.
The doctor will try to get rid of it by sending it to the furnace. After burning, the guilt ends up in the atmosphere where it will be breathed in by pigeons.
Pigeons are vermin and deserve it.
So by committing this sin, so horrible that you couldn't bear to tell us, you were actually helping to make pigeons feel bad.
That should make you feel better.

Answer 7

I'm also very remoresful of something I have done to someone & the I feel so sad about it.
there is no need for despair, you most probably didn't intend to do bad, the fact that you have realized your wrong action & are worried about it is a good sign.Bad people never worry about wether they did something wrong & certainly never feel guilty(in fact they're usually pleased with themsleves)

If one feels genuinely penitent, seeks God's forgiveness and takes refuge in God, all one's actions will get transformed. But without heart-felt penitence, this will not happen.

Also apologise & do whatever you can to amend the situation.
Hope this helps!

Answer 8

Well if you wronged someone else then go and tell them how sorry you were, and explan how bad you feel about it. Most of the time they will forgive you. Then the hard thing is to forgive your self , and you need to do that afterwards, other wise you are going to keep feeling guilty for what ever it was you did.

Answer 9

i comprehend precisely the way you sense, I from time to time nevertheless have those emotions. What many times helped for me replaced into telling someone about the way you sense, yet telling the incorrect human beings purely made me sense extra responsible and that i kept annoying they'll tell someone. the purely right element is to seek for suggestion from from a therapist, they deal with this manner of stuff plenty and they have a thanks to make you sense calmer and assure you it truly isn't any longer something somewhat massive. an decision decision is to inform someone you somewhat believe or someone who doesn't comprehend the human beings it concerns. in the initiating you received't sense any different, yet after a lengthy time period it continually worked for me. i wish I helped!

Answer 10

I think from the sound of it, you need to forgive yourself, you've admitted to yourself that you did wrong, that was the first step, the next step is, if anyone else was involved or hurt by what you did, you need to go and ask them for forgiveness, they might forgive you and then again they might not, but that doesn't matter as such, its the act of seeking forgiveness, and really meaning it. and last but not least forgive yourself, we all make mistakes, I read somewhere once, that the measure of a person is how they take responsibility for their actions, seems to me your doing just that.

Answer 11

Remind yourself that everybody makes mistakes-we've all done wrong. You were big enough to say it was your fault,and not try to blame everyone or everything else. It's time to view it as a life lesson-something that has made you wiser and more mature.