Guilt and anxiety [Archive]

Puye

18-12-08, 23:45

I frequently now wake in the middle of the night and it is very difficult to return to sleep if I can return at all. As I rehash the current situation over and over, sometimes guilt attaches itself to forgotten memories of the past and choices for the present. Sleep has become an infrequent luxury.

Nechtan

08-01-09, 20:33

I feel guilt to because I have a wife and 3 kids who I should be providing for and don't. Not only that but I find it hard to spend quality time with them which just adles me with guilt. I don't though think it is contributing to my anxiety- if it is I am not aware of it. Its more a product of the anxiety. One of many.

All the best

Nechtan

Deepest Blue

09-01-09, 16:56

I feel guilty about some of the bad choices I've made that I've not done enough to help myself.

Yvonne

09-01-09, 17:33

Suffering this illness has made me feel guilty - the feeling of guilt obviously does not make depression or anxiety easier to cope with. I feel guilty because:

I am not the bubbly confident person I once was
I don't work
I don't feel enthusiasm for things like others do
I have let people down by being like this

I feel guilty about lots more things but not writing any more cos it's bringing me down....

freakedout

09-01-09, 17:43

Hi

I feel incredibly guilty, I think depression makes the guilt more of a problem and the limiting effects of my anxiety make me feel guilty too, I believe I wouldn't feel quite so guilty if I was 'well'.

I too am guilty about -
not working
limiting my childrens' opportunities
being alive and unhappy with life when my brother died of cancer and fought so hard to live

I could go on and on but I will spare you.

One day this will all be over, one way or another.

Freaky

Sarah Jane

10-01-09, 01:06

I feel guilty over so many things, it's crazy in itself.

Hope 2

10-01-09, 20:16

I feel guilty for being me, it's linked with my past I recently discovered.

I can't find the way/strength to rid myself of it as I view my guilt as appropriate, deserved and my punishment.

Jules

sunshine-lady

17-01-09, 19:21

I have a lot of childhood issues which I have contributed to me being unwell

MissChampers

18-01-09, 13:09

melody

24-04-09, 23:51

hi,

Jules summed up what I feel. I feel guilty because I'm a loudmouth & I get over excited when I'm with people. After wards I always think I must have been inconsiderate to such & such about something or other & I punish myself going through everything I said or did in case it was wrong.

The crazy thing is, I don't think I come across that way at all. Most people say I come across as really thoughtful & understanding if it ever comes up. People usually tell you if you're being rude, but only the other loudmouths like me do that & they are just as bad as me about that stuff, so they just notice in me what's in themselves.

Thus I shouldn't feel guilty unless someone has complained to me. Then I should stop feeling guilty if they accept my apology. If only it were that easy....

We're a funny bunch of people. It's laughable what we do to ourselves over nothing. Letting the meanies of our past still control us long after we will never see them again? I leart that the relative who caused me the worst guilt did so because she also had terrible anxiety, so everything she taught me can be disregarded.

lotte_82

25-04-09, 16:42

I feel guilty for having this illness......ruining everyone elses life around me :weep:

NoPoet

25-04-09, 16:52

I have forgiven myself for a lot of mistakes I've made in the past. You need to tell yourself that whenever you tried to do something, you did it the best way you could as the person you were at that moment in time.

On the other hand I can be quite ambivalent. I don't want a new job but I am guilty for not trying harder to find one. The new job thing seems to be at the heart of my problems.

obscure200

25-04-09, 18:11

I feel guilty for being ill and not being able to live a normal life. People around me dont see me as others and as weak. And i feel guilty for allowing them to think that way..

skyblue

12-05-09, 16:37

The guilt i feel,is that there are people with terminal illness,and physical disabilities who are brave,couragous,and are an insperation :yesyes:

there is me,generally fit and healthy except for the anx/depression and this makes me feel bad :weep:

hugs to all :bighug1:

skyxx:winks:

josephine

14-05-09, 12:21

Hi,

I feel racked by guilt most of the time.

Guilty that i feel like this.

Guilty because i dont work

Guilty because i want to be a stronger mum for my son

Guilty that i am a burden to my family

Guilty that i have wasted my life an opportunities

The list goes on.........

Guilt is a horrible and soul destroying emotion. I feel better some days. Not so good today.

Josephine.x

jonmcg93

14-05-09, 17:44

I have guilt for something I didn't even do.....

When my mother was dying from cancer when I was 15 she told me "you caused this cancer, YOU are the reason I am sick".

How the heck am I supposed to handle that? I'm almost 34 and I'm still wrestling with it.

kathy.x

14-05-09, 18:53

just taking that poll made me feel guilty!! oh my, i clearly have issues!

rdy4fn24

18-05-09, 03:35

I have feel guilty on many levels because of the anxiety, I could write a list but It'll be too much for me right now, but being a mom who wants only the best for my kids, guilt is already a part of me, that adds more, and then I feel guilty for not making my voice heard loud enough when I was younger, too many what ifs, should ofs, could ofs that fill me with guilt. I feel guilty that I do not do enough now, more of the should's and would's I guess. Not sure if this really makes any sense, i'm kinda of just venting atm and rambling. It has been an extremely mentally and physically exhausting weekend of fighting my anxiety all to be as close as to normal as I can, leaving the house and doing things I should just be able to.

bingley

18-05-09, 12:27

I feel very guilty, especially as I am not being the kind of mum my children deserve. All the holidays and fun outings they are missing out on, my husband has started taking and collecting my youngest (5 years old) to school, as I am to frightened to venture out on the 15min walk, each morning. What kind of example am I setting to my children, I really need to beat this awfull fear.

Bluebelle

01-06-09, 18:45

Good question
I feel guilty for EVERYTHING. It is one of the controlling emotions of my life. I feel guilty if I eat before others- if I am still eating after everyone finsihes.
I feel guilty for adopting my dog and cat because had I known I was going to become ill like this I would never have sentenced these little critters to this horrible life with me.
I feel guilty going to see my GP because I feel I am taking away appt times that could be used by more worthy people. I feel guilty becasue I feel like I ruin every family gathering and I am an embarassment to my family. I feel guilty about everything. I think is crippling- you become afraid to do anything because of the impending guilt attack.
It feeds my anxiety because I am afraid I am being selfish and it makes me feel guilty.
It feeds my depression because I feel guilty using resources other more worthy people could benefit from- it's awful

I hate feeling guilty

deeernest18

01-06-09, 19:56

i would agree with this so much. i have felt the strongest feeling of guilt for over a year following the death of one of my friends on christmas eve, i was the last of his friends to see him and i think could have stopped his death he needed help and i just told him to leave because i didnt want to give him my time. since then my anxiety has peaked and my fear of death and getting ill haunts me every day.

Str33tb0y

02-06-09, 01:00

I'm racked with guilt all the time tbh. The problem I have is that my anxiety can make me get very upset, and I end up saying things i might regret or have extreme guilt about afterwards...and then I usually have to make a big point of making an apology to that person.. I'm not saying i do this all the time lol, im racked with guilt about lots of things..some stuff i cant apologise for, i feel guilty about what ive done in the past with my own life, and wish that if i done this or that maybe things would have been so different now...I dunno its like vicious circle for me at times, i almost do things knowing that im gonna be anxious about it afterwards and be racked with guilt but i cant help myself..I guess thats the ocd problem in me as well..anyways im waffling now.

Thumbelina

02-06-09, 12:02

Yes,
Regardless recovery and getting better I still feel guilty at times in front of my parents, brothers, friends and kids, but not husband.

I wish I wasnt like that, but i guess its natural, human nature - i believe its because we always want something better

fedupofanxiety

10-06-09, 16:50

i feel guilty about everything the way i am even before i was ill i used to feel guilty about the stupidest things!!

Dee01

26-06-09, 15:20

I always suffered with feelings of guilt from the time i was a child. I think it was probably the starting symptoms to my GAD, we're programmed differently I think!!!!!!

I feel guilty about everything. From things I should feel guilty about to ridiculous stuff that I shouldn't.

I don't feel guilty about being like this tho. I hate it, but don't feel guilty!

magpie girl

26-06-09, 21:43

i feel guilty that theres people starving to death,children stuck in war torn countrys !!!! if i watch the news and stuff like this is on i know im gonna have nightmares,then ifeel guilty that i moan about pa and anxiety when these people have suffered such terrible things

BLUEROSE1981

20-07-09, 03:07

i feel guilty for my little boy, i suffered postnatal depression/anxiety which made me take bad panic attacks which stops me from going out alot, so he is missing the great outdoors,
guilt never made me like this, but because of my anxiety i feel guilty all the time

Diane O'Brien

20-07-09, 14:18

Yes, guilt is a big thing 4 me.

george09

26-07-09, 01:05

I've had 3 pretty scary hospital admissions over the years, each time being manic and half the time not knowing whats goin on. i look back and feel guilty for putting my family through it all, although i know its not my fault its an illness(bipolar) i still feel guilty as i wished i never put them through the worry and heartache, but at the end of the day what can i do.....just try and move on is what i do.

Anxiousmommy

06-08-09, 15:15

I'm glad in a sad way that I found this thread:weep:. It is good not to be alone with crippling guilt but sooo sad that it is so debilitating for so many of us. I feel guilty for being a child and making a childs mistakes, I feel guilty for my teen years and making teenage mistakes, I feel guilty for my young adulthood when I was naive, stupid, selfish. saelf-absorbed and completely thoughtless as many young adults are. I now feel guilt of a mother of 3 children in her mid 30's who suffers from depresssion, anxiety and OCD and feels that she is not good enough and deserves this guilt in some way. I feel guilty if I wake up not feeling guilty and all this guilt feeds my obsessional thinking which feeds the anxiety which feeds the depression which feeds the guilt. I can see this tangled web but I am caught in it's sticky strands and in some ways it has also become a safe place because I'm not sure what life would be like if I didn't feel guilt and all these other things. Life with guilt is horrible, hard and makes me want to protect my children from any feelings of enormous inappropriate guilt in their early lives. Thanks for listening to me rant on.

ilovetoast

22-08-09, 15:30

Some things from the past I feel guilty about, but I know this is me going back in my mind and going over it again and again and magnifying things to the point I'm lay there in bed panicking.

Sometimes I beleive I am guilty and it's what I deserve and I am basically not good enough in some way.

But in another way I feel guilty that I am letting my partner down, not giving her as much a social life as other couples and cutting off her options for having friends. I have come a long way nowadays, but I still don't do enough for her in terms of socialising.

Lastlty I feel guilty that in some way my mother can't be proud of me because of how I am.

Guilt in many ways is linked.

wiskersonkittens

07-07-12, 18:37

I carry a lot of guilt with me over things. Past, present, and I even see things I could feel guilty for in the future. I hate it. I just wish I could find peace and accept things I can't change. But, I am obsessive and that doesn't work for me. :(