DBT Describing Emotions - Guilt

Guilt is the source of sorrows, the avenging fiend that follows us behind with whips and stings. - Nicholas Rowe

Guilt Words

Guilt     Regret     Apologetic     Remorse     Culpability     Sorry

Prompting Events for Feeling Guilt

• Doing or thinking something you believe is wrong
• Doing or thinking something that violates your personal values
• Not doing something you said that you would do
• Committing a transgression against another person or something you value
• Causing harm/damage to another person or object
• Causing harm/damage to yourself
• Being reminded of something wrong you did in the past

Interpretations of Events that Prompt Feelings of Guilt

• Thinking your actions are to blame for something
• Thinking you behaved badly
• Thinking "if only" you had done something differently

Biological Changes and Experiences of Guilt

• Hot, red face
• Jitteriness, nervousness
• Suffocating

Expressions and Actions of Guilt

• Trying to repair the harm, make amends for the wrongdoing, fix the damage, change the outcome
• Asking for forgiveness, apologizing, confessing
• Giving gifts, making sacrifices trying to make up for the transgression
• Bowing your head, kneeling before the person

After-effects of Guilt

• Making resolutions to change
• Making changes in behaviour
• Joining self-help programs

Typical Secondary Emotions of Guilt

• Shame, Fear