The Different Types Of Guilt And How They Affect Mental Health

Guilt is a complex emotion that can weigh heavily on a person's mind and heart. People may feel guilt for different reasons, such as believing they've done something wrong. When someone feels guilty, they might be uncomfortable or disappointed in themselves as they sit with the idea of acting against their morals. 

Guilt comes in many forms, each with different characteristics and ways it can affect a person's emotional and mental health. The types of guilt that can occur vary depending on the situation. For example, one might experience interpersonal guilt, existential guilt, and anticipatory guilt, among others. It can be helpful to investigate these types in detail and how to cope with guilt if it arises. 

What is guilt?

Guilt is a self-conscious emotion that involves thinking you've acted wrongly or gone against your morals. Guilt is often tied to actions one perceives as harmful to oneself or others. It may cause thoughts about having violated your moral standards or societal expectations. For instance, if you lied to a friend or broke a promise, you might feel guilty because you know it hurt your friend and went against your morals of being honest. 

Despite the negative feelings and thoughts guilt can stir up, guilt may not necessarily be negative in every case. This emotion may sometimes serve as a moral compass, alerting you to your mistakes and guiding you toward better choices in the future. It can prompt individuals to apologize, make amends, or change their behavior to prevent the same mistakes. However, if not correctly managed, guilt may lead to excessive stress about past mistakes and negative feelings and thoughts toward yourself, which might be harmful to your mental health.

Different types of guilt

There are many different types of guilt and possible reasons for feeling guilty. In some cases, individuals may feel guilty for behaviors such as lying. In other cases, they may feel guilty for things they didn't do, such as not helping a friend when they asked for support. In some cases, guilt may not directly connect to one’s actions. Someone may feel guilty because of external situations tied to privilege or inequality, such as enjoying a comfortable life while others have pain. Below are explanations of some of these types of guilt and how they may arise. 

Interpersonal guilt

Interpersonal guilt is a feeling of regret or remorse that can come from causing another person pain or distress, whether directly or indirectly. This feeling may arise when you’re empathetic toward someone else or believe you’ve let them down or hurt them in some way. When experiencing interpersonal guilt, it can be expected that you may want to apologize and make up for the wrongdoing.

However, the effects of interpersonal guilt can also be damaging to mental health.

Survivor's guilt

Survivor's guilt, also called survivor guilt, is a mental and emotional reaction that some people may experience after going through a traumatic event where others lost their lives or were gravely injured. It can lead to feelings of intense guilt, regret, and shame. Survivor’s guilt can affect anyone who has survived a life-threatening situation, such as soldiers returning from war, first responders who've experienced tragedies, survivors of terrorist attacks, refugee populations, or cancer survivors. 

If you are experiencing trauma, support is available. Please see our Get Help Now page for more resources.

The primary source of survivor's guilt is often the idea of feeling guilty for surviving when others did not. However, this term can also describe the guilt that may arise for survivors of non-life-threatening events, where a person believes they have benefitted more than others or while others have suffered, such as holding onto their job after a round of company layoffs.

Parental guilt

Parental guilt is a type of guilt that a caregiver might feel when they believe they aren't doing an effective job as a parent or are falling short of their own expectations or the expectations of others. This kind of guilt often comes from the thought that one has done something wrong as a parent, isn’t doing enough, or isn't successfully managing different parts of one's life. 

Parental guilt may cause emotional stress and adverse effects on mental health and relationships. For example, a mother who works a demanding job might feel guilty for not being able to spend more time with her family, which could create stress, tension, and a negative view of herself despite her effort to support her family.

Excessive guilt

Excessive guilt is guilt that's no longer helpful or productive but instead can be harmful to a person's mental health and daily life. It may come up when a person experiences constant or disproportionate guilt. Excessive guilt can also be a symptom of some common mental health conditions, such as depression.

The effects of excessive guilt can be damaging, leading to constant worry over past mistakes, regret, and even physical symptoms like trouble sleeping or muscle tension. For instance, a person experiencing excessive guilt might blame themselves for a past mistake, even if they've done everything they could to make up for it or the situation was entirely out of their control. 

Existential guilt

Existential guilt can stem from one’s existence and is characterized by feeling that you're not living up to your full potential or not being true to who you are. For instance, someone might experience existential guilt if, when thinking about their life, they believe that they have not done nearly as much as they could have and have let themselves down by not living as fully as they could.  

With existential guilt, you might believe you're not contributing meaningfully to society, not following your true passions, or not making the most of your time on Earth. This type of guilt may cause you to feel uneasy and restless and could cause thoughts about being a “failure.” 

Anticipatory guilt

Guilt often occurs after a mistake has been made and is considered a “retrospective” emotion. Retrospective guilt means you feel guilty for a past event or choice. Retrospective guilt often occurs when a person reflects on past actions or decisions they now believe were wrong or harmful. However, feeling guilty about a choice that hasn’t happened yet may also be possible. 

Anticipatory guilt can occur when thinking about the possible consequences of your future actions and believing you are responsible for potential adverse outcomes. For instance, if you're thinking about calling in sick for work, you might feel guilty imagining the extra workload your coworkers might experience. Anticipatory guilt can cause anxiety, indecisiveness, and negative thoughts toward oneself. 

Support options 

It can be normal and healthy to experience guilt from time to time. However, feelings of guilt that become overwhelming may start to affect a person's mental health and overall well-being. If you are experiencing too much guilt, you may find it helpful to connect with a therapist. A trained therapist can help you find ways to sort through guilt and cope with the different aspects of mental health that may be affected by guilt, such as self-esteem, anxiety, depression, and relationship concerns.

Some people might be uneasy discussing vulnerable emotions like imagined or perceived guilt face-to-face. In such cases, online therapy through a platform like BetterHelp may be a valuable tool to manage these feelings, as it allows you to connect with a therapist remotely from the comfort of your home. 

Research has shown that online therapy can be effective for several conditions and concerns, including those that may be affected by perceived guilt. For instance, one study examined the “secondary benefits” of an online depression intervention, and it found that after the online program, improvements were shown in participants’ self-esteem, empowerment, and quality of life.