Coping with guilt and Shame

LegacyUser

I have done and said a few things in the past, unusally drunk, that I am ashamed of. While I can't change the past, and most things are minor embarrasments that I know I should move on from, I get rushes of overwhelming shame and it's crippling sometimes. How do I cope, or how does one let go of these feelings? When I get a wave of shame I get hot and flushed and it's a very physical thing, I cringe so much. I am an anxious person anyway and always worry about things but allthe shame really drags me down. I need some sort of coping mechanism to get rid of it.

Roisy7

We've all done things we're ashamed of, especially while drunk. You're not alone

Maybe you should write down the things you are ashamed of, write letters to anyone you need to apologise to, but don't send them. Tear them up. I do this and it always makes me feel better.

skyfall2012

If the majority of the time you act normal. Trust me when I say, people don't remember your mistermeaners. You must think of it like when you look at the movies where a character has done some bad stuff and decides he wants to turn his life around, we always forgive him.

It is the same in real life. I often think of the guy who brought down Barings Bank, what a huge mistake that was, 100s if not 1000s of people lost their jobs all over the world due to his stupid mistake. The thing about it is, he did his time in prison, but he has started his life all over again here in Ireland, you even see him on the T.V. some times, he is not hiding away ashamed of his past, he has paid his debt to society and has moved on.

So stop beating yourself up about silly things you have done in the past, so many people have done the same and worse, they don't beat themselves up as much if at all, they pick themselves up and dust themselves off and walk off.