[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” width=”100%” custom_padding=”0px||0px|||” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” width=”100%” max_width=”none” custom_padding=”0px||0px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text module_class=”section__text–default” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n
Guilt can be a useful and effective gauge for our actions. When we behave in a way that is outside of our value system or we have inflicted harm in someway to someone else, guilt is one of the most telling signs. If we use that feeling to reflect, make amends and adjust our behaviour for the future it is powerful and useful in our growth and is known as an ‘adaptive’ tool. But what if feelings of guilt linger non-stop for no reason in particular? What if you feel guilty for things that you didn’t do or couldn’t control? This is ‘maladaptive’ guilt and it is not only unhelpful but can cause chaos in our mind. In this article we’ll explore this concept and some ways to cope.<\/p>\n
What is it?<\/p>\n
Maladaptive guilt is when a person feels intense or persistent guilt over situations that are unrelated to them, they have no control over or reflects an exaggerated guilt response to a event. For example, perhaps you’re in a meeting and suddenly have forgotten the name of your new co-worker \u2013 you make a quick apology and there is no major upset however the event remains with you for days, weeks or even years following the incident. Feeling as though what you did was such a terrible thing that you beat yourself up over it extensively. It is far more common than we think and many of us get caught in the cycle of feeling guilty constantly over things that don’t warrant such a response. It is known as ‘maladaptive’ as it doesn’t help us create positive changes in our lives it rather keeps us in a negative thought cycle.<\/p>\n
How does it impact us?<\/p>\n
This type of guilt is dangerous as it can cause overthinking, shame, depression and even self-hatred. It also steals joy from our lives in the sense that we struggle to remain present and to assess situations fairly.<\/p>\n
How do we cope?<\/p>\n
This type of guilt is often associated with other factors such as early childhood experiences, depression and anxiety that need addressing but there are useful tools that can help:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Guilt is an important guide for our actions. When we feel guilt, it helps us correct unhealthy patterns. But what if you feel guilt over everything all the time? Or intense guilt over small things from years ago. This is maladaptive guilt. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marrow.ie\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marrow.ie\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marrow.ie\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marrow.ie\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marrow.ie\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=314"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/marrow.ie\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":598,"href":"https:\/\/marrow.ie\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314\/revisions\/598"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marrow.ie\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marrow.ie\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marrow.ie\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marrow.ie\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}