MHM: Guilt vs Shame

In my line of work, guilt and shame are big topics to tackle. Addicted populations tend to experience high levels of both of these emotions and continue to maladaptively handle them thus spiraling further into their relationship with their drug of choice. "But what is the difference between guilt and shame?" they often ask. Being the good little mental health professional that I am, I psycho educate and then we work on stuff. It doesn't end there, it isn't that easy. Guilt and Shame are very difficult emotions to process and recover from. 

Guilt is designed to keep us in check, from hurting anyone/stealing things; from violating morals or values set in place by a society to maintain order and piece. Whenever something happens, be it accidental or on purpose that violates these things, the average person feels guilty. For example, I never felt guilt about my eating happens until Noom explained to me what exactly I was putting into my body. So now, to avoid feeling guilty for hurting myself, I try to avoid those foods. What happens when we internalize the guilt or some purposefully embarrasses us about a decision/statement/act? We feel shame. Shame tells us that we are bad, unworthy, broken, wrong ect. It eventually can seep into our core beliefs about ourselves and poison us into thinking there isn't a point so F*&^ It. 

If you can reverse the shame into guilt, it can be better handled. If you can't, then it is time just to replace all together. Replaced negative self talk with positive, gather evidence that proves the exact opposite of what shame is causing you to believe, surround yourself with others who may be experiencing the same feeling and see if you think they are bad people (9/10 times, you will sit there and go "these peeps are great wth?"), set up boundaries with individuals who are making you feel shameful, use assertiveness to explain yourself, and if after all for this you still feel like you are a bad person for whatever it is, start evaluating the severeity of what it was that initially made you feel shameful.