Yeah, the guy that's on the other side of a year and a half of therapy can't help but feel like this is not only a bad oversimplification, but a dangerous one. Guilt is not something that is informed by or determined by the natural processes of the human body or the laws of nature (outside of the fact that it exists in nature). Guilt comes from perceptions of time, morality, responsibility, identity, whatever, but it isn't necessarily "in tune" with what your body needs the same way sleepiness, hunger, pain, all inform the bodies needs. Guilt is something we define for ourselves, and if your perceptions of should's and shouldn't's isn't defined properly, it means your definition of guilt could be anywhere. Most places on that spectrum are not where it is healthiest for you, or rather, in your best interests to listen to.

When I talk to people about seeing a therapist, the new catch-all PC answer is "that's so great that you're getting help". Look at you, getting over how embarrassing it is to seek help for mental issues. But I see it as problem and solution. This particular part of my body is not functioning optimally, it needs to be seen by a professional. Nearly everyone I talk to see's it as an admission of weakness. Most people think I should feel guilty for admitting defeat. I give them all the same push back.

If you get stabbed and at the ER you find some guy has been shot four times, obviously you'd let the guy go first. But you don't then leave the ER and try to just walk it off. So many people tell me that there are folks out there with bigger problems as an excuse not to address their own. What they are expressing is guilt at asking for help. They feel bad that they would bother someone else with their problems. That guilt prevents them from seeking help. That guilt has led a lot of people off the edge, when a doctor could have talked them in the other direction.

Guilt is a thing. And sometimes it tells you that you need to do better, stop this bad habit, make a change. I think that the better part of the time, it tells people why they should feel bad about who they are or what they think. It tells them to keep their shameful flaws to themselves. In psychology they call this rationalization. And it is quietly one of the most destructive things people to.