Cannot sleep due to guilt

[Corzhens]

Does it happen to you that your conscience sometimes over-react with the guilt feeling that you cannot sleep at night? In another thread, it seemed that I had offended someone with my unpleasant comment about her thread and she expressed her dislike for my comment. My impulse is to extend my aplogy, it is a heartfelt apology for I never had the intention of hurting feelings of others. But that night, I kept on thinking about that person and I really felt guilty about my comment. I have to admit that I was not able to sleep a wink and I was drowsy in the office on the next day. It's a good thing that I was able to get over it on the next night although my sleep was still not that good. I just hope that the person I had offended would get over my offending comment and be back to normal as before in dealing with my posts.

 

[Joel7050]

My solution would to end it as soon as possible, by speaking with it to someone I trust, or confessing and apologising as soon as possible. It really gets the weight off your shoulders, no matter how hard it may be to apologise or admit. Even a simple text message in the middle of the night would really help, knowing that you have confessed. Non face to face confession or apologies may not seem sincere, but are easier to do and you can further reinforce it, once the person knows what has happened, by apologising or admitting again face to face.

 

[pwarbi]

Guilt is a feeling that if you don't deal with it straight away, it can go on to eat away at you and almost consume you morning, noon and night. If you are able to apologise for your actions or speak to the person you have offended then you need to be able to do that as soon as possible and then, no matter what the outcome was draw a line under it and move on. Dwelling on something and thinking it over constantly will end up making you ill, and there are a lot of people that are that consumed by guilt that it can ruin their lives and that isn't a feeling that anybody should have to live with.

 

[gracer]

Guilt is indeed a very strong feeling that can leave us restless and unable to concentrate on our daily tasks. Sometimes if I feel guilty about something, I also find it hard to sleep at night thinking about what I have done. I guess it's a normal part of being guilty. But you also have to give yourself a pat on the back for feeling that way because it means that you acknowledge that you made a mistake and you want to make things right. There are those people who never feel guilty at all for their wrongdoings and that is something unforgivable.


If you already apologized to the person you offended and he/she has accepted it well, the guilt will eventually go away. I wish both of you peace and reconciliation.

 

[Sue]

I also have a problem when I think that I offended somebody with something that I said or did. I will replay it over and over again in my mind and wish that I could change things. Sometimes the other person is over it and doesn't give it another thought but it will eat away at me. I am like that with people online too and groups such as this. I might not know the people but I don't want to offend them or hurt them with my comments. I also try to think before I speak and to words things correctly so I am not offending anybody. I have had many sleepless nights because I was worried I had caused somebody to be hurt by my words or actions. I do apologize a lot and if I think that I have done wrong I have no problem admitting it and apologizing to the other person. It happens and sometimes you just have to let it go and move on. I hope it all works out and I am sure that the other person understands that you didn't mean to offend them or hurt them in any way.

 

[SirJoe]

There isn't anyone that doesn't feel guilt for one or other reason at least once in their lives. Normally what will get in the way of removing this guilt is pride. I think that if you apologies you will feel a whole let better and you will be able to put it all behind you. If that person doesn't accept your apology, they are in the wrong, after all we are only human and we all do make mistakes.

 

[kgord]

Well, I would not feel guilt over a stranger on the internet, but sometimes I do feel guilty over other things in my life, or actions I fail to take and such. I just think that being a person, most of us have these human emotions that can affect us when we go to sleep. It can impact our sleeping and make us feel less refreshed in the morning. I have had a lot on my mind lately, and none of it good actually, so I think it has been impacting my sleeping. I may try to knock myself out tonight so I can get the sleep I need.

 

[aimeepoo]

Yes I have done that before many times. I have done something that I feel was hurtful to someone else and even after apologizing I will still think about it over and over again and not be able to sleep. I think that if you have not done so already, then you should maybe apologize to them. Surely they will understand and accept. I'm sorry you felt this way. I know it makes you feel terrible when you feel that you've wronged someone.

 

[John Snort]

If you are feeling guilty about something and it is causing you some distress, apologize if you can and try to make amends. The answer? An act of kindness. It will make you feel good. That's how karma works. You do something you are not proud of you, try to balance the scales by doing something good. And then let the past go. What is done is done. You can't change it and you shouldn't let it stress you — “Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.” Mother Teresa

 

[Corzhens]

Thanks for all the comments in this thread. At least I now realize that I am not an isolated case when it comes to guilty feelings. Maybe it is partly due to my orientation in school that we should avoid offending people and mainly of my personality that I used to be timid and that maybe I am afraid to lose friends or potential friends. And I also understand that apology is one good antidote. However, there are instances that you cannot just offer an apology especially when the person is already out of sight or when the incident had happened a long time ago. Yes, sometimes I reminisce of the past and once I remember an incident that I had offended someone, guilt instantly comes again.