Confusing the identification of feelings and emotions

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QuiversWhiskers
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18 Jun 2014, 8:51 am

I have been trying to track my emotions and feelings and pair up thoughts with bodily sensations to help identify emotions and last night I caught myself in something. I think I have been confusing feelings of anxiety or future regret for guilt. I felt "guilty" for thinking to leave the kitchen a mess over night because I was afraid of getting roaches. I understand guilt for certain thoughts. But for leaving the kitchen a mess? Really? How stupid is that! Shouldn't that be more like just plain anxiety about roaches? I cleaned up the kitchen anyway but the guilt stays with me because I could have not cleaned the kitchen. I also noticed that guilt and anxiety feel the same in my body. Is this true for everyone?

I wonder if the random feelings of guilt I have that often seem to have no basis are coming more from perfectionism and anxiety along with a lifetime of feeling condemned by myself and others rather than from anything I really should feel such extreme guilt for. I also have guilt for things that might have happened or I could have done just because I thought of them.



LookingLost
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18 Jun 2014, 12:05 pm

What does guilt feel like as a physical sensation?


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snufkin
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18 Jun 2014, 3:56 pm

Might it be that you feel guilty because you feel that people expect you to do the dishes, and by not doing them you've sort of let them down?

I have often felt guilt when failing to do what is expected of me, but I have mostly solved that by realizing that people's expectations are too high (they expect me to function better than I'm capable of), and I shoudn't care about them. Of course I still feel anxious when I can't finish a task (and because of the complications rising thereof), but it won't be mixed up with guilt anymore.



Jensen
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19 Jun 2014, 12:01 pm

Anxiety is a component in guilt, which is not an emotion, but a complex social reaction.


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Ces
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20 Jun 2014, 4:02 pm

Relating to LookingLost's comment:

I find it strange that I can't identify the physical symptoms of emotions. It's like something is stopping me thinking about it.


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