Online Rehab

1 min read

Shame and guilt

Shame is one of the biggest reasons people keep using. It helps to know how it differs from guilt.

Guilt says: I did something wrong. Shame says: I am wrong. Guilt can help you make something right. Shame makes you small and makes you want to hide, often in the substance.

Addiction is an illness that makes people do things they don't really want to do. That doesn't make what happened less painful, but it does mean you're not a bad person. You're someone who was stuck.

Shame gets smaller when you talk about it with someone who doesn't judge. That's why meetings and groups are so powerful: you hear others tell your story and see you're not the only one.

What you regret, you can make right later. Right now, the most important thing is to give yourself the chance to recover.