The brain's prefrontal cortex is the main powerhouse of the body that contributes to feelings of guilt. The prefrontal cortex is mainly focused on the logical thinking section of the brain in the body.
Body and Mind
The positive emotions of gratefulness and togetherness and the negative emotions of guilt and despair all looked remarkably similar, with feelings mapped primarily in the heart, followed by the head and stomach.
GUILTY FEELINGS:
The Hypothalamus sets the tone for negative input & sends signals down the sympathetic fibers of the autonomic nervous system. Digestive organs capabilities are suppressed. Inhibitory signals limit the nervous system & calorie-burning efficiency via increased insulin and imbalances in cortisol.
Shame is connected to processes that occur within the limbic system, the emotion center of the brain. When something shameful happens, your brain reacts to this stimulus by sending signals to the rest of your body that lead you to feel frozen in place.
Compared with the control emotions, guilt episodes specifically recruited a region of right orbitofrontal cortex, which was also highly correlated with individual propensity to experience guilt (Trait Guilt).
When your guilt is triggered, your body releases cortisol, which is a stress hormone. Cortisol is designed to help you with the flight part of a fight-or-flight response.
Guilt's relationship with OCD, anxiety, and depression often brings a host of symptoms. Some of the physical symptoms of guilt are problems with sleep, your stomach and digestion, and muscle tension. The social and emotional symptoms of guilt are often hidden in your everyday actions.
Shame has various root causes. Sometimes shame is instilled in early childhood by the harsh words or actions of parents or other authority figures, or from bullying by peers. Shame can stem from a person's own poor choices or harmful behavior.
Shame is a more painful emotion than guilt and is associated with various maladaptive symptoms or abnormal behaviors such as eating disorders and self-injury [1, 7, 14, 15].
A guilt complex can also lead to feelings of anxiety, depression, and stress including difficulty sleeping, loss of interest, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, and social withdrawal. A guilt complex can have a serious impact on a person's overall well-being.
Sometimes it doesn't fully go away. A person who makes a mistake may continue to feel guilt throughout life, even if they apologize, fix the damage, and are forgiven for the harm they caused. Therapy can help address these feelings. Having self-compassion can also help.
Neck Tension = Fear and Repressed Self-Expression
Fear and anxiety are also frequently stored in this area, particularly as a physical response to danger (as the neck is a vulnerable area) or strange environments. Neck muscle tension is also related to trust issues.
Effects of excessive guilt
Persistent and excessive guilt may contribute to: low self-esteem. feeling like you aren't a good person. excessively worrying about others' perceptions.
There are three basic kinds of guilt: (1) natural guilt, or remorse over something you did or failed to do; (2) free-floating, or toxic, guilt—the underlying sense of not being a good person; and (3) existential guilt, the negative feeling that arises out of the injustice you perceive in the world, and out of your own ...
When you find it difficult letting go of guilt, you could be dealing with something else. This can be a sign that what you're really struggling with is shame. Letting go of guilt and shame can be challenging, but it's possible!
False guilt
The aforementioned environments and situations instill certain emotional responses in a person: guilt, shame, anxiety, hurt, betrayal, disappointment, loneliness, emptiness, and many others. This false sense of guilt can even become a default state that is referred to as chronic or toxic guilt.
People who feel shame have a tendency to cover their shameful truths, or, if they have been exposed, to hide or disappear4. The typical body language of ashamed people is a 'shrinking' body, bowed head, and averted eyes2.
Feelings of shame can also cause the brain to react as though it were in physical danger. This may activate the sympathetic nervous system and trigger defense responses like fight, flight, or freeze. Shame is often associated with the desire to become invisible or disappear.
Body Language Tip for You: Watch out for any time someone touches the side of their forehead or blocks their eyes. It likely means they are a little ashamed or embarrassed, and it might be time to back off.