To have guilt feelings is fundamental for the maintenance of mental health. Those who inconscientize their guilt through self-censorship end up generating physical, mental and social illnesses of varying proportions.
Keppe observed that a person negates his guilt feelings mainly out of theomania, or megalomania. If an individual idealizes himself (theomania) very greatly, his censorship will likewise be very strong and he will not be willing to admit his mistakes. Instead, he will prefer to see himself as an "angel" or better, a "god" who neither makes mistakes not commits evil acts and has neither bad intentions nor evil thoughts.
Freud gave the name "superego" to the psychological mechanism responsible for censorship, believing that it was formed of internalized ideal norms of behaviour that originated in society, outside of the individual.
Keppe believes that censorship stems from the theomania of the individual, but is greatly exacerbated by environmental factors through censoring and intolerant parents, teachers and society-in-general, all of which do not accept working with mistakes.
Guilt feelings that are not experienced do not disappear. They may remain unperceived (inconscientized) yet active in the inner self, demanding compensation. When this happens, the individual may, without perceiving it, try to "make am-mends" for his guilt in an irrational manner by punishing himself or provoking others to punish him.
The individual who is less theomanic and perfectionistic, raised in a more tolerant environment, will thus be less censoring and more able to tolerate seeing (conscientizing) guilt feelings. He is able to make amends for his mistakes in a constructive and rational manner, and again feel worthy of enjoying the good things in his life.
Society and the psychological sciences have greatly exacerbated this psychological and sociopathological mechanism by believing that guilt feelings are negative and should be avoided, by encouraging praise, or by adopting strongly repressive and intolerant attitudes toward guilt through punitive social practices that merely aggravate the pathology and generate additional negative consequences. Being both alienating and enslaving, none of these practices solves the problem, for all guilt feelings have a cause and they can be resolved only if they are conscientized; that is, only if they are perceived, examined and proper amends are made. Only conscientization is liberating.
From: PACHECO, Cláudia Bernhardt de Souza. The ABC of Analytical Trilogy - Integral Psychoanalysis. São Paulo: Proton Publishing House, 1988.
Reflection:
Do you realize that tolerance in seeing and admitting mistakes is fundamental to being able to conscientize their causes and recover emotional, mental and spiritual balance?
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