Self-Assessment for Guilt of Being
Use a fresh sheet in your journal and write "Guilt of Being" as the heading. Answer the following questions in your journal as completely as possible.
Have you ever feel guilty not for any particularly characteristic you have or for something you have done (or not done) but simply for being alive?
Describe the circumstances where you first began experiencing guilt of being in detail, being careful to remember pressures or stresses imposed by others. For example, when was the first time you had this feeling? Did the idea come from within you or from somewhere outside of yourself, for example, an organization, a book, a media presentation, or another person?
Did anyone ever tell you didn’t deserve to be alive? Who? How often did that person invalidate your existence? Did you believe that person? If so, did you believe that person entirely or only partially? Did that person harm you in other ways, emotionally, physically, financially, or socially?
Did your guilt for being begin as part of a trauma or was it made stronger by being involved in a life-threatening experience? If you had never been involved in this trauma, do you think you’d feel guilty about being alive? If so, why? Did this feeling of guilt for being part of the teaching of a religious or spiritual group with which you were, or are, affiliated?