Shame and regret are the worst things about hangovers... It's those memories that start coming back about half way through the next day that I loathe the most. I tried not to think about them, but they kept coming back.
Shame and regret is not an empowering paradigm, but I think our parents are partially to blame for this, "How could you have done that billy... shame on you!" It's a symptom of depression to have shame, but I think that honest remorse is healthy. Anyhow, regret is part of the human condition with or without alcoholism. Everybody has regrets, even Shindler. And he saved a lot of jewish people from death during the holocaust.
I think there is a psychological formula out there for living a life free of shame and regret. It probably goes something like doing good things for humanity and all that. Personally, I believe, if there is a last judgement, most americans are going to be ashamed of their lives and regret their rampid consumerism. Whatever.... This is going nowhere. There is no joy here in this topic. I am going to focus on other things.