I had a huge nasty secret that haunted me for 13 yrs. I tried to forget it, didn't work, tried to ignore it, worked for a little bit but made it stronger. It was horrible. I had to face it, acknowledge it, have a breakdown and let it out to some close people and THEN I started to heal. It doesn't haunt me in the same way anymore, not at all.
I love what was said about the difference between secret and privacy...