Guilt robs the victim of his physical and mental strength and stamina. Lethargy, laziness and procrastination takes over him. He has no interest in anything. He despises himself as well as work. Indolence becomes his way of life. He goes on lying in bed for hours and hours completely absorbed in deep thoughts. He loses all interest in life and seeks solitude and suicide. His life is picture of wretchedness and worthlessness. If you ask such a person completely absorbed in thoughts –what she or he is thinking? She answers very short and in monosyllables saying “nothing”. Even the subject
does not know what she is thinking, so is the burden of guilty thoughts.Brooding
Brooding is hallmark of the person always feeling and tormented by thoughts of guilt. His psyche goes on revolving around single thought of committing crime or wrong. His mind never leaves this idea and clings to it like e a blood sucking leach. He is absorbed and buried in deep thoughts totally oblivious to the surroundings and its happenings. He constantly dwells on past evens and in passive mood goes on churning and ruminating events. He invites sadness, dejection, despair and depression in utter desperation. He isolates himself lost in thoughts of crime and subsequent punishment. He becomes indifferent to his food and clothing. Indifference becomes the pivotal point of his bizarre and erratic behavior. Egocentricity so overwhelms him that he starts treating everyone and every member of his family with disdain and mistrust. This is the outward projection of his inner chaos ed and turmoil ed psyche.
Monomania of single thought
Monomania is excessive pre- occupation with single, object, thought or situation. He exceedingly clings to one thought. The guilt ridden subject is obsessed with the thoughts of his wrong doing and crime. It is just like the repeated whirling of moth around candle or bulb light. His psyche never leaves the thought. Even if it leaves one thought it catches on another one. It is very characteristic of the guilt psyche that it goes on repeatedly repeating few sentences for number of times. A patient of mine used to utter to his mother, “let us go”, “let us go”, “and let us go”---a number of times during
the day. I presume that it is an defensive mechanism to ward of internal anxiety and despair.
Estrangement from family and sexual affairs.
The guilty person is totally estranged from his family, friends and loved one’s. He shuts himself in isolation and solitude. He does not wish to talk with anybody and starts talking with his own self. He becomes allergic to society. He fears people and wishes to run away from society and family. He is alienated with everything even his own self. His own self is lost and he starts living another self. He or she develops revulsion and repulsion to his husband or wife or vice versa. Sex is no logger the subject of pleasure, talking or romance. He has great aversion to same sex also. He is so burdened with guilt that wishes to die and commit suicide. But the ambivalence of his mind does not allow him to commit suicide.
Dostovasky and Raskolnikov.
Dostovasky, the grand master of human psyche of people afflicted with the thoughts of guilt depicts the mental picture of Raskolnikov, who is facing and suffering the pangs of guilt, in a wonderful manner when he says,” He (Raskolnikov) was so immersed in himself and had isolated himself so much from everyone that he was afraid not only of meeting his landlady but of meeting anyone at all. He was crushed by poverty; but even his strained circumstances had lately ceased to burden him.” (Dostoevsky, 3). There can be no true picture and image of the mind engrossed in guilt thoughts than depicted by Dastovasky.Raskolnikov is so deep in poverty, so deep in guilt and so deep in suffering and depression that he has no way to live but isolate himself in self exile. He detached himself from rest of the world. Every guilt ridden person behaves like Raskolnikov when deep in guilt and guilt suffering.
