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They point in opposite directions

This is not a distinction for its own sake. The two of them predict different behaviour, and they predict it in opposite directions.

Guilt orients you towards repair. It is uncomfortable and it is useful, and it ends when the repair is made. That is what makes it survivable.

Shame orients you towards hiding, withdrawal and escape. And escape is not an abstract thing. It is a specific state you want out of, right now, and the fastest available exit from it is the behaviour you are ashamed of.

Which means shame is not a brake on this. It is fuel.

Shame and guilt are doing different jobs · Inshirah