Conscience is the ability of people to independently determine the moral framework and rules of behavior, as well as monitor compliance with these very rules. For some reason, some people hear the voice of conscience much more often than others, but not everyone knows how to cope with it. The pangs of conscience, torment, self-accusations can lead to serious consequences in the form of mental disorders, and therefore you need to learn how to cope with them.
Objective assessment
When pangs of conscience interfere with life, you need to realize the reasons for this. Often, even the slightest offense in especially conscientious people causes a violent reaction. Although conscience is also the voice of inner morality, nevertheless it should not be the main one, and blindly following it is a common mistake. Still, conscience touches on some moments from the past, which, unfortunately, cannot be changed. Constantly returning to his past, a person prevents himself from building the future.
In general, it is worth remembering that a suddenly awakened conscience is even a good sign. A sign that a person has not yet lost something good, light and eternal.
Repentance
If a situation of the past bothers you so much that even physical ailment arises, if the self-accusation is really due to the past bad deed, the best solution would be repentance, an apology to the person who was offended or loyal to you. If there is an opportunity to apologize in the eyes, that's great. You just need to overcome your pride and talk about what happened. But this option is not always possible, and therefore sometimes you can repent without the presence of the person himself. After all, getting rid of the pangs of conscience is necessary not for him, but for you. It is likely that he himself has long forgotten everything, forgiven and let go of the past.
An apology can be written on paper in the form of a message, and it does not have to be sent. If this allows you to free yourself from the pangs of conscience, you can even burn it in the end as a sign of forgiving yourself. You can also use the "empty chair" technique, presenting the same person sitting in place. You can tell him everything - from the reasons for your actions to sincere bewilderment about the latter. At the end, of course, it's worth apologizing.
This method is used by psychotherapists in cases where a person is tormented by situations involving deceased relatives or friends. Here, this is generally the only way for a person to apologize and pour out his soul.
Techniques for getting rid of the pangs of conscience
When pangs of conscience are unfounded, but still interfere with a normal life, you can use other psychological techniques. Each person chooses such techniques for himself, because someone trusts the voice of reason more, and someone is subject to emotions.
One of these techniques is a detailed analysis of the situation. But it is done not in order to accuse himself even more, but so that at the end the realization comes that the past situation taught a lot to a person, and such actions cannot happen anymore. If that situation made it clear some important points, then it was not in vain. You cannot constantly scold yourself for the experience and wisdom gained.
Another method, in which logic is also connected, can be the realization that mistakes are perfectly acceptable in the life of any person. There are no sinless and ideal people, and sometimes circumstances force people to do what the internal controller - conscience - does not tell them to do.
Another option, more suitable for impulsive and emotional people, is self-punishment. Of course, you do not need to torture yourself, but as an atonement, you can either sacrifice something or do some uncharacteristic things for yourself. In this case, some people begin to do useful things, for example, get a job as volunteers in various services. The main thing is that it helps the person to forgive himself. Others, as a sign of punishment, seek to force themselves to do unloved things, for example, run in the morning or learn a foreign language. At the same time, there will simply not be time left for self-flagellation and pangs of conscience, and when a person forgives himself, it is no longer a fact that he will abandon these activities.
