Shame Can Literally Make You Sick

Your stomach is queasy. Something you said or did or even thought is making you feel sick, and you just want to hide. This reaction might be because the shame you're feeling inside is affecting you physically, researchers believe.

However, they say, even though at some point everyone feels guilty about something, guilt is not as likely to make us ill as shame is. Experts say this is because humans have developed built-in ways to cope with that emotion and to reduce stress that comes with it. Without such a release valve, stress can otherwise impact hormone levels controlled by the brain and wreak havoc with your immune system.