Question

Why have we understood shame as more potentially debilitating than guilt?

Answer 1

Shame and guilt involves negatively judging ourselves when we believe we’ve failed to live up to either our own standards or the standards of other people (H. Lewis, 1971)

When we feel shame or guilt we experience intense discomfort, feelings of inadequacy and unworthiness and the desire to hide

Dr. Brené Brown describes healthy shame as being guilt (Brown, 2012).
Guilt can be healthy in moving us toward positive thinking and behavior. It is specific in its focus. It shapes us unlike shame

Guilt creates an opportunity to change our bahaior and thinking unlike shame.

People with high self-esteem are more prone to guilt than to shame, and more likely to take corrective or redemptive action.
Shame, when toxic, is a paralyzing global assessment of oneself as a person. When severe, it can form the lens through which all self-evaluation is viewed. As such, some words used to express the emotion of shame include feeling insecure, worthless, stupid, foolish, silly, inadequate or simply less than.

shame comes about from repeatedly being told, not that we did something bad, but that we are something bad. Consequently, it can close us off from accepting any form of positive regard from others or ourselves.

As such, some individuals use alcohol or drugs as a form of self-medication to reduce the potential for being more fully present with their shame.

Thus shame is potentially more debilitating than guilt