"I am the worst person in the world and everything is my fault"

[Lucian Hodoboc]

Extract from the writings of Elder Ephraim of Arizona: "Therefore, be humble, my child. If you want the demons who oppress you to be humbled, throw yourself beneath all and say: «I'm the worst person in the world and everything is my fault»."

Do you think that going through life with this attitude is beneficial to one's well-being? Wouldn't constant guilt and self-blaming lead to some type of mental health problems?

 

[friend of]

Wouldn't constant guilt and self-blaming lead to some type of mental health problems?

Yeah possibly. But the closer we cone to Jesus the more bad we will seem in our own eyes.

 

[Light of the East]

This is something I have been wondering about myself. Yes, we certainly should not gloss over our sins nor think we have arrived at some state of holiness in this life, but whenever I pray, I sometimes feel depressed by the prayers in the Orthodox Prayer Book. Twelve different prayers in the evening and the morning, all saying the same thing: "I am a worthless piece of dung."

Some people might be able to say those prayers with a balanced approach and understanding, but for those of us who struggle with shame issues and have spent a lifetime feeling utterly worthless and of no value to anyone - they trigger a lot of thoughts, not all of them healthy. Thoughts like, "Since I am so bad, how can God possibly love or care for me?"

OR

"I have to do everything in my Orthodox life perfectly so that God will care for me."

Now I know this is not right thinking, but those of us who come from highly dysfunctional backgrounds have this baggage to deal with. Some days it can be a constant battle just to maintain balance.

Here is something I wrote about the dysfunctional life, shame, and how it affects people like me:

God, Shame, and Fundamentalism – Muddling Through Life (wordpress.com)

 

[ArmyMatt]

Extract from the writings of Elder Ephraim of Arizona: "Therefore, be humble, my child. If you want the demons who oppress you to be humbled, throw yourself beneath all and say: «I'm the worst person in the world and everything is my fault»."

Do you think that going through life with this attitude is beneficial to one's well-being? Wouldn't constant guilt and self-blaming lead to some type of mental health problems?

it depends on why one is doing it.

 

[TedT]

Extract from the writings of Elder Ephraim of Arizona: "Therefore, be humble, my child. If you want the demons who oppress you to be humbled, throw yourself beneath all and say: «I'm the worst person in the world and everything is my fault»."

How refreshing!!! And praising God for this enlightenment and HIS changes in your life drives the demons far away...

 

[prodromos]

Extract from the writings of Elder Ephraim of Arizona: "Therefore, be humble, my child. If you want the demons who oppress you to be humbled, throw yourself beneath all and say: «I'm the worst person in the world and everything is my fault»."

Do you think that going through life with this attitude is beneficial to one's well-being? Wouldn't constant guilt and self-blaming lead to some type of mental health problems?

It must be balanced with complete acceptance of God's love and mercy for us.

 

[ArmyMatt]

It must be balanced with complete acceptance of God's love and mercy for us.

yep, and used to acquire that acceptance

 

[truefiction1]

Extract from the writings of Elder Ephraim of Arizona: "Therefore, be humble, my child. If you want the demons who oppress you to be humbled, throw yourself beneath all and say: «I'm the worst person in the world and everything is my fault»."

Do you think that going through life with this attitude is beneficial to one's well-being? Wouldn't constant guilt and self-blaming lead to some type of mental health problems?

It can be, if it is the passion of pride that's behind the self-loathing. But if not, then it is healthy to do this. This matter is also talked about in the book "Unseen Warfare", in the chapter entitled "On the wrong opinion of those who deem excessive grief to be a virtue".

 

[ArmyMatt]

It can be, if it is the passion of pride that's behind the self-loathing. But if not, then it is healthy to do this. This matter is also talked about in the book "Unseen Warfare", in the chapter entitled "On the wrong opinion of those who deem excessive grief to be a virtue".

good point

 

[abacabb3]

Extract from the writings of Elder Ephraim of Arizona: "Therefore, be humble, my child. If you want the demons who oppress you to be humbled, throw yourself beneath all and say: «I'm the worst person in the world and everything is my fault»."

Do you think that going through life with this attitude is beneficial to one's well-being? Wouldn't constant guilt and self-blaming lead to some type of mental health problems?

The saints say such things and mean it. The not-so-saintly among us like the platitude and can nowhere close put it into practice, or worse yet become suicidal.

And so, I think with true humility we can really believe such a thing without despondency. But I don't think we can really do so without a lot of ascetic preparation and a very good spiritual father. Sort of a "don't try this at home" thing.

 

[SingularityOne]