Guilt phenomena in medicine, psychology, and psychiatry

This article gives an overview of various aspects of guilt arising in psychiatry as an interdisciplinary field, where different conceptions of medical ethics and of psychology lead to different practices. The analysis of modern psychiatric phenomena of guilt using a historical approach is based on the concept of guilt expounded by one of the world’s greatest philosophers, Karl Theodor Jaspers, who has made a huge impact on the formation of psychiatric research. The author presents an original distinction in psychiatry between guilt phenomena as they arise in professional groups and those arising in patient groups. His analysis is also based on the history of psychiatry, psychology, and medical developments in the twentieth century. A possible systemic guilt solution in psychiatry is presented, and an example of critical analysis of processes that took place in German psychiatry helps to formulate recommendations for the development of modern psychiatry in Lithuania