@Mace.Bean: "...neurotic guilt--the feeling of guilt imposed by others when one has done nothing wrong--can lead to self sabotage, punishing oneself for perceived sins which are not sins at all, and actually cause symptoms of real physical and/or psychological illnesses, depression, etc."
THIS.
When I lost my virginity outside of marriage, I was so psychologically shattered by what I'd done (what I'd done was have consensual sex when I was 22. Shock, horror). That was a turning point for my path of self-destruction. What good was I? I was damaged goods. Unclean. A used, dirty rag. A defiled woman who didn't deserve to ever get married because I wasn't "pure".
My guilt manifested itself in an array of ways. Heavy drug addiction, suicide attempts, a smorgasbord of risque sexual encounters week in, week out. I was a broken soul. And for the next whirlwind couple of years, I operated on only five different emotions:
Shame.
Hate.
Vengeance.
Love.
GUILT.
If only I had the strength of character and clarity to understand the notion you put forth in this post back then. Things may have looked very different for me. Wise words to consider, and I encourage any young Witness who is at a tipping point with their lives to really take this in. This is the netting that will catch you when that JW thread you're hanging by does snap as you assimilate yourself into normal society.