Several years back I clipped out a newspaper article about a group of businessmen in Bellingham, Washington. They were trying to market a new product called "Guilt Away." Guilt Away was supposed to remove guilt. Part of their advertising ran like this: "Hounded by nagging guilt? Get rid of it the modern way, the same way you eliminate limp curls, bad breath or underarm wetness. Spray guilt away with new Guilt Away." What they were trying to do was sell an eight-ounce bottle of rose water that you could spray on yourself when you were feeling guilty. Four bucks a bottle! I doubt that new Guilt Away worked. But if it did, it could have made its producers billions of dollars.

Most of us can hardly get through a day without feeling at least a little bit guilty about something. As psychiatrist…