h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Guilt is not wanting to remember incidents in the past, which means not looking at any memories involved with them because it disturbs your equilibrium. It also means intellectual knowledge suffers too, so suppression of bad memories leads to poor memory and poor observation skills (you try to avoid seeing what is there in case it reminds you of something you are trying to forget).

The thing is the mind doesn't censor input, just records it, so it is always there. This is why idiot savants exist as they have no such censorship worries (emotional ties leading to suppression in the society you belong to or repression, when it is yourself that is holding back information from the rest of the world). This is the basis of apathy and depression (not wanting to face failure in our relationships with others or the world in general - the ego always wants to shine, not look like a sad no hoper).