The fear of making a fatal mistake won't go away

I made a ridiculous mistake that shouldn't have been in the lab. I never did it on purpose, and it was caused by a minor lack of confirmation.
When I noticed it, I panicked and thought I'd hide it, but after being tormented by a strong sense of guilt, I thought I wouldn't be able to hide this in the future, so I cried and reported it to the professor and told the facts without lying.
As a result, no further punishment was imposed, and they are moving in the direction of resolution as “there is room for improvement and there is no blame.”

But it's scary.

Also, the same mistakes may be repeated, and it drains my mind every day, thinking that maybe there are fatal mistakes that have not yet been discovered in the past, and that their efforts so far will go to nothing because of them. Due to the accumulation of my own unhappiness up until now, I am no longer able to believe in myself.
Will they continue to be tormented by this kind of anxiety at work and in their personal lives in the future?
No matter how careful we are, will this kind of situation ever happen?
I can't help but be scared and scared of that.
I've thought over and over again to stop thinking about wanting to die, and opportunities to think so have decreased, but by any means, that extreme thinking hasn't completely disappeared.

Even if I actively want to take a break, I can't get the research out of my head. I should move my body and exercise, but as soon as I get home, I lie down and my body doesn't move.
How can we maintain better mental and physical health?

3 Zen Responses

I support you from the bottom of my heart

I read it.
You're really shocked that you've made such a big mistake in your research. And you're feeling very uneasy, aren't you? I don't know the details, but it really conveys that you have deep regrets and fear that you will fail again. I understand your feelings from the bottom of my heart.
I don't know the details or circumstances of the mistake at all, but I can tell you that you are very sorry and worried every day. Maybe it's natural for you to think so. First of all, please take a sincere attitude and try not to make such mistakes in the future.
I don't know the details, but I think mistakes and mistakes are bound to occur in any kind of research, even if it is an experiment. There are many mistakes in deriving and confirming the desired results, and there are also cases where new discoveries and inventions can be obtained even from minor mistakes and differences.
I don't think it's easy to feel like that at all, but even so, please don't blame you too much. Life is full of twists and turns, and it takes turns.

Please don't be in a hurry and face it well from now on.
I will support you from the bottom of my heart. We wholeheartedly agree

Ability to act to minimize damage and restore trust with recovery support

No human being is perfect. I also make mistakes. No matter how careful you are, things will happen that you overlook and make mistakes.

But after that, you made the right choice. The fact that the facts were unmistakably reported. As a result, mistakes are also corrected. There were no accusations that “there is room for improvement.” This is due to your subsequent actions.

In other words, even if a mistake occurs or a sense of guilt is born, you can move on the right path by thinking calmly about the aftermath. No matter what, there are ways to improve it. Not only does it prevent mistakes, but it also has the ability to act to minimize damage and restore trust by dealing with recovery when they occur. Recovery is important precisely because I think it's scary.

That's how I've overcome it, too. I wonder if everyone is like that. Rather than being depressed, you should think of it as an experience and look ahead to the next one.

Everyone makes mistakes

For example, by taking out liability insurance, there is a possibility that financial damage will disappear even if liability occurs due to a mistake.
The same goes for car insurance, etc.
The risk of traffic accidents is not zero, but since you have insurance, you can drive with some peace of mind.
Everyone does that, even when driving cars that are fatal to people's lives.
Even rocket launches with huge budgets have failed over and over again.
No one causes accidents at nuclear power plants with the intention of causing an accident.
I am aware of the risk of accidents, and I use it because it is convenient.
So, isn't it okay if you make a mistake?
We're going to die anyway.
Even if the Earth were to die due to your mistake, the Earth would die out due to some reason, so it's not a big deal.
For now, let's look up liability insurance.

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