Toxic Shock Syndrome
In Spider-Man 2, Peter Parker encounters the paralysing results, not of a radioactive spider bite, but of the aftereffects of toxic guilt syndrome.
After a long internal struggle, Peter finally confronts some of his fears and tells his aunt what really happened with his uncle's death. Peter's admission can be seen toward the end of this segment (minute 6:30).
Aunt May eventually moves on and helps enable Peter to do the same. Without forgiveness, it would not be possible for Peter to reunify his identity and emerge as the hero he was meant to be.
In order to escape toxic shock syndrome, forgiveness has to be real. Real and deadly poison has to meet up with a real antidote in order to be effective. Watch this scene out of ER that grapples with the grittiness of life stripped of popular fantasy literature of the day.
The short film "Venia" moves beyond rhetoric, even beyond words, in illustrating the power of forgiveness in people's experiences.
If guilt is real because sin is real, how can forgiveness be more real than what has happened in the past? Hear this voice from the events of the Rwandan genocide.
What if you come to a place of recognition where you realize that these things really are true? What should you do about it? Is there anyone there to really listen? Try this link.