Are you one of the many Americans, struggling with massive debt, who are struggling with the morality of filing for bankruptcy?

Many people are in so deep that they cannot dig themselves out. They have more debt than income, the mortgage payment on their underwater home is killing them, they have been looking for work for months and it seems like the light at the end of the tunnel is the train.

These people, and you might be one of them, want to pay what they owe, they don’t want to feel like a deadbeat, they don’t want a handout or assistance, but there really is no other logical option except to file for bankruptcy… and they feel guilty about it.

But should you feel guilty? As debt expert Gerri Detweiler puts it, “Most people I talk with feel an enormous amount of shame when contemplating bankruptcy or walking away from a house, they feel like they will be branded as bankrupt or a deadbeat, but, ultimately, these days it’s often a difficult financial decision more than a moral one. I say that because many people who file bankruptcy or give up their home have done everything they can do to avoid it, and there are simply no other options left.”

When it comes to the act of dealing with debt, it is pretty cut and dried, but dealing with the moral responsibility to repay a debt is a bit more difficult. The financial and social resources you have at your disposal, the type of debt and more importantly the type of person you are, all play a part.

There’s no doubt that if you are considering bankruptcy, you feel apprehensive. But remember this: you are not alone, there are numerous other people dealing with a situation similar to your own. Over 1.2 Million Americans filed for bankruptcy last year according to USCourts.gov. There is a variety of reasons for filing for bankruptcy including job loss, divorce and of course overwhelming and out of control debt.

With all of these differences aside, everyone filing for bankruptcy have something in common… they have realized that they are in over their head and are unable to resolve the problem themselves.

Chances are, like millions of other Americans, your debts are so big that you will never pay them off. Wouldn’t be better to file for bankruptcy, than to suffer needlessly with a huge financial burden for the rest of your life? Also think about the damage you are doing to your credit by not making your monthly payments. When you have a lot of late payments on your credit report, your credit score is affected and it is a warning sign to lenders that you are a bad risk.