I have a lot of business debt as a sole proprietor. Why does bankruptcy go against me personally?

I took over an existing Optical business a year and a half ago. In that time, I've only succeeded to gain $140K of business debt, including all the money I had to put on credit cards just to keep myself alive. I never registered as an LLC, and I just found out that if I declare bankruptcy, it goes on my personal record, not just on the business. I'm so distressed about this that I can not sleep at night! I'm closing the business at the end of this month. It will have no other income. I do have a part-time job that I've been using to get me by at home, but even if I get a full-time job, I'll never be able to pay even the monthly payments on this debt. What can I do? At this point, do I have to declare bankruptcy? Is it illegal to ask for donations to help pay for this debt? In not, who am I allowed to ask? Can I post it on the internet?

This is one of the very few times where bankruptcy is the proper answer. You made some bad business decisions (as we all have from time to time). Since there is no reasonable hope that you'll ever be able to pay it off, file bankruptcy, learn from your mistakes and go on with your life a little wiser.

Sue,
stop take a breath and hug ur family.
now congratulations, u r learning the lessons that help people become multi millionaires. only now is a test.
bankruptcy as a sole owner goes against 'everything' u own. sorry.

now luckly , ur creditors can not come to ur house and break u up like in the old days of credit.
they can and will harrass u till u pay or croak. ignore the phone.

given that , close ur biz , go find full time employment. pay ur house debt and keep ur head above water.

suggest u visit dave ramsey.com to learn from others challenges so u don't have to do it the hard way.

Sole Proprietor means what it says. You are sole owner.
Why dont you want to continue the business? Try to pay it off over time. Do you not have the income? Could you work at another optical business to pay off the debt?

I do not think you should shut down your business as yet first of all cut back on your expenditure both at your business and personally. Take some measures to try to pay off the loans that you owe , then try to register the business as an LLC if possible incorporate your business with someone Else's that is doing better than yours, get into a partnership with them . That would enable your business pick up as such you would not have to file bankruptcy.