The contribution of shame to post-psychotic trauma

The current study examined shame in a clinical sample recovering from a first episode of psychosis by focusing on the contribution of different types of shame to post-psychotic trauma while controlling for current affective symptoms.

The study used a cross-sectional correlational design.

Fifty individuals who met the criteria for a psychotic disorder whose acute psychotic symptoms were in remission completed measures of internal and external shame associated with psychosis, general shame, post-psychotic trauma, and depression.

Post-psychotic trauma symptoms were correlated with internal and external shame associated with psychosis and general shame. However, the relation between post-psychotic trauma and external shame associated with psychosis remained after controlling for general shame and current affective symptoms. In addition, internal shame had a stronger association with depression. Thus, internal and external shame due to psychosis had different associations with different types of post-psychotic emotional dysfunction.

The results support the importance of assessing shame as a multi-faceted construct and suggest that assessing shame directly associated with mental illness is a worthwhile endeavour.