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The contribution of shame to post‐psychotic trauma
Author(s) -
Turner Michelle H.,
Bernard Mark,
Birchwood Max,
Jackson Chris,
Jones Chris
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
british journal of clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.479
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 2044-8260
pISSN - 0144-6657
DOI - 10.1111/bjc.12007
Subject(s) - shame , psychosis , psychology , clinical psychology , psychiatry , psychological intervention , depression (economics) , social psychology , economics , macroeconomics
Objectives 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. Design The study used a cross‐sectional correlational design. Method 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. Results 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. Conclusions 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. Practitioner Points Assessing different types of shame following psychosis can inform assessments, formulations, and interventions with post‐psychotic trauma. Our results support the application of Compassionate Mind Therapy to psychosis. However, we did not assess self‐criticism or self‐reassurance. We also did not investigate the relation between specific psychotic symptoms and different types of shame.