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.