Shame

I cannot be among others
If others knew how really I am, i wonder what they would think of me?
I am disgusting, I'm really horrible!

Intense discomfort, feelings of inadequacy, a desire to hide and retreat, a sense of helplessness and inferiority are the most common manifestations of shame.

Shame is the emotion that accompanies the consciousness of having done something for which we can be judged by others or by ourselves in a negative way, especially the emotion that occurs in front of the failure to respect the rules and standards of conduct shared with others.

We are ashamed when we realize that we have compromised, or that it will be compromised our image both in the eyes of others and in ours. From this point of view, shame appears as a sort of alarm function to warn of possible impairment or impairment of our image.

Having an alarm " calibrated " to take the smallest stimulus, however, can create problems causing to a person to live in a state of great distress whenever he has to face with stimuli and situations that may affect in some way the image of ourselves.

The typical manifestations of Eating Disorders, Depression and Social Phobia are associated with this type of operation, characterized by a strong sensitivity to the judgment and criticism.

The impairment of the one’s self image is of course also present in post-traumatic stress disorder in which the person has suffered of a traumatic experiences in which he has played a central role experiences due to shame as in the case of sexual abuse.