SHAME by Michael Lewis

Author:Michael Lewis
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: FREE PRESS
Published: 1995-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

Shame, Depression, and Interpersonal Life

As I have already explained, unacknowledged shame can be transformed into sadness. Since sadness is an emotion that normally is produced on occasion while depression is an ongoing personality characteristic or trait, the discussion of the connection between shame and depression requires reconsideration. We need to consider the possibility that the association between shame and depression is based upon repeated instances of shame. What is the clinical association between these two emotional states?

The information that we have on the association between shame and depression grows out of clinical observations and the research on depression. 10 Freud’s idea about depression reflects an object-libidinal orientation, suggesting that depression is aggression turned inward. 11 Since my viewpoint of emotional life centers around the self system, I find Bibring and Bowlby’s analyses more appealing. 12 Bibring preferred to view depression as the consequence of the lowering of self-esteem due to the failure to succeed in meeting the person’s narcissistic aspirations. Bibring’s view is consistent with the more prevalent notion of depression stemming from issues having to do with self-esteem, in particular, with the current attributional work associated with Aaron Beck, Martin Seligman, and Bernard Weiner. All these theorists suggest that depression results from attributions of failure that are internal, having to do with the self’s fault; global, having to do with the whole self; and stable, consistent over time. The attributional and self psychologies are on common ground in their analysis of depression. Interestingly, this depression-through-attribution literature closely parallels my analysis of shame! The consequence of certain situations is shame and/or depression. It would appear, then, that depression is not a conversion of shame but an accompanying emotion. From my point of view, depression, rather than shame, is focused upon by the person.

From a self psychology or attributional theory perspective, shame and sadness share a common cause and exhibit behavioral similarities. Our studies of shame indicate that when individuals experience shame in a particular situation, they show behaviors characteristic of a sad person. They gaze avert, hunch their shoulders up, push their bodies inward, become inhibited, and show problems in thinking. From an expressive point of view, these people appear to be sad.

I have suggested that emotional substitution or particular objective self focus is what allows for sadness or shame. The same is true for the shame-depression connection. It appears that individuals who undergo repeated shame experiences experience depression rather than sadness. Given this connectiveness, why do individuals who are repeatedly shamed (either because they are shame-prone or because they live in a shame environment) focus on the depression rather than the shame? The question to be answered is, Is there any choice, given repeated shame, but to be depressed? I have suggested that other emotion substitutes are possible, for example, rage. The previous question leads to another one: Is it possible to see a patient who is continuously shamed and who acknowledges this shame? In my own experience, I have not found such a case except for borderline or psychotic patients.

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