LA VERGOGNA IN PSICOPATOLOGIA.

Shame is a complex, socially driven, negative emotion, being characterized by specific thoughts and behaviors, and characterized by a precise emotional halo. This emotion regulates the sharing of social norms and its main goal is to protect individual's good-image and self-esteem. Shame has an adaptive function, as it guarantees affiliation to the group, maintaining its' hierarchical organization, and thus allowing survival. Intense and frequent feelings of shame play a significant role in the onset and maintenance of psychological manifestations, such as eating disorders, borderline personality disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and, last but not least, social phobia. Although the role this emotion in regulating social relations is widely recognized, little is known about its specific role in different emotional disorders. The aim of this manuscript was to review previous findings investigating the role of shame in the onset and maintenance of specific psychological disorders, highlighting the role of early maladaptive experience and negative beliefs in the development of pathological shame feelings. In the last section of this article we reviewed the most recent clinical models that have focused on specific shame related psychotherapeutic interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]