In this episode, Melanie explores the connection between shame, anxiety, and depression, as well as the difference between guilt and shame.
Shame can wreak havoc with our mental health. And it’s pretty sneaky, in that we often don’t understand what shame feels like, and so it gets confused with guilt.
But it’s a powerful emotional response that can become a lifelong companion living just underneath the surface of our awareness.
It’s an important topic to unpack if you’re feeling creatively blocked, unable to achieve reasonable goals, or can’t quite put your finger on why you’re stuck.
Chronic shame can be one of the major psychological blocks to achieving goals, realizing dreams, and manifesting intentions.
Melanie quotes Dr. Brene Brown, who says shame is an “unspoken epidemic,” and mentions her incredibly popular TED Talks.
Research data have proven that guilt and shame are strongly correlated with depression, as well as with anxiety disorders including social anxiety and generalized anxiety disorder.
Negative health consequences of anxiety and depression include digestive disorders, heart disease, obesity, chronic pain diagnoses such as migraines, arthritis, and fibromyalgia; sleep disruption — which is another pathway to all sorts of medical issues.
In fact, researchers now know that chronic physical pain shares some biological mechanisms with anxiety and depression.
The reality is that the world we’re living in isn’t becoming a more peaceful place. We’re not heading into a future, at the moment, that projects a less anxiety-ridden world.
It’s becoming the norm to be anxious and depressed, even for people who aren’t genetically or environmentally prone to those two emotional and physiological states.
This information-packed episode is an important one to listen to and learn from.
Dr. Melanie Harth, the Santa Fe Therapist, website here
