Shame, Anxiety & Depression April 26, 2021

<p>In this episode, Melanie explores the connection between shame, anxiety, and depression, as well as the difference between guilt and shame.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>But it's a powerful emotional response that can become a lifelong companion living just underneath the surface of our awareness.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>Chronic shame can be one of the major psychological blocks to achieving goals, realizing dreams, and manifesting intentions.</p> <p>Melanie quotes Dr. Brene Brown, who says shame is an "unspoken epidemic," and mentions <a href= "https://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_listening_to_shame/transcript?language=en"> her incredibly popular TED Talks</a>.</p> <p>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.</p> <p class="p1">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.</p> <p class="p1">In fact, researchers now know that chronic physical pain shares some biological mechanisms with anxiety and depression.</p> <p class="p1">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.</p> <p class="p1">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.</p> <p class="p1">This information-packed episode is an important one to listen to and learn from.</p