Cited by 171Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum DisordersAnxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive ProcessesEmotions and Moral Behavior

Shame in the obsessive compulsive related disorders: A conceptual review

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Weingarden, Hilary, Renshaw, Keith D.·2015·Journal of Affective Disorders

Abstract

Background Theoretical and anecdotal support for the role of shame in obsessive compulsive related disorders (OCRDs) is prominent. Developing our understanding of shame׳s role in OCRDs is important to building knowledge about this new diagnostic category. This review aims to consolidate our understanding of shame in each OCRD, through summarizing existing clinical, conceptual, and empirical work.Methods We provide an overview of shame, its measurement considerations, and a full review of 110 articles addressing shame in OCRDs.Results General shame and shame about having a mental illness are the broadest types of shame relevant to OCRDs; symptom-based shame and body shame may be more specific to OCRDs. In OCD, violent, sexual, or blasphemous obsessions may trigger symptom-based shame. In trichotillomania (TTM) and skin picking (SP), symptom-based shame may be related to pulling, picking, and post-pulling/picking behaviors. In hoarding disorder, symptom-based shame may accompany beliefs about being defective due to living with clutter. Body shame appears inherent to body dysmorphic disorder, while in TTM and SP it may arise as a secondary response to damage resulting from body focused repetitive behaviors.Limitations Much of the current knowledge on shame in OCRDs comes from anecdotal, case, and conceptual work. Empirical studies do not always assess specific types of shame, instead assessing shame as a general construct.Conclusions Shame is closely related to OCRDs. Clinical and research recommendations drawing from the literature are provided.

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Crossref · 10.1016/j.jad.2014.09.010

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  • Poor self-compassion skills are implicated in feelings of guilt and shame and obsessive beliefs such as inflated personal responsibility, perfectionism, the belief that one should be able to exercise control over thoughts and moral thought-action fusion.

    “Poor self-compassion skills are implicated in feelings of guilt and shame and obsessive beliefs such as inflated personal responsibility, perfectionism, the belief that one should be able to exercise control over thoughts and moral thought-action fusion (e.g. Bream etal. 2017; Shapiro and Stewart 2011; Weingarden and Renshaw 2015; Wetterneck etal. 2013).”

    From The Association of Trait Mindfulness and Self-compassion with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Symptoms: Results from a Large Survey with Treatment-Seeking Adults (2020) · cites this paper as Weingarden and Renshaw 2015

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  • There is a well-established link between shame and OCD.

    “There is a well‐established link between shame and OCD (Laving et al., 2022; Visvalingam et al., 2022; Weingarden & Renshaw, 2015)”

    From A preliminary investigation of the relationships between attachment insecurity, fear of compassion, and <scp>OCD</scp> severity (2025) · cites this paper as Weingarden & Renshaw, 2015

    The Results section ('Shame in OCD'; page unavailable) reports positive associations between shame and OCD symptoms in nonclinical and clinical samples, supporting a link. But the Discussion ('Limitations'; page unavailable) says much of the evidence is conceptual or anecdotal and that research testing shame’s role is lacking, so 'well-established' overstates the evidence reviewed. (LLM, conf=0.82)

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  • Feelings of shame are strongly associated with BDD.

    “First, feelings of shame are strongly associated with BDD [19]”
  • The finding that most participants reported shame, stigma, and discrimination barriers is consistent with prior research on BDD and mental health problems.

    “Most participants reported shame, stigma, and discrimination barriers, which is consistent with prior research on BDD [10, 16, 17, 19] and mental health problems [45].”

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4 of the 150 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 4

  1. Izard CE 1977 Human emotions Plenum Press New York
  2. Parker R 2003 Body hatred British Journal of Psychotherapy 19 447 464
  3. Rachman S 1998 A cognitive theory of obsessions, Behavior and cognitive therapy today: Essays in honor of Hans J. Eysenck Oxford, England Elsevier Science Ltd 209 222
  4. Tangney JP Dearing RL 2002 Shame and guilt New York, NY, US Guilford Press

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Authors
Weingarden, H., & Renshaw, K. D.
Affiliations
George Mason University (US)
Corresponding author
Weingarden, Hilary
Venue
Journal of Affective Disorders
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2015-01
Volume
171
Pages
74-84
ISSN
0165-0327 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2120530707
Cited by
171
References
150
Citations by year
2026: 16 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 16 · 2022: 19 · 2021: 18 · 2020: 20 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 11 · 2016: 11 · 2015: 8 · 2014: 2
FWCI
1.62
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Journal of Affective Disorders (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
National Institute of Mental Health (F31MH100845)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum Disorders
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Emotions and Moral Behavior
Keywords
shame, obsessive-compulsive and related disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, trichotillomania, skin picking, hoarding disorder, body dysmorphic disorder, body shame, obsession, body-focused repetitive behaviors
MeSH terms
Hoarding Disorder, Attitude to Health, Humans, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Shame, Trichotillomania, Body Dysmorphic Disorders

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