Are there benefits to being ashamed? One of the most influential speakers on the topic of addiction in the late 20th century was Dr. John Bradshaw. He helped us see the connection between internalized shame and our maladaptive behaviours. He made the distinction between a healthy shame that helped us recognize our bad behaviour and motivated us towards change and the toxic version that made us believe we were inherently bad and needed to hide ourselves form the world. Healthy shame says I made a mistake, toxic shame says I am a mistake.
Well done.