Negative beliefs about self and illness: a comparison of individuals with psychosis with or without comorbid social anxiety disorder.

OBJECTIVE: This study set out to investigate whether socially anxious individuals with psychosis will perceive more loss, entrapment, shame and humiliation, will blame themselves more for their illness and have lower self-esteem than non-socially anxious individuals with psychosis.

METHOD: Two groups of participants with psychosis with (n=19) and without (n=19) social anxiety disorder were matched on the basis of gender and diagnosis.

RESULTS: There were no differences between the two groups in terms of positive and negative symptoms. Participants with social anxiety had significantly higher levels of self-blame, entrapment, shame and lower self-esteem. Differences in entrapment, shame and self-esteem remained significant after controlling for depression.

CONCLUSIONS: Negative beliefs about self and psychosis may be associated with the development of concurrent social anxiety disorder. The clinical and research implications of the findings are discussed.