The Shame and Psychopathology Effect on Somatization. A comparative Study Between Financial and Health Crisis Periods

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate the similarities and the differences of the psychological reactions during the economic and the health crisis (Covid-19). In total 818 Greek citizens, 408 during the financial and 410 during health crisis, 611 female and 207 male, of median age of 24 years, participated in the study. The participants older than 30 years old found to suffer less psychological strain than the younger ones, and the age effect was larger during health than financial crisis. Women were more prone than men to report health-related symptoms at ages less than 30 years old and they characterized by larger shame and psychopathology scores. During the ongoing health crisis, shame had not a direct somatization effect. It is suggested that interventions aiming to improve the management of shame feelings will reduce the induced psychological tension as well as the consequent occurrence of somatization symptoms.