The research of Shin et al. (1997), Gerlach et al. (2003), and Fearon & Mansell (2001) offer support for Gray & Lombardo’s argument. Shin et al. reported that after listening to audiotaped readings of autobiographical scripts of trauma, only fear, sadness, and disgust were elicited among control group members without PTSD, whereas feelings of fear, sadness, and disgust, plus feelings of anger and guilt, were elicited among participants with PTSD. Gerlach et al. report that feeling embarrassment [shame] and anxiety, but not disgust, were highly correlated with SNS activation, particularly important in maintaining arousal symptoms of PTSD. These arousal symptoms, argue Fearon and Mansell, lead to:

idiosyncratic avoidance responses (or safety behaviors) which are specifically related to the appraisals [such as anger, guilt, and shame] that the individual makes of his or her reaction at the time of the event and the ongoing effects and symptoms of the trauma. A safety behavior is a behavioral or cognitive act that is carried out to attempt to prevent or ameliorate a perceived catastrophic outcome (citing Salkovskis, 1991). (p. 387)

In other words, the ability to dissociate at the time of a traumatic event to avoid immediate pain may result in further dissociations when re-experiencing memories of the event, dissociations which stem from the pain connected with an intolerable meaning constructed about the self as a consequence of the event, whether that meaning is logical and correct or not. These feelings and dissociations, then, can make it difficult to orally and/or publicly share the trauma narrative and risk being subject to additional shame, guilt, and anger.