Our review is an overview of research literature aimed at evaluating the differential association of shame with various mental disorders. In the first part of this review, we present questionnaire and experimental methods applied in clinical trials for measuring shame. In the second part of our review, we review research that investigated the association between shame, and shame induced behavioral and emotional reactions, as well as the following mental disorders: anxiety disorders (social phobia, PTSD, agoraphobia, generalized anxiety disorder, specific phobias, OCD), mood disorders (unipolar depression, bipolar disorder), suicide attempts, self-harm behavior, eating disorders, somatization, personality disorders, aggression, addictions, autism and paranoia. The results of the reviewed studies suggest that this excessive emotional state associated with negative self-esteem on global self plays a central role in mental disorders, although shame is very rarely applied as diagnostic criterion in DSM.