Shame to me is deeper than embarassment. I don't know how I could live with people finding out about what I am ashamed of. They certainly wouldn't laugh.

And that is for me what embarrassment is about - being laughed at. I consider humiliation to simply be an incredibly acute state of embarrassment.

I have spent a great deal of life making choices based on avoiding the perception I might be laughed at. I have made some really hard decisions that haven't always been the best for me just to avoid a potentially embarrassing situation.