BLUSHING IS IT ALSO A SYMPTOM OF SOCIAL ANXIETY?
So as we know or maybe we don’t, when we blush it is a physiological reaction that happens to us when put into a situation that we are not comfortable with. Thus making us feel embarrassed and leading to a flushed face.
In this post, I am talking in the sense that I still suffer 100% with blushing and social anxieties although I am now 90% cured using the products and tips I share with you on this blog.
This is my personal experience but not only do I blush, I have social anxiety and I have also had some really bad panic attacks for me I think it’s all connected and these usually manifest in this order
Usually the social anxiety intensity depending on the environment I’m in spirals out of control then the blushing starts. And rarer for me and my WORST reactions to the above are a full-on panic attack.
Further on in this post, I talk about the panic attack I thought was killing me and how to stop anxiety maybe for you forever 🙂
And also I want to talk about another product I used that helped reduce redness on the face as well as anxiety.
It’s also a strange one as I know people who suffer from social anxiety will blush, so they are the same as me. But I also speak with other sufferers who have a severe red face but don’t have social anxiety. There are many similarities, but I have not discovered why some people have anxiety but not the blush and vice versa.
Would love to read your comments below this post or over at my Facebook group here
THINGS THAT TRIGGER MY BLUSHING
So this is my daily ritual before I am even out of the bed I start to overly worry about how red my face will be even though I’m looking in the mirror and I’m as white as a sheet.
My social anxiety kicks in I’m starting to get worked up about having a red face, I’m thinking about what can I do to reduce redness on my face today. How red will I be by the time I get to work? Christ, I hope Sam is not there today because he will tease me about my red face.
You get me??
My usual fear or biggest fear is if I’m made to be the centre of attention, could be for ANY reason and EVERYONE is looking at me that’s a trigger for a red face attack. An example of this could be that someone has singled me out to ask me a difficult question at work, and I struggle to give an answer. Or even eating in front of a group of workmates and someone points out how messy I am eating that sort of thing.
And those examples carry an element of surprise, and in these situations, you blush which then makes you embarrassed and you worry everyone noticing will think you strange or weird.
The triggers for you may be different, maybe you blush if you feel everyone is looking at you in a shopping queue maybe you will get a red face, if someone calls your name in the street you may end up with a red face.
THE FEAR OF BLUSHING
Me personally my fear of blushing is so big, that I just make myself blush even around my kids, family ANY situation I worry about blushing so much I just seem to make my face red.
I constantly worry about blushing I fear it, I fear what people will think about me if they notice I’m blushing, I fear the anxiety I suffer about blushing.
I FEAR BLUSHING it’s a horrible horrible condition.
I remember once that I was away in Wales on a marketing course, it was cold I was going out of my comfort zone and I had told myself that I HAD to do this to better myself and I knew that there would be multiple triggers.
But NOTHING compared me for what would happen to me on this trip, every trigger was there.
It was cold
I had to meet two heads of the company from the outset
I had to visit their offices
I had to visit their staff
I had to go to meetings
I had to outline my plan in front of other students
socialising
And the BIG one a board meeting where I nearly met my fate kind of 🙂
So I sucked up every trigger, I think what helped was I had my beta-blockers and had already been using my hypnosis track and I felt I was turning a corner to reduce redness on my face.
The board meeting was kind of sprung upon us, at first I was calm but recently I had seen success as a marketing student. At the pub the previous night, it was mentioned that a successful student would be doing a presentation sometime.
Was it me?
The anxiety set in I was looking at the presenters they were looking at me, my heart was racing, my palms were sweaty did I have a red face. I kept checking in the mirror nope not that red. Started running through my mind how I would present my words, imagining standing up to speak, but my words wouldn’t come out.
My heart was pounding, thumping through my chest I looked around everyone looked relaxed. My heart was nearly bursting through my chest as I sensed the meeting starts, my whole chest was heaving I felt like passing out. Suddenly, I leapt up made my excuses and ran out of the boardroom into the corridor where I slumped over a railing hyperventilating.
Bloody hell I’m having a heart attack, a fellow student followed me out sensing something was wrong and helped me calm down with similar breathing techniques to what I wrote about here.
I think her name was Claire, I said sorry Claire didn’t feel comfortable in there thinking I had too much to drink last night lol, she stole me a knowing glance.
I then saw one of the speakers, he said to me need the toilet already mate I laughed nervously but grabbed him and said Glen am I ment to be saying something in there he said Christ no not you but Simon is though with a grin.
PHEW!!!!!! I’ve never had a panic attack like it, from feeling anxious in the boardroom, then anxious about how red my face was, then anxious about possibly me having to speak. I had the WORST Panic attack I had ever had I literally thought I was going to die and I wasn’t even going to be called up to speak.
I didn’t return to the boardroom….
So What Can I Do To Reduce Redness On My Face, the Social Anxiety and the panic attacks?
For me of course I need to ask myself how to stop anxiety, which will, in turn, reduce the redness on my face. All our situations and circumstances are different, but I reckon that a lot of us red face sufferers have a degree of psychological problems making our blushing worse. The most common I have seen in my experience and what I suffer from is social anxiety, so I asked the question how to stop anxiety.
So I’ve used a couple of products one being the miracle track hypnosis. But another excellent product that I found to be beneficial to me in helping to overcome my panic and anxiety, and in turn reducing my blushing was a program called panic away.
I needed to learn how to stop anxiety, I need to reduce redness on my face and I NEVER want a panic attack like that ever again. Like I discuss on my blog here, I have used or do use a variety of products and it’s the purpose of this blog to share with you what has worked for me and they can work for you too. I believe between the three products I have used they all help me in different ways. The only thing I can’t pinpoint is whether I need ALL three or just one, I’m too scared to cut one out.
But whilst utilizing the knowledge of all three I believe that its why I’m semi-cured. You may find that just one of my recommendations is your cure for blushing.
The panic away program that I use alongside miracle track hypnosis and another self-hypnosis product is a fantastic program and ill write an overview for you below.
The panic away program is a full home course developed by Barry McDonagh, who himself suffered from anxiety and panic attacks and through experience and research the panic away program was born. I found this product from researching panic attacks, and I found if I could stop the panic attacks, I could control the anxiety and in turn reduce redness on my face.
This is just an overview but the panic away program consists of three main elements Trust, acceptance and persistence. These steps have their own chapter within the program including real-life case studies and in-depth instructions. Most of the Anxiety treatments within the panic away program, teach you to relieve the symptoms and they work more effectively when deployed at the beginning of a panic attack. It’s all about learning to embrace and accept panic, which is a technique I also learnt in dealing with a severe red attack.
There are 70 chapters and sub-chapters all easy to absorb, short and straight to the point subjects covered include generalized anxiety disorders, Barry’s calm technique and even OCD plus many more. Included is a unique program that targets anxiety specifically called the 21/7 technique, where you perform a 21-second countdown which is then followed by a 7-second exercise. There are additional exercises both mental and physical, including breathing techniques that sufferers have used to control and overcome their anxiety.
The panic away program has certainly worked for me since that horrible weekend away in Wales UK, and there are MANY positive reviews of this program.
So if you looking for ways to learn how to stop anxiety or looking to reduce redness on your face, then maybe the panic away program will help you.
Hope you enjoyed that read and my panic attack in Wales 🙂
Speak in another post coming to you soon
Zach
you can find out more on the panic away program here
you can download the miracle hypnosis track here
you can download the blushing hypnosis therapy here
PS: As always come and talk to me here on my Facebook page