| if i had one wish |
| I envy people who get embarrassed and don't blush. Other people say to them... "look.. your face is so red!!" to this person and I just think 'What?! No its not...not at all! Especially not when compared to how red my face gets for no reason when I shouldn't even be embarrassed' I've had this problem ever since I can remember and I've always been shy. In elementary school it started when I had to give presentation. those damn presentations. Worst/most embarrassing memory of my school years. I would be a nervous wreck but wouldn't let it show until I went up in front of the class and gave a whole presentation. Then, after i was done, everyone was staring at me in silence, then a "why is your face so red" And other students, (we were all pretty young too) actually defending me "Shut up!" They would say. All I could do is stand there with a goofy smile. Pitiful. It got worse/better when I got to high school. I would still stress enormously when i had to public speak, but once I went up there i would turn red for maybe the first 10 seconds and then it would go away. I would just think about how I don't care what anybody in the class thinks, and I had too much pride to have them see me as a tomato for the duration of my speech. Speech..even the word still makes me cringe. Lastly, I always worked hard in school, so I would just think to myself..I worked damn hard on this presentation, so I am going to present it well, especially for a good grade, and not ruin it by having everyone focus on my face. Another thing my best friend in high school (who never turned red but it was helpful) said was that she gets nervous and then only thinks to herself 'it's only 5 minutes of my life' (or whatver the time of the speech is) As I got through college, I traded one problem for another ... the presentations went more successfully, but personal relationships got worse. I'll just be conversing with roomates and turn red for NO reason, or even when I met up with my friends from home this would happen. Nightmare. Sometimes I would get up mid-conversation and walk away until it passed. And then it started happening with my family, especially my parents. Even if its just me and my boyfriend! It seems in any situation when the attention is turned on me, I turn red. I feel everyone looking at me and judging me. Now I work in an office setting and I still get embarrassed from time to time when asked a question..personal or professional. I though it would have gone away by now!!! Im going to be starting a new profession where I will have to speak in front of a lot of people and I am praying to God that this does not happen to me still. I have just started researching this and it is somewhat comforting to know that I am not the only one that this happens to. I thought I was! I actually feel better about it just from reading the other posts and getting this off my chest. As I said, I have just started researching this and from what I found so far, some might be included in the other posts, here is short list of what has helped others: bite on the inside of your cheek. hard. to distract yourself from the blushing push down your big toe on the floor to extract blood flow from your face. If this doesn't work...push down with all your toes surgery ? ...havent looked thoroughly into this yet celexa perscription cognitive behavior therapy meetings relax...who cares what people think pepcid AC what i have tried only once so far and its worked..count down from 6 . Inhale for 6 to 8 seconds and then exhale for 10 to 12 seconds Good luck and I'll post if I find more... In reference to the subject..if i had one wish..sometimes if I had one wish, I wish that I will never turn red ever again! |
| by blush puppy on 21st-11-08 08:47 |
| on 29th-12-08 14:31, phobiafree.org said: |
| Sounds pretty much like what I went through too, trying to find 'easy' solutions. I never could get up the courage to do something I knew I would blush at. I don't mean to discourage you at all, I know that the best way to help alleviate this condition is to 'let go', but thats easier said and done. After all the methods I tried to focus on something else other than the embarrassment, I realised that all they do is distract you, and they only work once or twice before they stop being effective. I truly believe that these distracting methods are ineffective in the long run, and that your best bet is to approach your fears head on. I wasn't courageous enough to do them *exactly* head on, more like at an angle, but that worked anyway. It took longer than if I would have done it head on, but it worked - I felt that being at home aggravated my anxiety ("people I know could see me get embarrassed") so I went abroad and confronted the situations that at home I would have an anxiety attack with. Running away for a while obviously isn't possible or helpful for many people, but I'm sure for each individual case there's a way to lessen your reasons to be anxious, and thus make it easier to tackle your fear head on. Good luck |