A collection of questions and sharing by our readership community about a wide variety of aspects of social anxiety. Dive in and receive practical insights and advice.
QUESTION BY:
Anonymous
Blushing and Social Anxiety Progressed So Much I Isolate Myself.
My blushing and social anxiety have progressed so much that I now isolate myself.
Jonathan Responds:
Your “map” for healing (if you choose to go there) requires you to learn how to make friends with your adrenaline (which is what drives the blushing). In order to accomplish this, a very important thing you need to do is to be clear on how you learned your negative association to adrenaline and blushing. These historically traumatic scenarios include accute levels of embarrassment, humiliation, shame, and loss of control associated with the blushing itself. In response to these you have learned a very defensive life position. In order to control anxiety one needs to learn a proactive strategy or gameplan.The more you invest in defense, the worse the problem will get. Medicine is a complex issue regarding blushing. If not used correctly it can worsen the problem.
Consider “The Magic Trick” story. One patient, 20 years old, who had been suffering from blushing-social anxiety for many years was quite depressed because of his condition. One day in a college class where he was giving a presentation, He addressed the class with the words “in a minute you are going to see a magic trick. My face is going to change color”. Guess what? He did not blush.Because he took himself out of a defensive position! This is a dramatic example of a proactive technique.
I do appreciate the fact that you may not be able to afford therapy, but all the answers, strategies, technique etc are in the book “Work Makes Me Nervous: Overcome Anxiety and Develop the Confidence to Succeed”.
