Everyone blushes, but for some people their life can be taken over by trying to avoid it. The fear of involuntarily blushing impacts the daily lives of more people than you think. It is a very common feature of social anxiety. He is rarely talked about by those who struggle with him because the attention could lead to it. Biologically, it is the result of the activity of the sympathetic nervous system (activates the body’s response to danger). Blood vessels near the skin dilate, and the increased blood flow makes the face red. Fear usually redirects blood flow from the skin and extremities to the skeletal muscles, but the opposite seems to happen with blushing. Why this happens is not clear.
Everyone blushes, and this is usually the result of embarrassment, surprise, modesty, or embarrassment. However, for some people there is no clear reason for this to happen. This painfully unpredictable disorder is called idiopathic craniofacial erythema (ICE). The phobia of blushing is called erythrophobia. Because facial flushing can be quite visible (depending on the natural coloration of the skin), someone with social anxiety may associate blushing with attention-seeking and therefore it becomes part of their anxiety.
It may be for others that the biological tendency to blush easily comes first and then anxiety follows. When anxiety is associated with blushing, the anxiety activates the sympathetic nervous system and that causes blushing and thus a self-reinforcing cycle is formed. This can be debilitating as people avoid any circumstances that might lead to blushing. This is usually social because it’s one of those things that people seem to feel free to comment on: “Wow, your face is so red! Why is your face red?” Research shows that verbal feedback like this increases blushing. Fearing or hoping to blush can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Anxiety often begins in childhood because children are more likely to comment on it.
Here is a working list of treatment suggestions that I have found in various places.
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Task Concentration Training (TCT) appears to be the most effective treatment based on the research I found. The theory is that anxiety and blushing cause internal focus, which increases subjective awareness of feelings, thoughts, and symptoms. This increases the flush response as well as anxiety. Outward-focused training (a similar treatment is effective with athletes) has been shown to be the most effective approach even after a year. This article has a good summary of the process although it is a bit technical.
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Cognitive behavior therapy. More specifically, that would mean examining and revising (cognitive) beliefs about blushing. Furthermore, it would imply behaving differently. Instead of avoiding it, it could mean willingly exposing yourself to a frightening situation. Several suggestions I found fall under this treatment:
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Activate the balance part of your nervous system (parasympathetic) by relaxing and breathing differently. This has to be practiced to some extent before it is effective.
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Draw attention to it instead of hiding it. This paradox, as harsh as it sounds, works with anxiety. Many people with social anxiety mistakenly think that revealing anxiety is worse than hiding it.
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Accept it instead of resisting it. Accept that at this point you are a person who blushes easily and that’s the way things are. You may wish it was different, but it is what it is.
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Review what you imagine other people are thinking. Collect some data. Ask some people what they think. What would a friend tell you about it? Explain it to people. Research suggests that people fearful of blushing inflate both the probability of it happening and the social cost of blushing. In other words, they think it is much worse than it is and that others are thinking more critically than they are.
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Practice the symptom. Try to blush by creating the circumstances. Do that over and over on purpose. You can do it gradually or all at once. This process is called systematic desensitization or exposure.
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Rephrase the meaning of blushing. Historical evidence proves that flushed cheeks are a sign of beauty and youth, as well as markers of modesty and charm. As an expression of embarrassment or embarrassment that can be very positive depending on the context.
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Some sites suggest hypnosis. I couldn’t find any research support, but there are a number of personal stories or individual cases that showed improvement on the web.
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Medicine. Some people experience relief with medications that treat anxiety. Usually these are drugs like Celexa, Prozac, Zoloft and other similar drugs. Medications such as Xanax, Klonopin, and other benzodiazepines are sometimes prescribed. At some point, blood pressure medications such as beta blockers may be effective. Some sites suggest that botox can be helpful. Consult your doctor for more information about this treatment.
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There is a surgical operation available for severe cases. It’s called endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy. This is often used to treat severe sweating, but there seem to be cases that it has been effective for blushing.
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A dermatologist should be consulted if this problem exists to rule out any underlying disorder.
There seems to have been an increase in research and treatment options in the last 10 years. This is hopeful for those struggling with this.