Is this a problem or am I overreacting??

marisa086

New member
I am a female senior in high school with pale skin. I am a shy person and have been ever since I was little. I have known my whole life that my face turns red in certain situations and was always told it was normal. I used to just ignore it.

Sophomore year I had a problem with social anxiety and did therapy for a little while, but it didn't help. High school was when I really realized how often my face actually turns red. There have been times where I will be talking to a teacher and they will pause and say, "I'm not trying to make you feel embarrassed" which makes my face turn even redder. The problem is sometimes I'm not even embarrassed. Whenever I talk at all in a classroom whether to a student or a teacher my face turns red. The worse thing is people will point it out to me and be like, "why is your face red?". I used to have a friend (mean friend) that found it amusing to see my face turn red so she would purposely try to embarrass in the middle of class and it would always work. I have noticed that teachers purposely do not call or pick on me because they think it embarrasses me. When it happens my face starts to heat up, my palms get sweaty, my eyes water a little, and sometimes it gives me a little bit of a headache after.

This isn't something that happens once in a while, this happens more times than I can count daily. So I decided to do some research and saw that a lot of other people also have the problem and take medication.

I just want to know if this seems like a real problem or if I am just overreacting, but I know that if it stopped my life would be a lot better.
 

NathanielWingatePeaslee

Iä! Iä! Cthulhu fhtagn!
Staff member
"I'm not trying to make you feel embarrassed" which makes my face turn even redder. The problem is sometimes I'm not even embarrassed. Whenever I talk at all in a classroom whether to a student or a teacher my face turns red. The worse thing is people will point it out to me and be like, "why is your face red?".
Yep. Any pointing out of my blushing tends to make me blush more.
I used to have a friend (mean friend) that found it amusing to see my face turn red so she would purposely try to embarrass in the middle of class and it would always work.
Oh I hate that! I really don't think people are aware how miserable I feel when they do that.
I just want to know if this seems like a real problem or if I am just overreacting, but I know that if it stopped my life would be a lot better.
I'd say it's a problem alright. Wish I could tell you how to cure it.
 

ImNotMyIllness

Well-known member
When I was in Junior High School I had a similar problem. For some reason, whenever I was walking on the sidewalk and someone came in the opposite direction and passed me, my eyes would water up....as if I was about to cry. I really HATED THAT. I didn't understand it at all. I wasn't afraid or scared but regardless of who was coming in my direction, as soon as they got within 20ft, my eyes would swell up.
I remember (in my head) yelling at myself, "YOU'RE NOT SCARED, YOU'RE NOT SCARED", but my eyes still would water up. I continued the self talk, I also started to lift weights and I think the combination stopped the eye watering.

Don't beat yourself up if you're unable to stop blushing. A lot of people in this forum have that problem. Subconsciously you have associated people with fear/embarrassment and that is why it continues to happen.
 

Silatuyok

Well-known member
No, you're not overreacting. During my college years I would very, very rarely speak out in class, even to ask a question if I didn't understand something, because as soon as anyone turned in their seat to look at me I could feel my face lighting up like a fire truck. It's not even a matter of being embarrassed, it's just a reaction to any slight feeling of self-consciousness.

I think the best advice I can give you is to keep in mind that people often stop being rude about these kinds of things once you get out of high school. If you are going to college, your classmates probably won't have the time or the inclination to sit around in class and try to make you blush for their own amusement.

These days I just try to use it to my own advantage because a lot of people think it's cute.
 

DownInAHole

Well-known member
Hi Marisa, I have battled the same issue since junior high. For me it happened while playing in front of 60 kids in band over 3 years. This eventually manifested itself into social anxiety, and eventually depression.

I can tell you the only things that have helped me are staying fit and keeping hydrated. I started noticing a big difference when I built up to running 2 1/2 miles two or three times a week. We have overactive sympathetic nervous systems combined with pale skin, which is the recipe for this condition.
 
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