Making weird faces in social situations

[icanmakeit]

I make strange grimaces and faces with my nose and one side of my face whenever I'm in social situations. I just have this odd compulsion to make the face whenever I'm in a place where people can see me.

I feel like it is a vicious cycle - because I know that I make these strange faces, I'm afraid others will see it, so I anxiously make the faces out of a subconscious habit. I'll try to suppress them but that builds up what feels like a ton of pressure in my face or neck sometimes. People definitely see it and it makes me feel horrible when they look at me. I wouldn't describe my problem as a facial tic (maybe it is?).. there is no twitching or anything like that.

Does anyone have a similar problem and how have you dealt with it? I'm seeing a professional next week. Thanks all.

 

[chazer2010]

I'm sorry i can't really relate to any of this actually.but i'm glad you are seeking professional help i'm sure you'll get better

 

[IntheLabyrinth]

I don't know if I have the same exact problem, but I tend to look uncomfortable a lot. My best friend, and really the only friend I see regularly, finally mentioned it the other day because she thought I was just never interested in what she was talking about. It just sort of happens even when I'm comfortable, but it's really bad when I'm uncomfortable. To make matters worse, I have that face and I can't stay still when I am not socially comfortable so I come off as a complete weirdo. I guess all we can do is accept it and explain what's happening to those people whose opinion we care about because other than reducing our SA, I don't know how else we can stop it.

 

[Diend]

i make strange faces in public whenever i have a cringe attack. i fart out loud in public. no one has berated me about it yet. now, what you'd want to look at is why you have these facial spasms.