what do i have?

[b-ballchamp]

i have never had social anxiety or phobia ever in my life but.... When i was a junior in high school one day giving a short presentation i couldnt think of what to say since the presentation was kinda made up at hand with the teacher asking question. I could feel myself blush a little but then when i was pointed out it was even worse. Anyways before that day nothing like that had happened and i guess i was self consious of having my face turn red. From there it just got worse out of nowhere. I wouldn't be able to do much of anything w/o thinking of "Dont blush". Now at this point talking to people made me blush even for no reason. Luckly it got better but its had its ups and downs. Public speaking is practically impossible for me now which it was never much of a problem. Im now in college and i still have the problem. Its not that i have a problem talking or anything but i just dont want to blush and its totally a mental thing. I was always a little nervous about speaking in public like in a classroom like a presentation, but even the smallest classroom conversations are hellish for me, and its probably due to the fact that i dont like showing weakness what so ever ..... any thoughts?

 

[b-ballchamp]

anyone?

 

[KVCC]

could be stage fright?


If it was anxiety I'd think you would have more issues with stuff then that.
Also youd might get panic attacks or phobias of things

I could be wrong though, but for me at least I would be SHAKING giving presentations, i look straight at the ground and usualy mumble

 

[Locco1988]

i wouldnt worry about it. you havent got a problem at all, i blush sometimes when im nervous, and im a confident person! if you dont feed into it , it wont bother ya as much. or wear blusha lol xx

 

[CheshireCat]

When I read your post I thought it was something I wrote lol. Seriously, I had a similar experience in school when I first found out I blushed. It is called facial blushing. Mine was really severe and happened at the drop of a hat. I had a surgery called ETS. It was covered under my insurance and may be something to look into. I still do blush, but it is at least 75% better than it was. I do still have social anxiety. The outside is better, but the inside (mental) is pretty close to the same.

 

[krs2snow]

Hey CheshireCat. You had the ETS? Can you tell a little more about it? Like how long did it last? Were you completely anesthetized & where'd you get it done? Like was it a local hospital or something or did you have to go to a special place?

Hi B-Ballchamp. What you're describing sounds like erythrophobia. It's really uncomfortable and very frustrating!

I agree with you about it being mental too. But I think it just gets 'set-off' mentally but has genetic/biological roots. The worst thing in the world to do is obsess over it! That makes it happen more. And the hardest thing to do is Not obsess over it! My theory is that it begins one day because you're overly aware of yourself. You'll have a split-second negative thought about yourself or about the social interaction you're having and then you go red. And you know what they say "Once you go red, you never go back".

But, I think it's actually a biological cause. It just sits dormant. Waiting for some misc. day to come along when you're completely not expecting it and then it strikes. And tries to make you miserable!

 

[CheshireCat]

Hi krs2snow. Yes, I had ETS about 4 years ago. I researched ETS a lot before I decided to get it done. I checked out local hospitals through the internet around my area and found one that would perform it. I made an appt. with the doctor and he had me go for therapy and try a few meds. first before having the surgery to make sure it was something he would feel comfortable doing for me. About 6 months later he gave me ETS. I was under with an anesthetic completely, and it took about 3 hours. He clamped nerves on each side of my body (the incisions are very small and went through under my armpits). He made a mistake the first time clamping the wrong nerve and ETS only worked on one side of my body. It was so weird. One side of my face blushed and the other was normal. One hand was sweaty, the other dry. That's one bad side effect. Your hands will be very dry! Now I have more moisture which occured over the years, or I just got used to it. Anyway, long story short, he performed ETS on me a second time on the side that didn't work and everything turned out fine. I still blush now, but believe me....it's feels great! I'm not completely red anymore, people don't say much, and when they do it doesn't bother me because it isn't nearly as red as it used to be. Anymore more questions feel free to ask!