When blushing occurs it is probably accompanied by a couple of emotions which can sometimes get into conflict with each other. Still there is one emotion which is always associated with blushing and that emotion is the feeling of self-consciousness. Extreme blushing has no particular emotional response but it often occurs to people suffering from social phobia. Moreover, the anxiety caused by social situation can cause tremors, palpitations and sweating. In some cases, anxiety is caused by the fear of showing the physical symptoms. Erytrophobia – the fear of blushing – is considered as a smaller type of social phobia just because people tend to focus on themselves during social situations. This is the way negative self- perception occurs and all these facts form a cycle that repeats itself: you think that everybody will laugh at you, you feel more anxious, anxiety creates more blushing.

Task concentration training

 Some would say that blushing cannot be controlled but there is a treatment that had a lot of success. It is called TCT (task concentration training) and makes people who fear blushing to be able to focus attention to a task at hand, rather than their blushing problem. During TCT, people are thought to give priority to thoughts and feelings which are related to the situation at hand, rather that their personal opinions regarding the process of social interaction. There are three main steps of TCT:

• Understanding all processes regarded to focusing attention.
• Focus on a low-threatening situation
• Learn how to focus your attention while you are put in a threatening situation.

If they stop and evaluate what is going around correctly, blushers can see more options and eventually lessen their chance to blush.

Self-perception

There is a tendency for the persons who have an excessive blushing problem, to overestimate their blushing intensity and overreact to it. There was a study published by Behavior Research and Therapy which was made by a team in the Murdoch University, and that study showed that people who fear blushing experience it more intensely that those who do not fear it. So the whole thing is at a mental level. A person who fears blushing does that in public can feel herself as red as an exit sign even if others may not give importance to this fact. Some who are more anxious about it can have difficulties in having a normal social life. So the real point is that blushing shows your feelings and if you live without fearing it, you can be known as an emotive person. Sometimes you might think that others have a bad opinion about you and this can create a negative self-image and make your blushing even worse.

Click here if you have a fear of blushing and want to learn how to stop.

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Is Your Blushing Causing Anxiety? A lot of people suffer from excessive blushing and this often evolves into more severe disorders like social anxiety. You may suffer too from this disorder and it...

Even though you may not have heard of it, this is not as uncommon as you expect. Many people around us tend to blush excessively in certain situations and this is caused by physical and mental factors. This means that people often overreact and are hypersensitive to the opinion of other people.

No matter what reason is behind your blushing, if you blush easily and you are oversensitive to the opinion of other people it is certain that you fear blushing. This makes you concern about how you look instead of the cause of blushing and it often makes you feel embarrassed and makes you an unwanted company.

The fear of blushing is comparable to the situation in which someone has acne. In both cases people are concerned about their look and tend to overreact and experience inferiority feelings. Those disorders become a huge mental occupation and people suffering from them, manifest an irrational level of fear.

It’s hard to understand it if you don’t suffer from this phobia. You might say that all sufferers have to do is to calm down and it will pass, but problems are often more complicated than they seem. It’s like getting rid of arachnophobia. Many people want to accomplish this but it is very hard.

However if you suffer from the fear of blushing you might be heavily affected by it. It will put a shadow on many aspects of your life, including work, family and friends. The worst case is the one in which a person who fears blushing tends to develop social phobia.

The combination between fear of blushing and social phobia can lead to sadness, depression and feelings of hopelessness. Life starts being a burden instead of a blessing.

If you had attempts to cure your blushing problems, you probably figured out that talking to others who don’t have the same problem is useless. Hopefully more and more people can find out more information about blushing and this might help sufferers to lessen the stress and anxiety.

The constant thinking about their blushing makes sufferers become less self-conscious. So if you see a person who has blushing problems, treat it like a normal person and this will help him feel less stressed.

Click here if you have a blushing and want to rid yourself of it

It also might interest you:

Understanding the Fear of Blushing Blushing related to emotions When blushing occurs it is probably accompanied by a couple of emotions which can sometimes get into conflict with each other. Still there is...

Is Your Blushing Causing Anxiety? A lot of people suffer from excessive blushing and this often evolves into more severe disorders like social anxiety. You may suffer too from this disorder and it...

Reducing Your Anxiety If you had some situations in life in which you suffered for excessive blushing, you probably have noticed that this problem tends to evolve into anxiety. In other...

So if you wonder what kinds of thoughts make you blush easily you will not get a specific answer but all thoughts that cause blushing are known as self-conscious.

All blushers have a common fact. They are very sensitive at the opinion of other people. I know that every time I blushed it was because I was on the point of being criticized by others. Normally people blush when they feel like they have done something which can make others think badly of them.

For a person who has a blushing problem, the simple thought that someone is about to judge them is enough to bring on the blush. So we might say that if you are hypersensitive to others’ opinion or judgment this is the main cause for your blushing problem.

 Now the question is “Where does the sensitivity come from?” Studies showed that it is genetic. Of course there are people who are shameless and other people who naturally feel shameful in many situations.

The shameless persons are reluctant to people’s opinions about them and they seem not to care about it. Shameful people are sensitive to the idea of others thinking of them, the particularities of the thought are not that important.

So if you have blushing problem you have to start not to care about other people’s opinions. Nevertheless this does not mean that you have to neglect other people’s rights but if you can consider that people’s thoughts are not your business, you will have few things to worry about and fewer causes for blushing.

Theory is always easy than practice but there is a necessary step you have to make if you want to get rid of your blushing problem.

Click here if you need a cure for blushing

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Why do some people blush too much What causes excessive blushing at some people? Excessive blushing is called in medically terms Idiopathic Craniofacial Erythema and is caused by strong emotional stimuli like love, anxiety or...

Do You Blush Too Much? You May Have Excessive Blushing       There are many people explaining the blushing process. Doctors think that excessive blushing is caused by the sympathethic nervous system which sometimes overreacts but a...

Why Do Some People Suffer From Excessive Blushing?        People usually blush because they are embarrassed. This is what most people are used to say and this is the truth for those who do...

    I always wondered why easy blushing occurs at people who have this problem. There is no doubt that the thought of others having a bad opinion about them, causes stress and fear in their thoughts. But still I wonder why it happens.

One may say that it is in our genes to manifest like this and our sympathetic nervous system can be overactive in some cases. Others may think that environment influenced our way to see the world and our way of thinking.

Many times I wanted to blame my parents for being overly critical. It was a bad feeling knowing that you cannot be yourself because they impose their opinions. My behavior was suppressed and there were many situations in which I was extra careful in order not to be criticized by my parents.

If I think back to my childhood I remember that most of my actions had negative feedback from my parents and they felt good criticizing me. After I read the book “Psycho-Cybernetics” by Maxwell Maltz, I realized that this was a cause for some of my inhibitions.

       Social inhibitions cause excessive carefulness and this can damage the relationship between you and others. Moreover this leads to anxiety and more inhibition and it is clear to me that my parents have succeeded to induce me these inhibitions and cause me the problems I had.

However this may be the way I was born and this is deeply written in my genes. You might be tired of philosophy and speculations but there are many aspects that you can take into consideration and these might also confuse you. So if I was facing those all by myself I would probably never overcome this problem.

     When I felt that I was making progresses was when I stopped thinking about other people’s opinions about me. I tried to become shameless and I partially succeeded to think that what people think is strictly their business.

This improvement was a real blessing for me and if you do not learn it you will get deeper and deeper into your fears.

So I tell you that the most important thing in overcoming excessive blushing is to stop imagining what other people think and mind your own business.

Click here for more information on how to stop blushing

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The Two Stages of a Blushing Problem     In the beginning, my blushing problem was not actually a problem. It was just an annoyance and I was aware of my tendency to blush easily....

Erythrophobia: The Fear of Blushing Nowadays’ society makes things very complicate for a human being and this is the reason for many diseases and phobias. People start to fear irrationally of anything and...

Understanding the Fear of Blushing Blushing related to emotions When blushing occurs it is probably accompanied by a couple of emotions which can sometimes get into conflict with each other. Still there is...

However there are many types of blushing and one should be able to distinguish at least some of them:

Emotional blushing:

An emotional reaction can trigger many responses among which we can mention small flashes of blushing. Those are perfectly normal for a human being but some people experience extreme blushing during some situation others would consider to be normal. This is almost always a form of anxiety and because is considered a symptom of social phobia, there are various treatments for it.

Drugs and alcohol:

Many substances can produce redness on our faces among which there are alcohol and some drugs. Some people lack enzymes to completely metabolize alcohol and they turn red and become dizzy. Asians are in top of the statistics because 50% of the Asian people suffer from this condition.

Exercise induced facial redness:

When a person produces physical effort, its body responds by dilating the blood vessels and increasing blood flow. This is the reason for the facial blushing which occurs during workout. In some isolated cases, people who experience blushing can react to some skin products which can irritate while in contact with sweat.

Menopausal Flushing:

This type of blushing only occurs at women who are close to menopause.  It is caused by a fall of estrogen concentration and it occurs at 70-85 % of women during menopause and it may cause a reddening of the chest, face and neck which lasts only a few minutes. Sometimes, besides these symptoms, a woman can experience anxiety, sleep problems and palpitations.

Dermatological conditions:

Blushing caused by dermatological condition is most commonly caused by rosacea. This is a skin condition in which capillaries are very reactive and if you have this it is probably that you have small visible blood vessels on your face and redness on the nose, cheeks, chin and forehead.

Another condition that can lead to blushing is carcinoid syndrome which is associated to the presence of a tumor. You may experience strong blushing, diarrhea and heart valves abnormalities. Another disorder is mastocytosis which affects some immune sustem cells. The redness caused by this disorder is caused by the large amount of histamine and other chemicals into the bloodstream.

If blushing is a problem for you learn how to stop blushing here

Excessive blushing is called in medically terms Idiopathic Craniofacial Erythema and is caused by strong emotional stimuli like love, anxiety or embarrassment. There are particular cases when some people blush too much and medical explanations say that this is due to the following reasons.

• Happiness – laughter may cause blushing because it consumes energy and creates movement stimulating in this way the blood circulation.
• Embarrassment – This feeling is created by many things such as lack of integrity, confidence and forgiveness, all of them producing strong blushes when social activities are developed.
• Frustration – Is caused by mental stress which leads to high blood pressure and ultimately blushing.
• Social anxiety – Some consider social activities quite stressing and when they communicate with their friends or other people they know, blood pressure rises and they become tensioned, this causing strong blushing.
• Spicy food – some substances from the spices people usually eat produce blushing and studies have shown that people who eat certain spices blush more than others.

Blushingis sometimes an indicator for some mental or physical disorders and nowadays it’s even a common fact among people, as a result of their stressed life.

An interesting fact is that even though we know the causes people usually blush, some blush more when others blush much less. There are a lot of treatments like surgeries, medications and psychological therapies in order to help the sufferers overcome this affection. One must inform itself and ask for advices from an experienced doctor.

There is a major risk that minor problem grow larger and larger ultimately having severe impact on sufferer’s lives so one should make sure he is well informed before he acts.

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Why do some people blush more easily than others?       Blushing is caused, of course, by some physical attributes that some people have. However this is not the only cause and not even the main...

Coffee
Caffeine-containing drinks such as strong coffee and lots of cups of tea can stimulate the body’s natural sweating mechanism and blushing. Heat and caffeine make you blush a lot easier. If you need caffeine I found Red Bull to be the best. Lack of sleep my put you in a calm mood, but this is very individual, some people blusher more.

Flushing caused by drugs

A few drugs can cause flushing, so it is worth checking whether you are taking any of the following:

Chlorpropamide (for diabetes), which can cause flushing if you take it with alcohol

Diabinese (for diabetics) and niacin (for lowering cholesterol, sometimes contained in high-potency vitamins)

Glyceryl Trinitrate, Isosorbide Dinitrate (for angina)

Alcohol
May worsen blushing. Different liquors may contain different amounts of histamine that I believe is the reason for this. The break down of alcohol in the body actually puts histamine breakdown on hold, meaning that any histamine consumed in the body will have a greater effect than usual. So even if histamine is not normally a problem it might be when you drink.

Tamoxifen (for breast cancer and some other conditions)

Buserelin, Goserelin, Luprorelin and Triptorelin (for prostate tumors in men)

Raloxifene (for osteoporosis)

Calcitonin (for some bone disorders)

Calcium-Channel-Blockers (for angina or high blood pressure).

Morphine can cause flushing due to histamine release.

Viagra - Used for impotence or by guys that wants to be a stallion for a night.

Shaving (In the face)

Don’t shave in the morning instead do it before you go to bed. Shaving may cause skin irritation and your skin may feel hot, and this feeling alone can trigger a blush attack.

Niacin - (for high cholesterol) Niacin may cause flushes. Niacin is also known as Vitamin B3 or Niacinamide. It is heat stable and water soluble. It was first discovered when scientists were looking for the cause of pellagra. It is absorbed in the small intestine and excreted in the urine.

The human body uses niacin in more than 50 chemical reactions. It is needed by the body to extract energy from fat, carbohydrate and protein. It is a natural cholesterol regulator, and often works as well as prescription medications for persons with mild cholesterol problems. This formula uses nicotinic acid, the form of niacin that has shown promise in lowering LDL levels of cholesterol.

Like all members of the B family, niacin plays a role in energy metabolism. Niacin has the property of causing the small blood vessels to increase in size. These are the capillaries. Now, capillaries are often so small that the blood cells pass through them in single file.

It is the capillaries that take care of the vast majority of all the cells in the body. You have large arteries near the heart, and they get smaller and smaller as they extend from the heart. But, at the end of every well-sized artery is a very large network of capillaries. They all start from the heart — but at the end of the line they are tiny, tiny capillaries.

Blushing Problem is associated with anxiety and the blushing is often confused with the cause of anxiety. Thus the person is usually trying to stop blushing and/or being anxious in a vain attempt to control the Sympathetic Nervous System which by definition cannot be controlled by the mind.

This branch of the ASN is activated by adrenaline – the fear hormone – and if we want to know why the body is overproducing adrenaline or releasing it at the wrong time, we need to understand the function of drenaline.

Adrenaline serves to increase blood sugar levels throughout the body to give the body enough energy to deal with a crisis. Normally such a crisis occurs when suddenly out of the blue we are faced with a real life danger. Thus the Sympathetic Nervous System is a valuable mechanism that can save our life.

Once this SNS is activated by a flaw in the underlying biochemical mechanism – quite unrelated to environmental stresses – symptoms can take all sort or weird physical symptoms.

But the problem is that excess adrenaline production can also occur when the brain is suddenly starved of energy (of sugar). This may happen when we suffer from a metabolic disorder such as Insulin Resistance or hypoglycemia. This may be quite unrelated to circumstances in the environment. The function of adrenaline is to push nutrients – glucose, fatty acids and protein – across cell membranes. Carbohydrates (sugars in food) are a major source of biological energy called adenosine triphosphate (ATP) indispensable as a source of energy to the brain.

Without this biological energy brain cells will die and so will we. Hence the brain has a mechanism to activate the adrenal glands to pour adrenaline into the system and this will activate the SNS. Adrenaline functions to convert glycogen – sugar stores in muscles and the liver – into glucose, so as to feed the brain with energy. The brain, although only 2 per cent of body weight, requires about 70 per cent of available glucose to energize biochemical machinery in the brain.

Thus when insulin resistance causes the blood sugar levels to rise initially, it is soon followed by more insulin secretion, called hyperinsulinism. This results in a sudden drop of blood sugar reaching the brain. The brain then switches on the adrenal glands to pour adrenaline into the system. Adrenaline among others dilates blood vessels – to provide peripheral muscles with energy in preparation of strenuous action.

Prevent the action of blushing

Thus if we want to prevent us blushing uncontrollably, we need to treat the underlying insulin resistance that is responsible for activating the SNS.

The major and foremost treatment for hypoglycemia is going on a hypoglycemic diet, (similar to a diabetic diet)which consists of a small frequent snacks of high protein and low glycemic diet, supplemented with vitamins and minerals, such as B complex, vitamin C, zinc and chromium picolinate, omega-3 fatty acids (fishoil). For some of the hypoglycemic herbs see here.

One immediate remedy for blushing is taking GLYCERINE, before you expect to be in a situation that may cause you to blush. You could also try out phenylalanine or tyrosine available from health food stores. But no guarantee is given.

Another likely candidate would be the supplementation of lecithin. It contains nutritional forerunners of phosphatydilcholine – a hormone – that could together with vitamin B5 activate the parasympathetic nervous system and counteract the SNS. However, it will not treat the hypoglycemia! Other possible single remedies could be Seredyn or Eredicane, although results have been controversial.

One chemical solution is to ask your doctor to prescribe Propranolol one of the non-sedating anxiety pills in cases of emergency. It is an beta-adrenergic blocking agent counteracting the effects of the Sympathetic Nervous System. It is primarily used in the treatment of high blood pressure and angina. It can also counteract anxiety attacks without fogging up intellectual thinking. But of course this is not going to cure the underlying biochemical imbalance and they have inevitable side effects for some people.

Some of its side effects are: Propranolol is generally well tolerated, and side effects are mild and transient. Rare side effects include abdominal cramps, diarrhea, constipation, fatigue, insomnia, nausea, depression, dreaming, memory loss, fever, impotence, hotheadedness, slow heart rate, low blood pressure, numbness, tingling, cold extremities, sore throat, and shortness of breath or wheezing.

Blushers can be expected to have a low self-image because of the embarrassment they have to face. But more importantly their metabolic disorder will unavoidably affect your self image, because they are constantly bombarded with stress hormones over which you have no control.