Have you (or anyone that you've known in your life) ever had an issue with blushing and social anxiety disorder?

I have SAD and I blush like it’s my job.. Plus I’m fair-skinned so it’s extra more obvious. The blushing hasn’t been much of an issue, in that people seem to get a kick out of it. Everyone seems to find it cute. Only a handful of people have made me blush on purpose, but none of it had any malicious intent.

I do hate that I blush so easily and that it’s a glaringly obvious tell written in bright red all over my face that I’m embarrassed or whatever. But whatever, I can’t change it, so I use it to my advantage sometimes.. apparently, some girls find the shy, blushing type to be adorable.

The SAD, on the other hand.. that’s a daily struggle that I take one day at a time.

I have been dealing with social anxiety disorder since I was 9. I had a severe panic attack in 4th grade, so severe I had to leave school in the middle of the day. It’s a grueling experience. Some days are certainly better than others. One day I will completely forget I even have it, and other days I just want to stay in darkness.

For a few years I was able to cope with it naturally, I would simply go on with the day. I found that the one place I could never have a panic attack was at school.

Then, after my grandmother died when I was 13, it was all over. I started having severe panic attacks any time I left the house. That’s when I started taking medication for it. I don’t have panic attacks much anymore and I can certainly function, but the medicine seems more like a crutch than a solution.

I have an interesting one: I laugh when I’m in pain, or find something sad/angering/terrifying. Yeah, its not as extreme as these two, but in most social situations, it’s simply not acceptable. It also causes me to smile when it’s not appropriate…trust me, its hard to hold it in and most of the time I don’t realize I do it. It got me into trouble as a child to my teen years…and now in an adult environment its frowned upon even more.

I’ve never known anyone diagnosed with it or who resembles the description in your post. I have known one person though similar to what @kissmesoftly writes and most of us are a little afraid of him.

My coloring is such that I blush at almost any strong emotion. There is no controlling and no hiding it.

It has caused me no end of grief in my life.

@Neizvestnaya Most of my friends are a bit warry of me. They seem to think I’m much crazier than I actually am. :)

@marinelife How do you cope with the day to day?

Just this past week, I had a break down (nerves were shot). My hives flared up (I have Dermographism Hives – basically, when my hives are bad, you could write on my body with your fingernail) and my throat started to close in, so, I had to go up to emerg. It was embarrassing (the whole thing) and when I was up at emerg, my face felt hot/flushed. I went into the bathroom to look in the mirror and my entire face was red. The redness didn’t go down for a few hours. Anxiety brought on the facial blushing.

@mama_cakes Wow, that was a pretty extreme case of this. I hope that doesn’t happen to you often! I also get hives, blush/flush, and have panic attacks. How do I manage it? Drugs, baby. I take Effexor XR for general anxiety disorder and Xanax for an active panic attack. It’s the only thing that works for me.

@mama_cakes: I thought about this more and also suffer from bouts of similar hives so I am pretty much never without Benadryl tablets in my purse. The signs for me are a hot face and tight throat which I’ve always been told is more an allergic reaction. Tea Tree oil sprayed on with water helps the welt type of hives not burn and itch so bad.

Only a few times a year will this happen to me, in particular when I’ve eaten cold or lightly cooked shrimp. The result feels like a panic attack but clears up quick with the meds. There’s supposed to be some enzyme in shrimp (probably other foods too) that is neutralized if the shrimp is cooked, seared or fried enough.

Like @MissAnthrope, I’m a red head with pale skin and freckles. I blush, it’s what I do! I also am petrified of anyone looking at me, talking in front of ANYONE, and being the center of attention. (But I’m also a sanguine extrovert.). Again, it’s who I am. Go figure! ;0p

I myself have had and still have an issue with blushing. It happens often in band practice when I feel that I am most easily singled out. I get really red and often hot. These hot flashes make me even more embarassed. To deal with it, I look up on the internet and have asked on Fluther ways to help reduce the blushing. I try to remember that nobody is going to make fun of me, and most people aren’t even paying attention to me. This helps my mindset and then I breathe deeply to help slow my heart rate adn cool myself down.