Fear of Blushing

It starts with a word. Someone looks at you. Someone asks you a question. Someone directs the gaze of the room toward you — and before you even know what you think, you feel it: the heat rising from inside. It travels up from your sternum, spreads across your neck, conquers your cheeks. And as you try to stop it, it only grows stronger. The more you fight, the louder your body.

You know that others can see it. You know they will notice. And that is the catastrophe — not the blushing itself, but being seen. The fear of that is sometimes so great that you avoid situations where it could happen: meetings, introductions, conversations with people who intimidate you. You plan your daily life around your face.