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Blushing: When a Common Reaction Becomes a Problem - Page 3 © Alexander L. Gerlach
Page 3
Apr 30, 2001
Treatment
The three main problem areas for people with fear of blushing are the blushing itself, avoidance of situations because of anticipated blushing, and negative beliefs about how their blushing is viewed by others. Different treatments have focused on each area. Reduction of blushing itself by means of biofeedback has not been successful. Various forms of pharmacological treatments have been suggested. Most commonly, anxiety-reducing drugs are prescribed. Beta-adrenoceptor blocking agents (beta-blockers) have also been suggested. However, these drugs have not been shown to be effective in the case of chronic blushing. Recently, sympathectomy has been suggested. This is a surgical procedure in which nerves to the facial blood vessels that cause blushing are severed. Although this procedure has been reported to be successful in reducing the amount of blushing, it seems drastic and misdirected since no anatomic differences between frequent and infrequent blushers have been established. Cognitive-behavioral treatment studies have proven to be very effective in reducing distress and anxiety, as well as blushing itself, in chronic blushers. Treatment involves correction of negative beliefs about how others regard blushing and how visible one’s own blushing really is, and it promotes exposure to and confrontation with feared situations. Patients learn to focus on the social situation itself and to tolerate blushing. Once anxiety is reduced, blushing itself will occur less frequently. Although blushing seems harmless to most of us, fear of blushing can have severe consequences for certain people. To make matters worse, people who suffer from fear of blushing are often afraid to talk about their problem. They feel that being troubled by something that others accept without difficulty is embarrassing in itself. Unfortunately, the people most in need of effective and available treatment are often the ones least likely to ask for it.
Mr. Gerlach is a Research Scholar in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Table of Contents Vol.16 Issue 5
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The copyright of the article Blushing: When a Common Reaction Becomes a Problem - Page 3 in Anxiety is owned by Irene J. Sleight. Permission to republish Blushing: When a Common Reaction Becomes a Problem - Page 3 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
Blushing can be a difficult thing to deal with if you become obsessed with it and see it as a major problem.However, it is a natural occurence and there is not really a lot one can.I think the best th ...
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Hey i feel u i go through the same exact thing and i hate it so much i know alot of things would be diff if i dident get red and people tell me ure just shy but i know im not its only because my face ...
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Hi does anyone know how to treat blushing i get scared to talk to people because im afraid i might blush
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Really headache...I also suffer of blushing,i hate it.I have this problem for many years and realized,that no ways to overcome it.But not so long ago,I saw the website,where I read about EST operation ...
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In response to blushing posted by cheekymonkey13:
I remembers me of when I was a teenager. I felt exactly the same. I stopped ...
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