I go red when I’m nervous. And when I’m embarrassed. And frustrated. And amused. In fact, any time I experience the slightest increase in emotion or temperature, you will see it on my skin, clawing its way out of my collar and onto my face. I discovered this delightful fact about myself in high school, when someone kindly pointed out that they would have presumed I was sunburnt, had I not been so deathly pale everywhere else. They weren’t the only person to notice, either. Every time it happened, someone would comment on it. Once the focus was firmly on me and my neck, I would get even more uncomfortable, more red, more comments, more anxious, more red, and the cycle would continue.
Fortunately most adults don’t feel the need to comment on every perceived flaw or defect in other people. By the time I was training to become a psychologist, I worried less about whether people would notice me going red and focused my attention on more grown up fears, like whether they would discover I am a massive fraud who didn’t belong here and had probably been let onto the doctorate programme by mistake.
When I starting learning about CBT for social anxiety, it was like an emotional portal back to high school. People with social anxiety tend to direct their attention inwards in social situations, focusing less on the other person and more on how they themselves appear to the other person, how they are coming across, and what they should be doing next. As a result, people with social anxiety often miss the cues from other people that tell them things are fine, or they miss part of the conversation and struggle to keep up, thus making the interaction more awkward and reinforcing their belief that they can’t cope well in social situations. This puts them on high alert again next time, and the cycle continues.
One of the most common concerns is that they will show visible signs of anxiety, like, say, going red from chest to cheeks. When, say, presenting your doctoral research proposal to a room full of professors. Because their focus is so closely on themselves, they often take their feelings as facts: if I feel this hot, then I must be bright red. I feel this scrutinised, then people must be judging me. If I feel this nervous, then I must not know what I’m talking about.
In CBT, there are some key experiments that we suggest for social anxiety.
1. Find out if your symptoms are as noticeable as you think they are.
2. Challenge your beliefs that people are judging you so harshly.
3. Check if your usual attempts to make things better are actually working.
4. As always, remember that anxiety is a perfectly normal human emotion and not a sign of weakness or gross incompetence. No matter what those dicks at high school said.
It has taken me roughly eight years to complete this set of experiments. Turns out potential humiliation is a powerful predictor of avoidance.
Experiment 1 – Do you see what I see?
As a newly qualified psychologist, I ran a training day teaching the basics of CBT to a room full of social care and allied health professionals. I decided to draw on a little personal experience to demonstrate how to use a quick poll (of a room full of people) to test out an alternative belief (that there was no way I could actually be as bright red as I felt like I was). I thought they would all reassure me, then spend their tea break discussing how impressively I could intertwine personal stories into a neat theoretical framework in a way that was both informative and touching, the mark of a non-fraudulent professional who definitely belonged here at the front of the room telling people what to do.
While telling this story I was, of course, extremely nervous. When I managed to shift my attention back out towards the group, I saw only confusion and expectation. It was later obvious that they were waiting for the second part of the story, the bit that explained why I had just drawn their attention to how extremely bright red I was whilst asking them to convince me otherwise. When that part never came, a psychiatric nurse gently informed me of my flushed state, and then she very neatly tied it into a theoretical framework that was both informative and touching. A little something for the others to admire over a cup of tea.
Result: As the old saying goes, just because you’re paranoid, doesn’t mean that you’re not covered in red splotches.
Experiment 2 – Do you think what I feel?
I never intended to complete this part of the experiment. I don’t mind asking if you can see that I’ve gone red, I don’t mind finding out if you could tell I was nervous, but I will fight to the death for my right to assume that you think I am competent. I didn’t choose this experiment, it was handed to me along with a glass of sparkling shiraz after finishing my MC duties at my brother’s wedding.
“You looked so nervous up there! Don’t worry – I don’t think people minded. You did good considering how nervous you were. They’ve had heaps of champagne and people only care about the proper speeches anyway.”
Result: I guess I did good considering how nervous I was?
Experiment 3 – Is a roll neck the solution to all my problems?
Result: “It looks like that jumper might be giving you a rash.”
Experiment 4 – This is just my thing.
I spent a long time fighting the idea that my anxiety was directly related to my competence. It took me a long time to realise that the correlation might actually be a positive one: I get nervous because I care about what I am doing, and because I believe the outcome matters. I can feel calm, or I can be good.
Nowadays, when I choose talk about any of this during training or with my patients, I ask people to comment on how noticeable the redness is, and on what their thoughts were when they saw it. Did they make any assumptions about me or my emotional state? Did it bring up anything for them? Did their thoughts shift at all when I drew their attention to it and discussed it openly?
And then I tie it all up into a nice theoretical framework that I like to think teaches them a little something about CBT, anxiety, training skills, and maybe just a little bit about themselves. Because, after all, I’m a non-fraudulent professional, who knows she goes red in the face and almost certainly believes she definitely sort of belongs here.
Cognitive Behave Yourself 
You’ve just printed out my life story except I’m not nervous in front of people–only that my “excited” state makes me blotch up. I have yet to find my solution other than try to “tan” it away.
yes, surprised to see that i am not the only one with this problem. I called it rosacea, but it is not. only happens in situation of sudden change of temperature, glass of wine, high emotions… very hard to control… and the fear of people noticing and saying: “oh! my God what happened to you, you look so red!!!”. How to react? it only makes it worst of course, it is a vicious circle… but is there any laser treatment to eradicate this horrible problem???
Hi, I can see your post was quite a few years ago, so hoping to reach out to you if possible… your entire post here is me and has only come on over the last few years, it’s completely out of control and completely controls me… did you ever find out if there was a treatment to eradicate the problem? I find no real help online other than cognitive and that is not working and my doctor only told me to take anti histamines but again hasn’t really worked, but until in our situation you never understand how controlling the
Problem is over your life. It’s awful!
I’ve always had pink/bushed cheeks, I never used to get red blotchy spots on my neck and chest. When I was 13, it first started to happen, during a presentation. I felt so hot, so nervous, and embarrassed. Everyone was like, “OMG whats that on your neck and chest!?” I just said it was a rash at the time, but I knew it wasn’t because my mum gets blotchy too. I will never forget that day. Always makes me wonder why, why does this happen to me. It’s been a year since then and i’m 14 now. I thought that I was the only one who had this “blotchy skin” or “problem”, I thought that no one understood the embarrassment that I felt, the nervousness that I felt/thought that it was going to happen everyday every second. Every dermatologist I went to in the States, just called it rosacea too (I knew that wasn’t the answer). Also what they said was “It’s just something that you have to live with”. But they don’t understand how hard it is for me because they don’t have the skin like I do (my skin is really bad, gets really red). It honestly makes me sad (makes me cry) whenever I think or talk about my skin. It makes me restrict myself from doing the things I love, what make me happy and get excited. I tried blocking my emotions at one point, still didn’t work for me (still got red and blotchy) I guess I will always be red, it sucks, it really does. (I hate it/my skin so much, but I hope one day I will learn how to except my skin, guess i’m to young to realize that my skin is actually sort of beautiful in a way, probably not though).
Christina, this sounds so much like my experience as a teenager! I still get it worst when I do presentations. I wouldn’t say I’ve come to “love it” but I have accepted it is the way it is. Now I tend to make a joke about it if I think it’s really obvious, otherwise I just ignore it and people either don’t notice or are too polite to say anything. I hope you find a way for it not to stop you doing what you want to do. It already sucks once that it happens at all, hopefully you will get to the stage where it doesn’t suck a second time by missing out on the good stuff (and the challenging stuff).
This is the first time I have found a similar story to mine. My redness has restricted me from truly expressing how I feel and pursuing the things that I would like to. I’m at the point in my life where I really need to not let it bug me so much. I’m 32 with 2 kids and hope to God they don’t have the same redness issue I have.
Yes most adults are too polite to mention it but I’m sure they discuss my redness behind my back. Or do they? Is it just my anxiety getting the best of me again?
Thank you for writing this. I hope all of us can move past this and realize it’s just redness. In the end…who cares what other people think. If they enjoy your company and the person you are they won’t mind.
Your last sentence captures it perfectly. If a person forms their opinion of the whole you based on you going red, then that is one very strange person indeed.
It’s hard to shake the old feelings about it though, it can feel like you’re sending yourself into mortal social danger. I found that it wasn’t until I started acting as if I didn’t care, that I actually stopped caring. But it’s quite a leap.
This post nails exactly what happens to me spot on! People say “ are you allergic to something? your neck is all blotchy and your so red” which in turn makes me embarrassed than i turn more red , all from cooking pasta on the stove and the steam warming me face . I recognize it can be caused from anxiety , temperature changes and alcohol,but is there a natural remedy to help the blood vessels in my face and neck from from doing this??
I’ve not found anything! I stopped looking for solutions a few years ago, I found the more I looked the worse I felt about it. Now if people comment I just tell them I go red when I’m hot and that it looks worse than it is.
Thanks for sharing this!
I think I must’ve always blotched up, but it’s only now that I’m in my doctorate program and teaching that people have started to point it out to me. I had a student ask me during group work what was wrong with my neck, and I was like, “When I’m in social situations, I blotch.” (She responded, “That’s so cute!” So. The struggle to be perceived as a professional is real.) Sometimes I can feel myself flushing, but other times I don’t even know that my skin’s broken out into a little map unless I look in a mirror.
I do worry, especially now that people have started to comment on it, that I give the impression of being nervous all the time. I’m 29, and I’ve never covered it up before, but this semester I’ve started to wear high collar shirts. I think so far this has been helpful for me – I can more easily convince myself that even though I feel myself going red, no one can see it.
This mirrors my experience almost exactly. I was always very confident until I went for my first job interview and then pow! It took me by surprise as much as anyone else. Since then I have shrunk into myself in work situations where I have to speak or present, which is actually quite tricky as a lawyer! The weird thing is I always seem to put myself up for jobs where I will be in those situations – can’t seem to stop myself. I have taken to wearing high necked tops whatever the weather, which prompts comments in itself. It is getting worse as I get older strangely. I have had CBT and hypnotherapy but noting seems to work. I’m looking in to laser treatment to make it less noticeable. Glad to see there are others like me (although sorry you are suffering too).
It’s such a relief to read this. You’ve described me completely. Any/every emotion this happens to me. It really impacts on my life and I’m still in the stage of trying to embrace/accept it as just part of me. Hard isn’t it when you hate people focus being on you, and it instantly makes you centre of attention!
I am so happy to find this as it really mirrors my experience too. It all started at a uni interview. I am an allied health professional now and it has been ongoing for 6 years. I have appointments with patients all day every day and it seems to just happen out of the blue pretty much every day at some point. I tried to cover it up by having my hair in a plait, with makeup, with the angle I am sitting, but no matter what my neck becomes a huge mass of red blotches and I feel really hot. I do think that it is related to my confidence, and that I feel it will make people judge that I do not know what I am saying. I was wondering if anyone has any cognitive solutions, thinking strategies that may help? Thanks!
Thank you so much this has helped me a lot, I haven’t been diagnosed with social anxiety but I try and avoid a lot of social situations because of the same issue, I also shake, lose my voice, my eyes water and I feel like I can’t breathe. I often have panic attacks over the simplest of things and I hate myself for it at the time but I have tried to put myself out there and gain confidence by talking to people and saying something simple like sorry I’m a shy person which helps me a lot. One other issue is others say such as family members that this level of anxiety is normal but for me it changes everything I do and I can’t seen to stop it, I have days where I’m fine and then like a flick of a switch I lose all control over my body and start panicking. I went to the doctors and they said they couldn’t do anything for me and now I’m a bit lost on what to do. The doctor told me that I needed to seek counselling from my school but obviously I was too anxious to ask. I’m wondering if there’s any way I could get cbt for free but I also don’t want to because I’d be too scared to go just in a weird spin.
I have had this my whole life and my family still says, “Why are you so red?” or “Oh no! What is wrong with your neck?”. It is embarrassing and it makes me feel very self-conscious. I find that if I get red when I am drinking, the only way it goes away is if I drink MORE! (I guess the anxiety goes away? lol) If I am feeling very nervous and I know people are noticing my redness, I often just say, “Oh yeah, I get really red sometimes but I am fine.” Just having acknowledged it out loud helps me relax and then it goes away…so it is definitely still a struggle. Thank you for writing about this 🙂
This sounds so similar to my experience! I’m still surprised how much better I feel after I acknowledge it out loud, and even though I know it helps to say something, I always feel a little nervous about saying it.
Everyone’s stories really hit home because I experience the same thing. Started happening when I was 20 and has only gotten worse as time goes on(I’m 30). Any social situation in warm indoors I break out really bad. Dates, dinners with family, etc. It also is extremely bad when I have to speak in public or job interviews. The thought of speaking gets me nervous and almost instanteously the hives start creeping up my neck. It really sucks because when I’m breaking out I feel like I can’t even talk normally because I’m worried about how people are judging how red I am. The only thing that helps me is stepping out into cold weather which obviously isn’t appropriate most situations. The only medications that I have read are beta blockers, Rhofade and Prozac. Have any of these helped you guys? It would be the biggest relief if there was a something to take to prevent the breakouts. Thank you guys
This is insane to me! When I get nervous, I get debilitatingly nervous, which mostly includes bright red splotches ALL over my chest, and when I’m really nervous, my neck. I found this out in sixth grade when I did something embarrassing and felt extremely hot! “Omg! Are you okay?” said my friend, which triggered a never ending fear of my rash. This rash prevents me from wearing most clothing I want to wear to work or to school. I am a high schooler and I just went on my first date, and my doctor mentioned that I could take an antihistamine. So I took the pill and hoped for the very best because I didn’t wear a turtleneck. But I quickly learned I was red all the way up to my neck when we went into an ice cream shop. This ruined the entire experience for me. I was in my head about it all night. I literally can not shake this anxiety away no matter what I tell myself. I want to accept it but it is very hard. I picture my wedding day as a rash ceremony, or even my graduation as red blotch party. But this has made me feel so much better about it! I have never met anyone who has shared this exact experience, so thank you!
We’re all in good company 🙂 I have experienced this my whole life and just learn to live with it. I wore a high neck wedding dress, wear turtlenecks, scarves or high neck tops during presentations, but many times it takes me by surprise…like just eating a bowl of hot soup lol. There have been so many times I’ve been out and had to excuse myself to the bathroom and have blotted cold water on my neck and fanning myself. But the frantic nature of trying to get rid of it can certainly make it worse. If you know it’s coming and can plan for it, beta blockers do help! Talk to your doctor to get a prescription:)
Thanks for this post and comments- we’re not alone in this oddity 🙂
So glad I found this, as it is exactly like me from about 13 onwards (31 now)! My friends used to point it out and then it would burn deeper and get worse!
It happens in any and all situations with me, nervous, anxious, emotional, social, even just getting ready to go out. I start to feel it prickle and heat up, usually chest, neck and jaw, but even sometimes in heightened emotions, I see it on my arms and belly/back too. I wear only high cut tops/ dresses and am very self conscious of it happening. Being a teacher, it happens when I am in parents evening or hosting assembly/ sports day, but I try to just ignore the feeling.
One Dr told me it was because of dairy in my diet, another told me to take an aspirin a day. I do not have a cure, I do not even have a coping mechanism, but i know when it is worse and when it doesn’t happen at all. I just hide under clothing and hope it goes away.
I’m so happy to have found this page and to know there’s others with the same problem.
I’ve had this for the past 6 years, and it’s affected my life daily. I get it when I’m anxious or hot or when I bend down to pick something up. Like others have mentioned I wear turtle necks and high necked tops even during the summer as I’m scared of the blotchy red rash appearing on my chest and then on my neck. It’s so noticeable and embarrassing. I worry about the future such as my wedding and the thought of people watching me and my rash appearing is terrifying. The worst thing is when you feel it starting and it feels like prickly heat, almost like it’s pulsating and I then I’m aware the rash has started. If anyone knows anything that would help that would be great. It’s nice that we’re all in this together 👍
This is the first post I’ve found that describes exactly the symptoms I experience when nervous/anxious/mad/excited. Although I still get frequent rashes, what changed for me was a new boss who also ‘suffers’ from red blotches … except she embraces it! She calls it out and never apologizes for her appearance. She’s given me the courage to wear fewer high-necked shirts and encourages me to just carry on with life citing, ‘your red chest is the least important/interesting thing about you’. Although imposter syndrome pops up from time to time, she’s so right… I have so much more to offer than apologies for a stress reaction. I hope others find strength in realizing this.
Thank you for bringing up your stories, this has made my day knowing I’m not alone in having to deal with this debilitating issue. For me, I think it comes up because I feel a lack of confidence in myself and what I’m saying even though I know I’m not an idiot! It compounds when people point it out as well. The high neck clothing helps especially when I know I have to speak in front of people, so I plan ahead but when caught out on the spot it’s just awful. Thanks to everyone for sharing your experiences.
Happy to read of others’ experiences with the same debilitating condition I have had for my entire life. As one person said, I tried to tan it away my whole life – not the healthiest thing for my skin, but it was so chronic – I could never have sex in any light, for example, my entire upper body was splotchy and deeply red. Any time I went for an interview, any time I had to speak in front of more than one person, took a shower, any time I was embarrassed or flustered, it never ended. And made worse by doctors saying I just had urticaria. Does no one, seriously, know the cause of this and how to stop it? Now I am in my 60s, retired and think about it less, but it affected my life quite a bit. I am sorry others have had to go through it as well. I believe you, and you are not alone.
I have been struggling with the same thing since i was a teenager. I am now 36. I still struggle with it. I have come a long way with controlling my anxiety in social situations but have not been able to control the redness. Or how to overcome the embarrassment. Has anyone had any luck with medications? I have taken prozac in the past which i think helps to a certain degree, as well as an anxiety medication. Thou anxiety medication is only really helpful if i have a large “social event” not something to take daily.
I have also struggled with this same problem for many years. I get a bit splotchy on my chest, but it’s really bad on my neck, jawline, and cheeks when the flushing is triggered. I have had some luck with Rhofade though. It’s been a game-changer for my cheeks and jawline. It doesn’t help as much on my neck. My dermatologist told me some people flush badly after washing off the cream (or once it wears off), but I haven’t had an issue with that. I wear Rhofade under my moisturizer and makeup anytime I know I’ll be exposed to my triggers (social events, public speaking, alcohol, etc). I don’t know that it works for everyone, but I wanted to throw this out there in case it helps someone else who suffers from this terrible issue. I’ve also tried low-dose propranolol. It maybe helps a little, but not nearly as much as Rhofade for me.
Hi guys, I really thought I was the only one out there that had this. I have never met another person that had this problem. But it’s all the same for me. Anytime I drink, get nervous, excited, have sex or sometimes just talking to my friends my chest gets a rash. I hate having to explain it every time. The only time it’s less noticeable is when I have a nice tan in the summer but that doesn’t last long. I’ve tried slow breathing or even rubbing my chest so it kinda blends in. I also thought if I got older it would go away but no luck. I wish there was something to do or take to make it stop. It’s so embarrassing and annoying. It does feel good to share it with people that understand.
You are telling my story here, too. I feel every word you’ve written. Any time I face a problem or struggle, I try to find the solution but this particular problem (blotchiness when socially anxious/speaking/in the spotlight) has left me frustrated and feeling a bit defeated. It’s humiliating because, like you and most of those who commented here, I have had others ask me about why I do that and I have no good explanation. I try to wear a heavy concealer on my neck on days that I know I’m having to engage with others even in simple ways. But even that doesn’t cover it completely. I also wear turtle necks when having to speak in a group or give a presentation. Oddly enough, when I know my neck is covered, I feel more free to speak without fear. I think your approach is brave and courageous to just accept it as part of who you are and not let it keep you from achieving your goals. Kudos for that!
I’m 42 and have been struggling with this since my twenties. Before that – in my teenage years -, I’d blushed every now and then but I grew out of that.
The first time I noticed this “blotchy map” on my chest and neck was around age 23 when I spoke to my then-supervisor about why I wasn’t offered a promotion. After the meeting, I went to the restroom and was shocked to see the redness in the mirror. I made an appointment with a doctor who gave me a low dose of propranolol which made me moody and irritable, also didn’t help. (it’s a beta blocker used mostly for stage fright)
As a side note – my mom told me that my aunt has the same thing happen to her, and I have seen the blotching on my mom perhaps once. So it’s definitely some kind of sensitive physical reaction to various situations inherited via the generational lineage.
The one and only thing that helps me is smoking weed. I’m not talking about getting blasted of course. Still functional (able to work, socialize, etc.) but when I find myself in those triggering situations, my body does not react.
For instance my colleague and I are talking and I become uneasy in the situation, I start overthinking, and basically waiting for the rash to happen but… it doesn’t happen.
I wish the connection could be studied scientifically.
Also, the more coffee I drink the more frequently the blotches appear.
It’s good to know that we are not alone…the other day I watched The Daily Show, and Trevor had a lady guest who had the same thing happening. Interestingly so, if I watch myself in the mirror while let’s say I’m having a phone interview the blotching doesn’t happen. (and it’s not because I’m on the phone, trust me I have had many phone convos when I was on fire)
In conclusion, I can only say that this is happening to us because we care. Too much that is.
We should start a group! So embarrassing and controls my life this neck blotchiness! Fyi don’t take niacinimide, it makes it worse! I have been dealing with it for so many years (now 41) and I just wear high necks when I know I will be in certain situations. Propranolol helps me, but literally nothing else helps it. I hate when I’m speaking to someone and their eyes go down and look at it… I just don’t say anything anymore. Is what it is! But the “oh my gosh your neck is all red are you ok!?” Grrr “yes I’m ok, trust me I know” My mom swears one day “she didn’t care anymore” and it went away for her.