The Shyness & Social Anxiety Workbook
18that there were no differences between socially anxious and nonanxious people with 
respect to the actual intensity of blushing.
Although in most cases people’s anxiety symptoms are less noticeable than they 
think, there is no question that a small number of individuals have a tendency to blush, 
shake, or sweat that is clearly excessive and may actually be quite noticeable to other 
people. In other words, some people blush easily and others don’t. Some people have 
shakier hands than others, and some people perspire more than others. However, not 
everyone who blushes, sweats, and shakes excessively also experiences intense fear when 
around other people. In fact, many people are not terribly concerned about experiencing 
these symptoms in front of other people. 
In other words, experiencing these symptoms is not the problem. Rather, it is your 
beliefs about the meaning and possible consequences of these symptoms that contributes 
to your social anxiety. If you didn’t care whether other people noticed your physical 
anxiety symptoms you would probably be much less anxious in social and performance 
situations. Furthermore, you would probably experience fewer of these uncomfortable 
symptoms.
Not surprisingly, the physical sensations that you experience when you are anxious 
or fearful are similar to those that you experience during any intense emotion, including 
excitement and anger. The differences between fear, excitement, and anger manifest not 
so much in the way they feel physically, but rather in the types of thoughts and behav -
iors associated with each of these emotions. It is to these aspects of social anxiety that 
we now turn our attention.
Social Anxiety and Thinking
Strictly speaking, people don’t react emotionally to the situations and events in their