There are people who suffer from a fear of embarrassment. This fear can develop into an intense and unwarranted terror or agoraphobia.

Agoraphobia was named after a Greek market and it literally translates to mean a fear of being exposed to a situation or situation publicly where embarrassment can occur. With some agoraphobics this can extend to include anxiety attacks. However, not all agoraphobics hide away in their homes and avoid any risk of embarrassment. Some are able to fend quite well in places where they are able to control the situation.

It has been shown scientifically that the majority of agoraphobics are women, though some men can suffer it too. It has been estimated by researchers that 2.7 to 5.7% of the population suffers from some level of agoraphobia. In fact, agoraphobia can begin as young as 15 or as late as 35.

A fear of embarrassment in its extreme does appear in families, but the reasons for this have not yet been discovered by scientists. However, they all share at least one or more of the following commonalities in their fears:

• loneliness
• loss of control in varied public areas
• being in a location where escape may be tricky
• Staying at home for lengthy periods
• estrangement or detachment feelings from other people
• helplessness
• the need to be dependant on other people
• a feeling that their body is not real
• a feeling that their surroundings and environment are not real
• panic or anxiety attacks or just general anxiety
• irritability, sweaty palms, and general change in behavior

Other more physical reactions can also occur in people suffering more severe forms of the fear of embarrassment, including:
• lightheadedness or fainting
• sudden dizziness (not to be confused with the signs of a heart attack or stroke)
• extreme perspiration or sweating
• flushing of the skin
• difficulties in breathing or the sensation of breathing problems (not to be confused with an obstruction in the throat, an asthma attack or severe allergic reaction)
• pains in the chest, jaw, stomach, arms or neck (not to be confused with the signs of a possible heart attack)
• pounding heart, irregular heartbeat or heart palpitations (not to be confused with the signs of a heart attack)
• vomiting or simple nausea
• tingling, pins and needles and numbness in any body part (not to be confused with the signs of a stroke or impending heart attack)
• butterflies in the stomach, gassy abdomen or cramping
• mental confusion, disorganized or odd thoughts (not to be confused with the signs of a stroke)
• a deep terror of going completely mad
• a deep terror of dying

In the majority of cases, an agoraphobic person or someone who has an intense fear of embarrassment can relieve their symptoms by leaving the situation where the embarrassment occurred or by just simply going home.

Unfortunately, an intense fear of embarrassment can lead to anxiety or panic attacks in certain situations where the person begins to feel as if they are losing control, insecure, distant from a place of comfort, or trapped. The majority of agoraphobics are able to develop ways to combat this by simply avoiding any situation that may lead to such an attack. To understand this better, a person can suffer an anxiety or panic attack in a severe form that can continue anywhere from 10 minutes to as much as a week. So, it is no surprise that the person would want to avoid suffering this because such attacks are very disruptive to normal living.

Each person is different in the situations that can trigger their fear of embarrassment. Some people find that socializing, driving a vehicle, going to church services or other meeting places, and shopping by themselves can trigger the fear. Ultimately, the fear of embarrassment soon develops into a fear of having an anxiety or panic attack, which leads to the person’s withdrawal from normal life. This can greatly detriment their ability to socialize, have relationships with others and their ability to perform in a work situation.

A fear of embarrassment is not a mental illness, but when it develops into agoraphobia it needs to be treated by a medical professional. There have been many famous people who have suffered from this, and in some ways, every person has a situation that they prefer to avoid because of the fear of embarrassment. However, for most people, the choice is not to avoid, but to face our fears.

What Is Embarrassment?

What is embarrassment? Embarrassment is a form of emotion that makes us feel professionally or socially wrong in regards to words, thoughts and actions, as perceived and pointed out to us by other people. This can result in some loss of personal dignity or honor, but the type and amount is all dependant on the situation at the time.

Embarrassment has been confused by some with shame. Shame is different in that the person who has been shamed has done something that to others or society is considered to be wrong morally.

There are two main forms of embarrassment, including professional and personal. Each one has distinctive, but similar characteristics.

Professional

Professional embarrassment or official embarrassment is defined by a lack of confidence in actions taken or the deliberate ignoring of evidence in work. When this involves embarrassment at work or on official business, this may have come as a result of the loss of materials, money or even life. Some examples of these include corrupt government practices, failure in public policies, unethical forms of behavior, personal actions and habits of a public figure that face legal redress or public opinion, or alternatively official people caught in personal situations that cause them embarrassment.

Such forms of embarrassment do not need to be major in nature. The tiniest miscalculation or error can result in more official or public embarrassment, especially if this relates to safety of people. One example of this can be found in the Challenger space shuttle disaster, where human error prior to the launch resulted in the deaths of all the astronauts, NASA was publicly embarrassed and the errors/miscalculations could have been avoided had proper action been taken.

Of course, not every professional type embarrassment becomes so publicly known. Some events occur that create embarrassment, but for the person themselves. An example of this is when a political candidate loses an election. The person involved has not done anything wrong, but the hopes of many of the people supporting this person were dashed and as a result the candidate will feel embarrassment. Alternatively, a medical researcher can propose a theory that is widely upheld by the medical community, only to find that they did not account for something in that theory and someone proves the theory to be invalid. The researcher would not be publicly embarrassed as much as they would feel a lower level of personal embarrassment.

Generally speaking, official or public embarrassment results in a public outrage, the denial of any involvement on the part of the person who caused the embarrassing situation, or an attempt to make the embarrassment not look as bad or serious as it appears. In some cases, the embarrassed party will take steps to remedy the situation by issuing press releases/statements, resign their position, move, avoid the press or the general public, accept a demotion or loss of employment and may even behave as if there was nothing that occurred.

Personal

Embarrassment can be more personal. In this case the person can have unwanted intrusion into their personal affairs or mistakes. Their character may even be questioned by others, especially when the embarrassment is as a result of such actions a lying, losing a competition, burping, passing wind or being caught in the act of sex. In some cultures, incorrect forms of dress are considered embarrassing.

Another form of this embarrassment can come as the result of what other people do to the embarrassed person. Some examples include a parent showing baby pictures to the boyfriend of their daughter that they hardly know, unwarranted comments or criticism about the way that person is attired or behaving, being the topic of unknown gossip, personal rejection, being pushed into being a focal point of attention, or seeing someone else getting embarrassed.

When a person is personally embarrassed, for whatever reason, they can experience one or all of the following reactions:

• Blushing
• Nervousness
• Sweating
• Fidgeting
• Stammering
• Twitching

Most people will initially try to cover up their feeling of embarrassment by laughing in a nervous fashion or donning a weak smile. This is perfectly normal in situations where a breach of etiquette has occurred. In more embarrassing situations, though, a person, may faint, cry or even runaway.

Embarrassment is a normal reaction to situations where a loss of face, mistake or even a willful error has been made. Each person has a different response to embarrassing situations, and dependant on the person’s standards and the situation itself, the person may not feel embarrassed at all.