Public Performance Anxieties?

[Bluebell]

i walked past a smiling homeless man today. i tried to return smile, it came out an awkward grimace & then i just kept walking.

half my problems can be blamed on scopophobia. a fear of being seen. few people understand how debilitating & terrifying it is.

Scopophobia is unique among phobias in that the fear of being looked at is considered both a social phobia and a specific phobia, because it is a specific occurrence which takes place in a social setting.[sup][9][/sup] Most phobias typically fall in either one category or the other but scopophobia can be placed in both. On the other hand, as with most phobias, scopophobia generally arises from a traumatic event in the person's life. With scopophobia, it is likely that the person was subjected to public ridicule as a child. Additionally, a person suffering from scopophobia may often be the subject to public staring, possibly due to a deformity or physical ailment.[sup][2][/sup]

According to the Social Phobia/Social Anxiety Association, U.S. government data for 2012 suggests that social anxiety affects over 7% of the population at any given time. Stretched over a lifetime, the percentage increases to 13%.[sup][10][/sup]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scopophobia