Antoine Pelissolo, a psychiatrist, heads a centre specialising in anxiety and phobic disorders at Hôpital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière, in Paris. He is the author of Bien se soigner avec les médicaments psy (“Guides pour s’aider soi-même”, 2005) and Guide de psychologie de la vie quotidienne (edited by Christophe André, 2008).
Stéphane Roy is a clinical psychologist specialising in behavioural and cognitive therapies. He is the author of La Timidité, comment la surmonter (“Guides pour s’aider soi-même”, 2004).

Blushing deeply in public can cause embarrassment.
But an extreme fear of blushing, also known as ereutophobia, can rapidly turn into a handicap, and many sufferers dare not speak in public or even express an opinion. In many cases, related fears are also involved: fear of trembling, of perspiring or, more generally, of exposing oneself to the public eye. This seemingly banal disorder can disturb our psychological balance, the ability to adapt to the world, and educational and life choices. It can sometimes lead to depression, alcoholism and even suicide. People who suffer from this little-known disorder tend to hide it and to feel ashamed — with the result that ereutophobia is rarely treated.
And yet there are a number of effective treatments that use psychology and medication.
This self-help guide provides clear, concrete information to enable sufferers to treat their disorder with a unique method derived from the cognitive-behavioural therapies that the authors have used successfully to treat patients for many years. Step by step, it explains how to stop being afraid that other people are looking at us.


• This apparently minor matter can change lives.

• Personal anguish and lack of information have led some people suffering from ereutophobia to seek surgery as a solution, believing that an operation could suppress blushing.

• This is the first book on ereutophobia that combines scientific rigour with self-help advice.

• The major issues of personal development form the backdrop of this book: social anxiety, self-assertion, self-esteem, depression, controlling personalities, and sensitivity to criticism.