Sweating, everyone does it, but it's not fun for everyone. Sweating can even be a cause of a phobia. For example, you may have a fear of sweating in front of other people. The mere thought of it makes you break out in a cold sweat, so if you are such a person I hope you are reading this on your own right now.
To make sure you reduce this fear so you can read a text about sweating again without worry and also meet with people without worry in hot weather or during something involving exercise, in this blog we will discuss sweating and how to reduce the fear of it.
There are many reasons why you may have a fear of sweating in front of other people. Perhaps you suffer from excessive sweating when you exercise and this used to be cause for bullying or teasing during gym class. Or the smell of your sweat is not pleasant and you don't want to appear "dirty" either. Not even in the gym where it always smells a little salty from sweat.
Whatever the cause and whether you fear sweat in others or the smell of it. We take a brief look at the benefits sweat has for your body.
Cause of sweating and what to do about it
Not everyone sweats equally and therefore not everyone sweats for exactly the same reasons, but there are causes that can result in sweating for everyone.
Heat and moisture in the air can cause you to sweat more. Sweat, in fact, has the function of cooling your body. Especially if there is also a lot of moisture in the air during a hot day, as is often the case in the Netherlands, little rivers of sweat can form on your back, face and shoulders. Very annoying, but for many Dutch people a recognizable situation. You can't really do much about this except use an antiperspirant deodorant.
For many people, exercise is another reason why sweat occurs. The movement creates friction in your body, which in turn raises your body temperature. This causes you to sweat to cool your temperature again. Air conditioning in your gym is therefore very important if you don't want to sweat there. You can also exercise early in the morning or in the evening when it is cool and the sun has no or less influence on the temperature outside.
Strong feelings, such as anxiety, can also cause sweating. So if you have a fear of sweating on other people, that fear can cause additional sweating. Very unpleasant. Emotions such as anger, love and stress also cause you to sweat in some cases. This can explain why you have those sweaty hands during that cute date, or just during a job interview.
Spicy foods can also make you sweat. You know that feeling of that sweaty upper lip, or mustache, when you've just had spicy Indian or Mexican food? The easiest solution to this is to eat less spicy food. If you go to a restaurant just choose sweet instead of spicy.
Then when you go out to dinner, it's best to leave the booze out too. In fact, alcoholic beverages can also cause you to sweat more than usual.
Why am I sweating so fast (and a lot)
Some people have a predisposition to sweat quickly or a lot. For example, your DNA comes from colder countries, and then you sweat relatively faster than people born for that climate. Have you ever seen a Spaniard in Spain sweating like a Dutch tourist?
There are also other reasons why you may suffer from sweating, such as being affected by menopause or due to a medical cause.
These may include:
- Thyroid Problems
- Diabetes
- Overweight
- Hyperhidrosis
If you sweat a lot and also if it happens suddenly, it is wise to see a doctor to make sure you do not have a medical cause that needs to be resolved.
Excessive sweating
The good news, though, is that excessive sweating is generally not caused by diabetes and/or thyroid problems.
You suffer from excessive sweating when you sweat when it doesn't make sense. You are not suffering from hot weather, no strong emotions, nor are you currently eating spicy foods, yet you are sweating. This can be localized on your body, such as under the armpits, or just all over your body.
Usually people have a genetic predisposition to this or it may be due to the nervous system not functioning quite as it should.
On the contrary, if you are sweating excessively all over your body, it is extra important to do see a doctor, as this is more likely to have a medical cause.
What to do about fear of sweating
As you have read, sweating is very normal and even healthy for your body. If sweat does not cool your body you can become dangerously hot. This is very bad for your brain, for example.
The fear of sweating in front of other people is often a social fear. Social fears are often caused by beliefs one has about "how other people think about something." For example, you think that other people only want to see beautiful people and so you put on makeup before you go out the door.
Confronting fear
Fear of sweating in public is treated, among other things, with cognitive behavioral therapy. Among other things, confrontation with that fear is a technique to reduce it.
Situations in which fear may come up should then be put in order from very scared, to less scared. So for example, sweating in the gym may be something you are less afraid of than sweating on a date.
Hypnosis for faster treatment
Research also shows that hypnosis can support cognitive behavioral therapy. The therapy then works faster, which also reduces your anxiety.
Figuring out the logic of fear
Another way hypnosis can help stop this fear is to find out if beliefs about sweating are causing you to suffer from an illogical fear. For example, if you do not suffer from excessive sweating, this fear is often illogical, and even with excessive sweating, this fear does not have to be there.
Through a good conversation under hypnosis, the hypnotherapist can help you figure out what thoughts and beliefs are bothering you.
Then you can get hypnotic suggestions to stop these types of thought processes.
Another way to uncover and break through the logic of fear is to examine more closely the event that led to the fear. One way to do this is with regression therapy.
As mentioned, the cause of anxiety may be from high school days, or even elementary school days, in which you were once told that you sweat like a healthy person when you physically exert yourself or when it is a hot day.
This may have created a belief that it is not socially acceptable to sweat.
This is nonsense, of course, and you may already understand this rationally, but how you feel just doesn't work with that.
By looking at events with different eyes during hypnosis, you can bring your rational side and your emotional side into greater alignment.
Mindfulness to reduce fear of sweating
Another way to reduce anxiety is to use mindfulness . In fact, social anxiety is characterized in thoughts that are about something that is not happening. Expectations about being laughed at, expectations about not being accepted and other unpleasant expectations are often the cause of anxiety.
Those expectations manifest themselves in thoughts and fantasies about what will happen when you sweat in front of others, and those thoughts in turn can create additional anxiety that actually causes you to sweat.
Through mindfulness, you are actually trying to keep your thoughts in the here and now. So you feel, see and hear what is happening, and if you do notice that you are beginning to fantasize about negative expectations, you can shake off that thought by naming it and then focusing back on the here and now.
You can capture that focus by paying attention to your breathing in the first place. If you direct your breathing as well, it can keep your mind even better in the here and now. Along with that, there are other techniques from mindfulness and other mental studies that you can use to calm down when you get anxious.
Want to learn more about mental techniques to reduce anxiety? Then come to a seminar or check out Hypnosis Institute Netherlands' training courses.
Sources:
http://www.webmd.boots.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/guide/8-reasons-you-sweat
http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/features/is-your-excessive-sweating-caused-by-a-medical-problem#1
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0005796793900675
