They are the moments that jolt you into awareness. You’re minding your own business, and all of a sudden, you’re reminded of how mortified you felt at that moment, weeks, months, or even years ago. Embarrassing moments can still carry the same emotional weight as they did in the moment they were happening. It’s the brain’s way of telling us not to make the same mistake twice.
The good news is that you don’t have to suffer at the hands of embarrassing moments, and over time, their power over your psychological state will start to diminish.
Reliving Embarrassing Moments
The brain is programmed to respond to negative threats, so we’re more likely to relive negative memories out of nowhere, all in an effort to avoid making the same mistakes again, says David Hallford, a clinical psychologist at Deakin University in Victoria, Australia.
