I couldn't relate more to your comment, actually. This was me one year ago.

First thing I would say though is that what made it easier for me is practice. Give yourself time to get use to the concept of talking about yourself. The first essay (common app) I wrote was very mechanical and was more about my interests than myself. I played around with different examples, slowly getting closer to some of my personal things. As I was able to get more personal, my 'thesis' so to speak also changed. It became that personal essay rather than that English class essay. It's a bit magical, but practice makes it easier to do.

Next thing I would say is that get people who you trust to read it/edit it, they will not judge you for the personal things. Forget about the admissions officers. I'm 99.9% sure you will never meet them and even so they will never confront you about whatever you write.

Also, see what you can gain from the process. The essay process became a bit of a personal journey in itself, a bit of self-realization. To explain, I have a physical disability, and the last thing I am is proud of it. It killed my self-confidence. My number one goal was to hide it, if I could. This dumb college essay thing allowed me to realize that this disability sucks, but it's still part of who I am and I can do what I love even though I have it. I included it in my common app after 5 drafts...I was so scared. Try to think of the positives of something like this even though you are doing something that makes you feel really uncomfortable.

Good Luck !!