Understanding Avoidance as a Strategy to Manage Anxiety

Anxiety is a common emotional response that can feel overwhelming, leading many to adopt avoidance as an easy, "go to" coping mechanism. While it offers temporary relief, avoidance can reinforce anxiety long-term. We're examining avoidance in managing anxiety and its potential consequences.

What is Avoidance?

Avoidance involves behaviors and thoughts to evade anxiety-inducing situations, such as:

Physical Avoidance: Avoiding places, people, or activities that trigger anxiety.
Cognitive Avoidance: Distracting from anxious thoughts through denial or rationalization.
Procrastination: Delaying anxiety-inducing tasks like public speaking.

Why Do We Use Avoidance?

Reasons for using avoidance include:

Immediate Relief: Quick relief from anxiety symptoms (we instantly feel better).
Fear of Negative Outcomes: Avoidance as protection from potential negative experiences (people do not like to feel uncomfortable feelings).
Lack of Coping Skills: Limited coping strategies make avoidance seem viable, and helpful, when it prolongs the suffering and creates new problems.

The Short-Term Benefits of Avoidance

Short-term benefits of avoidance include:

Reduced Anxiety: Decreased anxiety by avoiding triggers (feeling better, which is what we all want).
Increased Control: Sense of control over environment and emotions (avoiding something by choice gives us a false sense of security over the unknown).

The Long-Term Consequences of Avoidance

Long-term effects of avoidance include:

Increased Anxiety: Heightened sensitivity to triggers over time (over time, our anxiety increases, causing us to use more and more avoidance as a behavior choice).
Limited Personal Growth: Hindrance to personal development and resilience (if we rely upon avoidance to avoid feeling anxious, we never overcome our fear and we live smaller and smaller lives, taking fewer chances and limiting our choices).
Isolation: Social withdrawal and loneliness.

Strategies to Overcome Avoidance

Strategies to break avoidance include:

Gradual Exposure: Gradually facing feared situations to reduce anxiety triggers (please note it will be uncomfortable at first, and fear will still be present, but your goal is retraining your mind to overcome that fear).
Mindfulness and Relaxation Techniques: Staying present to manage anxiety without avoidance (staying grounded, reminding yourself of your body, your surroundings, and your breathing).
Seeking Professional Help: Therapy, like CBT, to address avoidance behaviors (this is something I have a lot of experience with, and I am here to help -- not to judge).

Conclusion

Avoidance offers short-term relief but can lead to long-term challenges. Understanding avoidance and adopting strategies to confront anxiety can foster healthier coping and well-being. Facing fears gradually helps reclaim control and reduce anxiety's impact.

And to help clients learn new behaviors, using a lot of different tools and techniques. And with a good amount of understanding, kindness, and going at a pace that seems safe for our clients.

If you would like help with your avoidance, reach out. It's something I treat frequently and understand completely. Let me help you understand it better too.