Avoidance Increases Anxiety

Avoidance is an important concept to help us understand why our anxiety is maintained and increases.Take the situation of somebody with agoraphobic tendencies who rushes home after feeling panicky in a supermarket.A number of things happen. First of all, their immediate anxiety goes down. Second, the unconscious message stampled in is, "The only way I can cope with these situations is to avoid them". Finally, when faced with the same situation-the supermarket- in the future, anxiety will rise quickly and severely.

This happens to the agoraphobic with a panic attack,but also applies to the obsessive checker, who avoids anxiety by giving in to the compulsion to check the door locks.
Each time we avoid the situation and our anxiety successfully, we make it more likely that the next time the feared situation crops up, we will avoid it again.
What should happen if you remained in the situation you fear? Would your anxiety increase, stay the same, or decrease? Most people reply when asked this question "increase" or "stay the same". They generally fear that if their anxiety goes on increasing. something terrible will happen- they will pass out,be slick, collapse, have a heart attack, or go mad. We know from experience and experiments on anxiety that after a certain time it begins to decrease of its own accord.If you leave the situation quickly, you will never find this out.

Summary-Anxiety and How to Deal With It !

What can you do to get better?

1   Understand the process and how anxiety persists because of a spiralling vicious circle between physical symptoms, worrying thoughts and changes in behaviour.
2   Break into this vicious circle by learning new skills:
 
      (a)  Physical symptoms can be reduced by learning relaxation or controlled breathing
      (b)  Mental symptoms i.e., worry,can be combatted by a combination of identifying and challenging worrying thoughts and replacing them with positive ones,and/or   distracting yourself.
      (c)   Behavioural changes can be altered by deliberately changing your behaviour and going back into difficult situations in a gradual step-by-step fashion.
3   Make  alterations to your lifestyle and so manage successfully the amount of stress you put yourself under. This might involve learning to be more assertive, managing your time better,breaking unhelpful habits or learning other new skills.