The subtle thing that fuels anxiety - Avoidance - Break the Anxiety Cycle in 30 Days 4/30
Therapy in a Nutshell・18 minutes read
Chronic anxiety stems from prolonged avoidance of perceived danger, escalating anxious feelings and preventing a return to safety. The solution involves understanding the nervous system, limiting negative media exposure, engaging in physical tasks, and facing anxiety instead of avoiding it.
Insights
- Failure to address anxiety triggers can lead to chronic anxiety due to the brain's tendency to escalate anxious feelings when avoidance is employed, preventing the return to a sense of safety.
- Encourages breaking the anxiety cycle by engaging in physical tasks, limiting exposure to negative media, and creating physical reminders of accomplishments to soothe the nervous system and achieve satisfaction, emphasizing the importance of facing anxiety rather than avoiding it to demonstrate safety and capability to the brain.
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Recent questions
How does chronic anxiety develop?
Chronic anxiety develops when individuals fail to close the loop on their anxiety, leading to prolonged states of anxiety and immobilization. This occurs when people avoid facing their fears or perceived dangers, which upregulates anxiety in the brain and intensifies anxious feelings. Humans are skilled at imagining threats and using complex methods to escape discomfort, perpetuating anxiety. While avoidance may provide short-term relief, it ultimately escalates anxiety by preventing the return to a sense of safety.
What are the effects of avoidance on anxiety?
Avoidance of perceived danger leads to an upregulation of anxiety in the brain, intensifying anxious feelings. Humans excel at avoidance, contributing to increased anxiety levels. While avoidance may provide short-term relief, it prevents the closure of the fear loop and the return to a sense of safety, ultimately perpetuating anxiety.
How can individuals break the anxiety cycle?
To break the anxiety cycle, individuals can understand and soothe their nervous system, limit exposure to negative media, and engage in more physical tasks to achieve satisfaction and completion. Creating physical reminders of accomplishments or safety, like checking off a to-do list or engaging in physical activities, can help in breaking the anxiety cycle.
What are some solutions to combat anxiety?
Solutions to combat anxiety include understanding and soothing the nervous system, limiting exposure to negative media, and engaging in more physical tasks to achieve satisfaction and completion. Encouraging activities like playing outside, engaging in risky activities, solving physical problems, and building or fixing things can help develop problem-solving skills and combat anxiety.
How does avoidance contribute to anxiety levels?
Avoidance mechanisms, such as distraction, gossip, or numbing, aim to evade initial feelings of anxiety and lack of safety, ultimately amplifying anxiety levels. By avoiding facing anxiety-provoking situations or emotions, individuals prevent the brain from recognizing safety and capability, leading to increased anxiety levels in the long run.
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Summary
00:00
Breaking the Anxiety Cycle: Understanding and Solutions
- Our brains and bodies react strongly to perceived danger with the fight/flight/freeze response, but also return to safety after resolving the danger.
- Chronic anxiety arises when individuals fail to close the loop on their anxiety, leading to prolonged states of anxiety and immobilization.
- Humans excel at avoidance, which contributes to increased anxiety levels.
- Avoidance of perceived danger leads to upregulation of anxiety in the brain, intensifying anxious feelings.
- Humans are adept at imagining threats and using complex methods to escape discomfort, perpetuating anxiety.
- Avoidance provides short-term relief but escalates anxiety in the long run by preventing the return to a sense of safety.
- Anxiety is characterized by a cold, frozen, dread response, hovering between the fight/flight/freeze and shutdown responses.
- Modern technology contributes to the perception of increased danger, despite the world being safer than ever.
- Immobilization and anxiety are exacerbated by the lack of physical tasks in modern life, making it challenging to close the fear loop.
- Solutions to break the anxiety cycle include understanding and soothing the nervous system, limiting exposure to negative media, and engaging in more physical tasks to achieve satisfaction and completion.
12:14
"Overcoming Anxiety: Embrace Challenges, Avoid Avoidance"
- Encourages creating physical reminders of accomplishments or safety, like checking off a to-do list or engaging in physical activities.
- Suggests letting kids play outside, engage in risky activities, solve physical problems, and build or fix things to develop problem-solving skills.
- Highlights the first reason for anxiety: the ability to perceive danger when actually safe, and hints at methods to decrease perceived danger.
- Discusses the second reason for anxiety: the ease of avoidance through distractions like phones, leading to a lack of emotional problem-solving skills.
- Explores various forms of avoidance, such as procrastination, distraction, and perfectionism, all contributing to increased anxiety levels.
- Advocates for facing anxiety by sitting with feelings, choosing actions, and avoiding avoidance behaviors to show the brain safety and capability.
- Illustrates how avoidance mechanisms, like distraction, gossip, or numbing, aim to evade initial feelings of anxiety and lack of safety, ultimately amplifying anxiety levels.
