Anxiety Safety Behaviors
- posted: Jul. 20, 2023
Common examples of anxiety safety behaviors include:
1. Avoidance: Avoiding situations, places, or activities that trigger anxiety. For example, someone with social anxiety might avoid parties or social gatherings.
2. Reassurance-seeking: Constantly seeking reassurance from others to reduce anxiety. This might involve repeatedly asking others if everything is okay or seeking validation for one's actions or decisions.
3. Checking: Frequently checking things or situations to ensure safety and prevent potential negative outcomes. For instance, someone with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) might repeatedly check if doors are locked or appliances are turned off.
4. Rituals and Compulsions: Engaging in repetitive behaviors or rituals as an attempt to reduce anxiety. This can be seen in individuals with OCD who may have specific rituals they feel compelled to perform.
5. Avoiding triggers: Steer clear of any stimuli that might provoke anxiety. This could involve avoiding certain movies, news, or topics of conversation.
Edit ImageHow to Reduce Your Reliance on Safety Behaviors
Here are some steps to reduce your reliance on safety behaviors:
1. Assess your safety behaviors. Ask yourself what types of situations or things tend to cause you anxiety. Then, be mindful of your behaviors to manage the situation. If you are unsure if it is a productive or unproductive behavior, you can ask yourself, if someone didn’t have issues with anxiety, would they be doing this behavior? If the answer is no, it’s probably a behavior that would be helpful to work on reducing.
2. Ask yourself about what you value. How have your anxiety and related safety behaviors gotten in the way of the things you find important and meaningful? Do you want to be in a relationship but avoid dating apps and social situations where you might meet someone? Do you value being healthy but avoid going to the doctor’s office for fear of getting bad news? Being aware of your values can help motivate you to make changes.
3. Reduce your safety behaviors. Consider which safety behaviors you could reduce or eliminate. Consider the easiest to address if you engage in several safety behaviors. You can also work on delaying urges to do a safety behavior. For example, if you want to check the locks or search for a symptom online, ask yourself if you can delay it for at least a few minutes. Then you can work your way up from there. If you pay too much attention to body sensations, you could work on redirecting your attention to something outside of your body. You can also set small goals for yourself. For example, if you want to avoid a work-related networking event, you could tell yourself that you only have to go for a half hour.
4. Give yourself positive reinforcement. Make sure you acknowledge any changes you can make, no matter how small. If you give into using a safety behavior, rather than berate yourself, ask yourself what got in your way and what you can do differently next time.
Although safety behaviors may provide temporary relief, they contribute to anxiety disorders by reinforcing feared situations as dangerous or intolerable. Over time, individuals may become more reliant on these safety behaviors, making it harder for them to confront and overcome their anxieties. If you or someone you know is struggling with anxiety, consider seeking help from a mental health professional for proper evaluation and treatment.
Our mental resilience is an evolving system — constantly adapting to our circumstances and how we make use of our abilities. We thank you for your interest in our articles. We are located in Orlando, and we accept new patients all across the state of Florida ages 5-70 years old. We have Telehealth and In-Office appointments available. The insurances we accept are as follows: Blue Cross Blue Shield, Aetna, Medicare, United Healthcare, UMR, Beacon, Tricare, Sunshine, Simply Healthcare, etc.
All new patients are required to fill and submit respective forms (Adult or child) located on our website.
For a limited time, we are offering free initial consultations. A request form can be found on our home page at the bottom.
Kind regards,
Sakina Mind Behavioral Health and Team
Contact Us Today!
- posted: Jul. 20, 2023
Common examples of anxiety safety behaviors include:
1. Avoidance: Avoiding situations, places, or activities that trigger anxiety. For example, someone with social anxiety might avoid parties or social gatherings.
2. Reassurance-seeking: Constantly seeking reassurance from others to reduce anxiety. This might involve repeatedly asking others if everything is okay or seeking validation for one's actions or decisions.
3. Checking: Frequently checking things or situations to ensure safety and prevent potential negative outcomes. For instance, someone with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) might repeatedly check if doors are locked or appliances are turned off.
4. Rituals and Compulsions: Engaging in repetitive behaviors or rituals as an attempt to reduce anxiety. This can be seen in individuals with OCD who may have specific rituals they feel compelled to perform.
5. Avoiding triggers: Steer clear of any stimuli that might provoke anxiety. This could involve avoiding certain movies, news, or topics of conversation.
Edit ImageHow to Reduce Your Reliance on Safety Behaviors
Here are some steps to reduce your reliance on safety behaviors:
1. Assess your safety behaviors. Ask yourself what types of situations or things tend to cause you anxiety. Then, be mindful of your behaviors to manage the situation. If you are unsure if it is a productive or unproductive behavior, you can ask yourself, if someone didn’t have issues with anxiety, would they be doing this behavior? If the answer is no, it’s probably a behavior that would be helpful to work on reducing.
2. Ask yourself about what you value. How have your anxiety and related safety behaviors gotten in the way of the things you find important and meaningful? Do you want to be in a relationship but avoid dating apps and social situations where you might meet someone? Do you value being healthy but avoid going to the doctor’s office for fear of getting bad news? Being aware of your values can help motivate you to make changes.
3. Reduce your safety behaviors. Consider which safety behaviors you could reduce or eliminate. Consider the easiest to address if you engage in several safety behaviors. You can also work on delaying urges to do a safety behavior. For example, if you want to check the locks or search for a symptom online, ask yourself if you can delay it for at least a few minutes. Then you can work your way up from there. If you pay too much attention to body sensations, you could work on redirecting your attention to something outside of your body. You can also set small goals for yourself. For example, if you want to avoid a work-related networking event, you could tell yourself that you only have to go for a half hour.
4. Give yourself positive reinforcement. Make sure you acknowledge any changes you can make, no matter how small. If you give into using a safety behavior, rather than berate yourself, ask yourself what got in your way and what you can do differently next time.
Although safety behaviors may provide temporary relief, they contribute to anxiety disorders by reinforcing feared situations as dangerous or intolerable. Over time, individuals may become more reliant on these safety behaviors, making it harder for them to confront and overcome their anxieties. If you or someone you know is struggling with anxiety, consider seeking help from a mental health professional for proper evaluation and treatment.
Our mental resilience is an evolving system — constantly adapting to our circumstances and how we make use of our abilities. We thank you for your interest in our articles. We are located in Orlando, and we accept new patients all across the state of Florida ages 5-70 years old. We have Telehealth and In-Office appointments available. The insurances we accept are as follows: Blue Cross Blue Shield, Aetna, Medicare, United Healthcare, UMR, Beacon, Tricare, Sunshine, Simply Healthcare, etc.
All new patients are required to fill and submit respective forms (Adult or child) located on our website.
For a limited time, we are offering free initial consultations. A request form can be found on our home page at the bottom.
Kind regards,
Sakina Mind Behavioral Health and Team
Contact Us Today!
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