Why Avoiding Situations Causes More Anxiety and How to Break the Cycle

Avoiding the situations that make you nervous will only make you comfortable for a short period of time. The more times you avoid a situation, the more anxious you become the next time you face it. Why is this? Your anxiety heightens because you have virtually no practice with the situation. You lack practice because you keep avoiding it!

This is a normal feeling and tendency for humans to avoid new situations that seem scary. Children act this way to keep themselves safe and hopefully, an adult they trust encourages them to push pass their own nerves. But who helps an adult move pass their fears and try something new? That’s where I come in!

As an Anxiety Coach, I understand the feeling of uncertainty and the crippling effect that anxiety can have on someone’s well being. Through talking it out, mindfulness techniques, and changing your thinking patterns, you can learn how to push pass your nerves toward more joyful and productive moments. I operate on the belief that practice really does make perfect.

~Angela Zender, Anxiety Coach at The Lighthouse Emotional Wellness Center