Why Your Anxiety Won’t Go Away
When I was a kid, I loved collecting water expanding toys, aka “capsule critters.” They’re not as popular now but were a BIG deal in the 80s, you just have to trust me. There’s an entire reddit thread about these!
For those that don’t know, they came in small, colorful capsules. When you submerged them in water, they would “grow” into a random assortment of items like dinosaurs, animals, shapes, you get the idea.
I have fond memories of putting coins into the prize machines at the skating rink, anticipating which shapes would emerge after dunking them in the sink. I was always so fascinated that something so small could grow into something larger, taking on a completely different shape.
These toys provide a visual representation of what happens when we never learn how to confront and cope with our anxiety triggers.
The anxiety starts small.
The anxiety is contained within one area of our lives.
Overtime, the anxiety grows and takes on unpredictable shapes.
Disclaimer: There are some dangers that require complete avoidance. Our anxiety is justified in telling us to get away ASAP! I will never advocate for putting yourself in a dangerous situation to treat your anxiety.
However, if there is no threat to your safety, and your primary coping skill is avoidance, your anxiety will not go away. It’s called the Cycle of Avoidance and it works like this:
Something happens.
You feel anxious.
You avoid or move away from the trigger.
You immediately feel less anxious.
Something similar happens.
Your anxiety is even worse before.
You avoid or move away from the trigger.
You immediately feel less anxious.
You determine that avoiding the trigger works.
The long-term anxiety is maintained.
Breaking the cycle looks like this:
Something happens.
You feel anxious.
You confront the trigger and the anxiety grows.
Over time the anxiety reduces.
You realize that confrontation is uncomfortable yet possible.
Something similar happens.
You feel less anxious than before because you’ve dealt with this before.
Lingering anxiety reduces.
You realize that you can cope with this.
The long-term anxiety is reduced.
If you’re wanting to see a reduction in your symptoms, consider whether or not your avoidance is undermining your goals.
This blog post does not take the place of working with a licensed professional- please seek professional help as needed.
It’s important to note that the treatment for OCD anxiety is different than treating generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). If you are working with a therapist to treat your OCD, it will not be enough to expose yourself to triggers. Exposure and Response Prevention, the gold standard of OCD treatment, is a type of CBT therapy that involves exposing the client to the triggers and preventing the compulsions that maintain the OCD. For more information about this, please see link below:
