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Tempts t1_j9620fj wrote

Reply to comment by randa_panda in Reflexive fear responses tend to linger in people with anxiety disorders, study suggests by chrisdh79

Because avoidance isn’t “handling” anything. It makes your anxiety worse. That is science and it is proven. The exception is if something just isn’t or doesn’t need to be part of your life. I am not suited to being a skydiver or one of those squirrel suit people. But that’s never going to come up. My fear of glass elevators was coming up all the time. I had to work on that.

Source: I’m a psychotherapist that specializes in the treatment of anxiety and OCD.

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randa_panda t1_j9636qn wrote

I not saying I avoid stuff that causes anxiety that i need to do, just that people in my life don’t understand that I still feel anxious and awful after completing a task. My mom always goes ‘you should feel accomplished and better now that it’s over’. No I don’t and she can’t wrap her head around it. What I mean by handling it Is I have a support system and focus on breathing and other techniques to get myself through the tough times. I still do things that make me anxious, just with certain ‘tools’ that people without anxiety wouldn’t need and it took me a few years to figure out what works for me.

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[deleted] t1_j99gji5 wrote

If you're functional and happy its ok to "avoid" optional things as its just another way to say "having a boundary".

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