Even “good” or “socially acceptable” activities can be used to avoid powerful emotions. Some of the items on this list are more acceptable that others in our society. We rationalize them, even in excess.
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Trying to suppress, control, or avoid emotions maintains and usually intensifies emotional distress.
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When someone says, “I am just so busy with work! I don’t have any time for my (suffering) marriage or my children”…we’re more apt to forgive and rationalize. We think, “they’re working so hard! It’s ok!”
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When someone is numbing or avoiding through sex or drugs, the judgment flies.
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Avoidance leads us to the same place.
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Distress, discomfort, and anxiety are all a guaranteed part of life. Emotional avoidance is often only a temporary and superficial “solution.” Emotion avoidance reinforces the idea that discomfort/distress/anxiety is “bad” or “dangerous.” It reduces your ability to face and tolerate necessary pain.
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It also requires a TON of energy, leaving you feeling exhausted. It starts to take more and more to cover up the difficult emotion.
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Avoidance is not the same as distraction. Many distraction techniques have proven to be useful in the moment and allow for greater emotional processing. Avoidance is devoid of acceptance. It is a quest to numb, eliminate, and deny that the feeling is even happening.
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Emotion avoidance often doesn’t work. When you tell yourself not to think about something, you have to think about not thinking about it. When you try to avoid an emotion, you often end up feeling it anyway. And usually it’s 10x worse.
- Identify 1 or 2 difficult emotions that tend to pop up in your life.
- What strategies do you typically use to avoid this emotion?
- There are always advantages (pros) for avoidance. Write down a couple of reasons why this avoidance is good. It’s important to validate that there is often a short lived, positive effect from emotion avoidance.
- Now write down any cons of this emotional avoidance. Has it caused any pain?
Who else is an avoider?
✨ Avoidance behaviors are any actions a person takes to escape from difficult thoughts and feelings.
✨ One of the most common experiences in life is feeling uneasy about a situation, and the most common reaction to anxiety is to avoid the situation.
✨ This avoidance is self-sabotage.
✨ Think about it, have you ever walked away from an important goal because it was just too hard to face your fears?
✨ I know I have!
✨ If you are someone dealing with panic and anxiety, you may already be familiar with acting out of avoidance.
✨ This same situation comes up in all facets of life from jobs to relationships.
✨ You have a choice: conquer your anxiety, or let it control you!
✨ Once you realize that you are avoiding due to anxiety, the next step is to force yourself to face that fear and see the situation through.
✨ It helps to remember that even if the situation doesn't work out the way you hoped, it isn't the end of the world and mistakes can actually provide a valuable learning experience!
✨ What situations do you avoid due to anxiety?
✨ COMMENT BELOW!
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@soulspacepsych
I will duck and dodge behind any & everything I can to avoid small talk. I know I’m not the only one Follow| Like | Comment @the_introvertlife -
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#introvertsbelike #nosmalltalk #theintrovertlife #introversion #avoidance #antisocialsocialclub #introverted #introvertproblems #introverting #selectivelysocial #introvert #theintrovertlife #introversion #introverted #introvertstruggle
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#narcissisticabuse #narcopath #Narcissisticabuserecovery #narcissisticabuseexpert #youcantchangethem #itsnotyourfault #avoidance #notaccountable #noresponseisaresponse #noresponsibility #leaveandnevercomeback #brighteroutlookcounsellingservice #onlinecounseling #counselor #nova #therapist
Emotions are hard wired to help us survive. Emotions have embedded within them adaptive action potential to help us make choices based on our needs and environment.
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When we shut ourselves down from feeling our emotions, that means she shut down from our needs. We also shut down from our experiences of ourself, our environment, and our relationships.
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Our lives become very small, and we stop being able to grow out of our comfort zones. We live our day to day with a lot of "do not enter" areas that prevent us from being spontaneous and open to our experience.
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Emotions - even difficult or "negative" ones - when they can be felt, actually allow us to feel more authentically us, connected to our internal experience, our experience with others, and our sense of what we need.
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Emotions are very important data. They are not just superfluous things to avoid or an example of being “so extra". Listen to them, they will let you know when something is needing your attention.
Avoiding your triggers isn't healing. Healing happens when you're triggered and you're able to move through the pain, the pattern, and the story... and walk your way to a different ending.
-Vienna Pharaon
*********************************************#triggers #avoidance #healing #differentending #yourstory #brave #warrior #survivor #divorce #cptsd #cptsdsurvivor #trauma #rise #grace
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