Like diagnosed anxiety and phobias, I’m not just talking about small stuff like asking out your crush etc.
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Avoidance is what perpetuates anxiety disorders. You’re scared of social situations where people will judge you negatively – when you go to that party, your anxiety level escalates, your heart beats faster, your breaths are shallower, you feel like you’re going to throw up. You then escape by going to the toilet, your anxiety level reduces a little – now you have taught your brain “social situations are really dangerous. I could have died. Thank god I got out in time! Next time I’ll avoid it even earlier to prevent this feeling from happening again”
Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) uses exposure therapy where you instead learn to tolerate the feeling of anxiety so your brain instead gets the message “that was really hard but I got through it. Nothing bad happened to me. I can do this”. The exposure is done in a graded manner so it’s not too overwhelming to push through the anxiety. You start with something less stressful and then build your way up
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