74 Don’t Let A nxiety Run Your Life
- Engaging in maladaptive coping behaviors (such
as excessive alcohol or drug use)
Anxious avoidance can also be characterized by the
degree to which you avoid anxiety- producing situations. In
many situations, it’s possible to fully or partially avoid
anxiety- producing situations (for example, refusing to f ly
altogether versus f lying only under the inf luence of calming
medications).
Practice Take a moment to assess the level and type of avoidance
you tend to employ in those situations in your life when you feel
most anxious. It may be helpful to write down situations or objects
in your life that make you feel anxious (such as “meeting new peo-
ple” or “door handles or knobs”). Then, take time to rate each one
according to how often you use avoidance (such as “85 percent of
the time” or “as often as possible”) and what kind of avoidance you
use (for example, “intentional avoidance; I stay at home as often as
possible and avoid talking to colleagues at work.”).
Why Do You Avoid?
In a recent study, researchers asked participants to think
of a specific time in their life when they felt happy and then to
specify an amount of money they would be willing to pay to
re-create that experience. Participants were then asked to
place a monetary value on re-creating other emotional expe-
riences ranging from positive (such as joy and calm) to nega-
tive (such as regret and fear). Not surprisingly, people were,
on average, willing to pay more money to experience positive
emotions than they were to avoid negative emotions. The
researchers then repeated their study with more participants