What are Safety Behaviors?
Safety behaviors play a crucial role in understanding and addressing anxiety disorders. These behaviors are specific actions and strategies people use to reduce or prevent distressful emotions and anxiety. While these behaviors may initially provide a sense of relief, they can ultimately reinforce and perpetuate anxiety, leading to a cycle of distress. Understanding the dynamics of safety behaviors is an essential part in learning how to manage anxiety effectively.
The Five Types of Safety Behaviors
Safety behaviors manifest in various forms, sometimes tailored to the specific fears and anxieties of individuals. These behaviors can be categorized into physical, cognitive, and avoidance-based strategies. Some of these behaviors can be obvious but others may need some detective work to know if they are happening. The five types of safety behaviors that reinforce anxiety are safety tricks, avoidance, reassurance seeking, rumination, and accommodation by others.
Safety Tricks
Safety tricks are additional actions that someone will take or not take it order to feel safe enough to face the triggering situation. For example, I will only go to school if mom walks me to my classroom or I will only turn in my homework if I know that it’s done perfectly. These behaviors are done with anxiety provoking triggers instead of attempting to eliminate or get away from them.
Avoidance
Avoidance is exactly what it sounds like, a child or teen may refuse to do something that will trigger the anxious response. It is the act of staying away from certain situations, people, or objects. It also includes not doing certain tasks, activities, or behaviors. For example, I will avoid going to school or I will avoid going to my friend’s house who has a dog.
Reassurance Seeking
Reassurance seeking is when a child or teen asks someone else for information related to their anxiety. These questions are for the purpose of feeling safe from fear. For example, a kid who is anxious about the weather might ask a parent if they think it is going to storm that day. This is different from information seeking. Information seeking is for understanding or learning without the driving factor being to alleviate distressful emotions.
Rumination
Rumination is when a child or teen is mentally trying to figure out the solution to a problem that cannot be solved. Unlike healthy problem solving, rumination does not lead to a helpful action. This can look like constant self-reassurance, mentally rehearsing potential threats, or overanalyzing situations to anticipate negative outcomes. For example, a child who is anxious about a presentation in class the next day may spend a significant amount of time in their mind trying to figure out how to make sure they don’t embarrass themselves. Rumination is a cognitive safety behavior and can be tricky to catch. Supporters can catch rumination by either asking questions on how much time their child thinks about this topic. Some kids will ruminate with others. If you notice this child excessively taking about a problem with others or with you, this may be a sign that they are ruminating.
Accommodation by Others
Accommodation is when well-intended parents, caregivers, or friends do something to try to help the child or teen reduce their anxiety. For example, a teen who is anxious about ordering food at a restaurant may have their parent order for them. This is an attempt to try to help someone feel better, however this is short term relief.
Conclusion
Safety behaviors are aimed at reducing perceived threats and creating a sense of safety in the immediate environment They serve to alleviate anxiety in the short term but contribute to its reinforcement in the long run. Understanding the diverse nature of safety behaviors is essential for comprehensively addressing various experiences with anxiety. By recognizing the specific types of safety behaviors individuals engage in, interventions can be tailored to effectively target and mitigate these behaviors. This fosters meaningful progress in anxiety management over time.
With courage and love,
Angela Springer, LCSW & Hayley Wyatt, LCSW
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