Why Safety Behaviours Maintain Anxiety (CBT)

In this video I explore the difference between safety behaviours and coping strategies and how to successfully treat anxiety using cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). Safety behaviours play a key role in the maintenance of anxiety.For example, Laura has a fear of spiders, she checks every room she enters, avoids going on holiday and never enters her garden. She is on guard all of the time. Or we can look at Graham who wears headphones in public, not to listen to music, but so people don’t talk to him. He fears he wouldn’t know what to say if someone started a conversation. Laura and Graham are using safety behaviours. By avoiding anxiety they have never learned how to effectively manage it.Using safety behaviours makes you feel less anxious in the moment but in the long term they become a trap that prevents you from living your life fully.

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🔵 CHAPTERS

0:00 What are safety behaviours?
1:06 What is the difference between safety behaviours and coping strategies
2:40 Christine Padesky's table of safety behaviours vs. coping strategies
3:17 The treatment for safety behaviours

🔵 WHAT IS THE DIFFERENT BETWEEN A SAFETY BEHAVIOUR AND A COPING STRATEGY?

Safety behaviours display some similarities to coping strategies so it’s important you can tell the difference. For example, Richard has social anxiety. He has been invited to a wedding so he asks his friend to accompany him. To discover if Richard is using a safety behaviour or a coping strategy we first need to discover it’s purpose. We can do this by asking, ‘Are you approaching or avoiding your anxiety?’ It’s therefore evident that Richard is approaching his anxiety rather than avoiding it. Therefore taking his friend to the wedding would be a good coping strategy in the short term. But it’s important Richard doesn’t see this as a long term strategy. He needs to do some work with his therapist so he can eventually go to social events on his own. If Richard was taking his friend to the wedding so that his friend does all the talking for him, this would be a safety behaviour, as it’s an avoidance mindset rather than an approach mindset.

🔵 TREATMENT FOR SAFETY BEHAVIOURS

Effective therapy involves learning to approach anxiety not avoid it. This means exposing yourself to the anxiety provoking situation in a gradual way. The learning provided via exposure actually helps rewire you amygdala, which is your brains alarm bell or fear centre. So by repeatedly exposing yourself to the anxiety provoking stimuli you are showing your amygdala that its actually quite safe. Your amygdala then begins to update and associate the previously feared situation with safety. Obviously this is a challenging form of treatment, but research has show its exactly what’s needed to rewire your amygdala. So the more you practice exposing your self to your anxieties the more likely your amygdala will respond in a calm manner. Because exposure can involve an initial spike in anxiety so I would strongly suggest you work with a psychological therapist.

🔵 ABOUT TERESA LEWIS

Teresa Lewis is the founder and Director of Lewis Psychology and a Senior Accredited psychotherapist with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (MBACP Snr. Accred). Qualified in 1995, Teresa has been providing counselling and psychotherapy treatment for nearly 30 years. Teresa holds a masters degree in counselling and psychotherapy and is a qualified EMDR Practitioner having completed training accredited with EMDR Europe. Teresa is also a qualified adult educator and an accredited Mindfulness teacher As a recognised expert in her field Teresa is frequently asked to conduct editorial reviews and endorse counselling and psychotherapy books for international publishing houses.

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🔵 GRAPHICS AND THUMBNAIL

Thumbnail and B-Roll graphics designed by Teresa Lewis. B-Roll video is used in strict compliance with the appropriate permissions and licenses required from Pexels.com and Canva.com in accordance with the YouTube Partner Program, Community guidelines and YouTube terms of service.

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@come.tothinkoffit 2 years ago

I've done ERP as part of OCD and anxiety treatment. I'd definitely advise people to try it. It's not at all pleasant for obvious reasons but ultimately it will enrich your life. Thanks Teresa.

@ankaslab 2 years ago

And this in a lifetime of accidents, traumas and learning safety behaviors from bad environments can be a challenge to rewire that amygdala.

@suejaneuk1681 1 year ago

I always try to face my fears and not let the anxiety win. I am not always successful but try. I am a very nervous person but with the help of medication, I am able to get up in the morning. I could never have therapy though. This is really not for me. I know medication isn't the answer but it aids me. Four months ago, my anxiety and panic attacks were out of control but now with HRT, antidepressants and diazepam, I'm almost back to being me.

@reneestar1221 2 years ago

I have complex PTSD and have a fear of being harmed/kidnapped/trafficked/killed if I go out into the world...so, the way to fix this paranoia is to go out into the world anyways?

@sobaanmohammed3304 11 months ago

Would breathing exercises during an exposure, to keep calm, be a safety behaviour?