Avoidance of anxiety provoking situations give us short-term relief, we feel better and our anxiety reduces because we avoid the situation that is making us feel anxious, HOWEVER… this avoidance in the long-term makes us feel worse, with our anxiety more intense, as we are never promoting our confidence through the experience of situations, which can help us realise that it wasn’t as bad as we expected or even better, something good was the outcome!

The aim would be for you to ultimately view challenges as an opportunity to embrace.

If we start by exploring some social situations that many people find to be anxiety provoking – can you relate to any of these or add to this list?

‘eating and drinking in public/with others’
‘getting on public transport’
‘making a presentation or speaking in front of others’
‘asserting yourself to others’
‘saying no’
‘walking into busy public spaces (including lecture theatres)’
‘making a phone call’
‘interacting with strangers’
‘dealing with conflict’

It can be helpful for you to make a list of situations which cause you anxiety and make you want to avoid these situations – if you can score the list with the highest score for the situation that induces the most stress/anxiety from you.

Are there situations on your list that you simply can’t avoid because they are part of your course/programme or your job etc?