We are all guilty of avoiding difficult conversations with friends, finishing our household chores, or taking the initiative to complete a difficult work project that nobody wants to tackle — sounds familiar, right? As humans, we tend to adopt avoidant behaviors and tendencies in order to deal with an uncomfortable, unpleasant, or difficult situation. 

Psychologically, avoidance is a coping mechanism for indirectly dealing with chronic and acute life stressors. However, this may actually increase chronic and acute life stressors when we begin to adopt avoidant behaviors and tendencies in our everyday lives. It is important, therefore, that we distinguish between healthy and unhealthy coping mechanisms. In today’s episode, we discuss how ruminations are examples of unhelpful coping mechanisms that we may consciously or unconsciously use to avoid tackling a tough issue. We also speak about procrastination as another form of avoidance. 

Interested in learning more? Join us as we discuss some of our personal favorite stories surrounding the topic of avoidance, including its psychological implications as a coping mechanism and how avoidant tendencies may advance both chronic and acute stressors. 

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, or on your favorite podcast platform

Topics Covered:

• Why avoidance is defined as a safety-seeking behavior in psychology
• How depression can be manifested from avoidant behaviors/tendencies
• Some of our personal experiences confronting a problem or dealing with a stressor
• The role of avoidance coping in generating both chronic and acute life stressors
• How distraction is considered to be a subtle form of an avoidant behavior

Resources Mentioned:

• psychologytools.com
• verywellmind.com

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