Is it healthier for me to ignore and stay away from what causes my anxiety or to confront it?
31 Answers
Last Updated: 04/06/2021 at 12:44am
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Top Rated Answers
Its healthier to look for professional help. Dont ignore it but dont deal with it by yourself. Get help from other people too.
Anonymous
February 14th, 2015 8:56am
Well, from my experience (as little as that is), avoiding your anxiety has a tendency of amplifying the effects of your anxiety. You become more and more fearful as time goes on, sometimes to the point of panic by just imagining your anxious situation. If your anxiety occurs when you have to go to important meetings, doctor's appointments, or other necessary things, and you avoid it, would you consider that to be healthy or not? I'd say that confronting it, but do so gently and don't overdo it, and in time you'll be fine.
It really does depend on what it is that is causing you anxiety. Some things cause us anxiety because they truly are things to be worried/scared of and anxiety is our way of coping. If this is the case, try and do some exercises that allow for us to calm ourselves down. It’s as easy as taking some deep breaths. If it’s something that you wish didn’t cause you anxiety and a sistuation that typically shouldn’t, in my experience confronting it is the best way to overcome it. You’ll never cross the bridge unless you walk across it. So be brave and take small steps to overcome your anxiety. You’ll feel amazing once you do :)
It depend son how you feel about it. If you feel you are strong enough to confront it go for it and beat your anxiety! But if you would rather back and away, get some help until you know you can confront it and get over/away from your anxiety.
As hard as it may be, it is best to confront your anxieties otherwise you may find that the causes may build up within you. When you bottle things up inside, this almost always leads to everything coming out all at once and this may cause your anxiety to go into overdrive. It is much better to work through problems as they arise rather than keeping it built up inside you.
Anonymous
April 17th, 2015 11:11pm
Confront what makes your anxiety appear. It is healthier to face what makes you have anxiety. Once you face it you can over come anything. And once you do that you can over come anything.
i think a little of both, only you know your limit, so if you where scared of crowds but you really wanted to go to a concert, start small, go to a super market, a busy street and work up too it, it really helped me but I know that I will still find the subway hard to take, so I worked up to It , prepared myself and when It was over I take deep breaths and have 5 minuets to relax. as I said only you know how much you can handle
This all depends on the person. If you think confronting what causes you anxiety will help you become stronger, then go for it! If you think it is in your best interest to stay away from what causes your anxiety, then stay away from it. Only you know what is best for you and it is entirely your decision!
Anonymous
May 27th, 2015 12:54pm
I would say confront it, but in your own time. Facing up to your fears will help a lot with your anxiety.
It is always better to confront the causes of anxiety rather than ignore them. However it should be confronted by acknowledging what causes it and finding tools to combat it.
Speaking from personal experience: absolutely confront it! If we ignore or avoid the things that make us anxious, we're not going to be able to find out that the thing we're worried about is usually nothing at all.
Having said that, it helps to confront something that makes you anxious when you're in a relatively calm state, and with any "tools" that yo use, such as meditating, talking to a friend, journaling, going for a walk, or anything else that helps you stay calm.
If you're feeling good, confronting what makes you anxious will be a lot easier than if you're already anxious and jumping in anyway. And remember, your anxiety won't necessarily disappear after the first exposure. You've got to keep confronting it, and realizing a bit more each time that you can handle whatever it is. You've got this!
Anonymous
August 28th, 2017 9:24am
While it is more comfortable to ignore what makes you anxious, often taking small steps towards confronting the problem can really boost you. Knowing you have overcome something can reduce the anxiety around it.
Anonymous
November 21st, 2017 9:06pm
It is healthier to confront your anxiety because then you will face your anxiety and understand that you should feel anxious about it as there is nothing scary or worrying there.
In the long-run, it's healthier to confront it. Ignoring the problem can help temporarily, especially if you don't have the energy to confront the problem at the time, but it isn't a long-term fix. Confronting it can seem difficult at first, but eventually you learn more about how to control your anxiety and cope with it and the stressor. It helps develop your coping mechanisms to help later on down the road.
Anonymous
March 12th, 2018 5:08am
If something is necessary in your life, it would seem better to confront it and get ways to stay calmer while encountering it.. (you work on the 15th floor and fear elevators) If something is not essential, and can be avoided at no cost to your life,simply avoiding it may be the elegant answer! (You hate spiders, have someone else in the house be the one to deal with all spiders)
Anonymous
April 9th, 2018 3:43am
Anxiety comes from ancient past events, so better if you try to forget them and not feed anxiety by trying to solve the past.
Otherwise, if anxiety is due to recent events or phobiae, you should consider confront it to solve the problem as soon as possible, visiting a specialist may be useful.
Calm pills are not the solution, just take them in case your doctor prescribes it to you and only during the period established. Facing problems is better than hiding from them
From my own personal experience I can say that often I was not able to confront causes of my anxiety. And I still have that now. I couldn’t force myself. And so I don’t know what would have happened if I would have done. So I can only accept and forgive myself for that.And love me anyway. And yes sometimes I have been confronting causes of my anxiety and yes often it was way much less bad than I have been expecting it. So it might be healthier to confront our fears. But as I see in my case it’s simply not always possible. We can only do what we can do. And that’s it. And that is good enough.
Anonymous
June 2nd, 2020 7:18pm
I'd say in most cases, confrontation is better. However, sometimes it is much healthier and safer to stay away from something that has seriously hurt you. There was someone in my life who caused me a lot of anxiety, situational depression, etc. I cut them off, and I would never want to confront them about it. I know I'm better off leaving the situation alone.
You have to think through what will be more helpful: forcing yourself to confront what has caused anxiety, or keeping it out of your life. There is no definite answer that is the same across all situations.
Ignoring your anxiety will not help you, because it will always be at the back of your head. Time and again, it will pop up at unexpected times and cause you more anxiety and fear. Hence, it is better to face the cause of anxiety and realize why it is causing you anxiety. Try to separate the feeling of anxiety with the cause. Once you understand the reason behind your anxiety, you will be able to deal with it better, and it won't look like a monster anymore. You will start feeling better and less stressed. Knowing what cause you anxiety will also prepare you for the future in case a similar situation turns up again.
Anonymous
June 27th, 2017 8:03am
Confront it. You will never find peace if you are constantly trapped in a state of heart wrenching fear.
Anonymous
May 8th, 2017 4:54am
If you believe that you are strong enough to face the problem, you should, but don't push yourself. Know your boundaries and avoid problems that you can't handle. However, don't be afraid to ask for help if you can't solve the problem yourself, or even if you just need support.
Slowly, confront it, don't push too much, but you can't hide away from your fears forever, its better to get over it now than later.
It's healthier to confront it. You should never avoid addressing a problem in your life. If you don't try to fix things, then they all may get bottled up, and you'll become overwhelmed.
I would say it is more difficult but more beneficial to confront what is causing you anxiety. For example, if you are anxious about an exam coming up - instead of ignoring it and trying to not think about it, you could take some time out to revise and you will feel better when the exam comes round. The anxiety still may be there at exam time but you will feel better knowing you gave it your all and your results will display that you didn't ignore it.
However, if this is something dangerous or negatively affecting your life, then you should not try to confront this without guidance and help, or possibly not at all if it is dangerous.
Anonymous
February 8th, 2016 2:50am
You should confront it in small amounts so if you are anxious about big crowds as an example try starting small and working your way up. Maybe start at a movie theatre and go bigger each time you survive the pervious one
Anonymous
December 29th, 2015 7:57pm
Ignoring and staying away from what causes the anxiety is the best because if you confront it, this will keep you thinking about it a lot and you don't have time for that
it always better to confront those situations which lead you to anxiety issues,the more they are avoided the more the person becomes anxious about confronting those situations,which may increase the rate of anxiety attacks and may this may harm your body
Anonymous
November 9th, 2015 5:28pm
To be honest it's best to confront what causes your anxiety because otherwise you can never get over it.
Anonymous
September 7th, 2015 6:43pm
It's always best to confront your fears. To me, anxiety is just another word for fear. It's hard to get over things that cause you anxiety without confronting it.
It is not for me to suggest the best option for you. Careless confrontation can lead to overindulgence and cause severe problems. I highly recommend consulting a professional about it.
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