If you read our earlier blog about tolerating uncertainty, you learned that ambiguous, novel, and unpredictable situations can create worry and anxiety about potential negative outcomes. As a result, people are likely to engage in actions to help alleviate anxiety, which are called safety behaviours. The appeal of safety behaviours is that they produce immediate results of avoiding or eliminating a threatening situation (e.g., repeatedly re-checking an email or an assignment you are going to submit because you feel uncertain about whether there is a mistake) and you feel better from either immediate decrease from anxiety or diminishing a feared consequence in the future. The problem with safety behaviours is that they only produce short-term benefit but long-term serves to perpetuate and strengthen your fear. In other words, you never gain 100% certainty from participating in safety behaviours, thus your worry and anxiety returns, leading to more safety behaviours. To add, since safety behaviours create avoidance or removal of a feared situation, you never learn whether your worries were warranted in the situation. In fact, you may learn that if you had approached rather than avoided a situation the actual outcome could be positive or neutral.
There are several main types of safety behaviours:
- Excessive Reassurance Seeking: Often asking family and friends about decisions, choices, advice, or opinions. For example, if you are unsure of whether to make a particular purchase you may seek the opinion of others repeatedly.
- Double Checking: If you continuously check things to make sure it is correct. For example, re-reading a text message multiple times before sending it.
- Excessive Information Seeking: As the name sounds, you search for information about something you are unsure of to excessive lengths. For example, if you experience a physical sensation, you may go onto the internet and excessively search for possible explanations.
- Excessive List Making: Spending a significant amount of time creating lists for tasks to complete, with potential sub-lists. For example, if you create lists for what to do at home, at work, for the future, for an upcoming trip, etc.).
- Not Delegating Tasks: There is a preference to do everything yourself because you have certainty that tasks will be done and in you way you want them completed. For example, taking care of all the household chores that in the end can become very overwhelming and stressful.
- Doing Things for Others: Similar to doing everything yourself, you might have a tendency to do things for others. For example, as a parent you might do many tasks for your children, such as packing their things for a sports game to make sure they do not forget anything.
- Avoidance: Avoiding a potentially stressful situation or deferring decision making. For example, if you have difficulty in selecting between two options, such as to stay or end a relationship, you might delay making the decision.
- Procrastination: Similar to avoidance, but you end up doing the activity at a later date. For example, procrastinating in studying for an exam or scheduling an appointment with your family doctor.
When is it time to get help?
Many individuals will regularly complete safety behaviours, such as making a list of things to do for homework, double-checking work to proofread, looking up information online, and delaying tasks. If the function of these behaviours is because it is a choice and it is a preference, then it less likely to be problematic. However, if the motivation to engage in safety behaviours is because it is rooted in anxiety, then it might be time to seek professional help.
How can CBT help with safety behaviours?
Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is an evidence-based practice that is widely used to help individuals with anxiety by increasing their tolerance to uncertainty and eliminating, reducing, or delaying safety behaviours. Some treatment strategies include:
- Cultivating more helpful beliefs about uncertainty, such as uncertainty does not necessarily mean only catastrophic or negative outcomes will happen, but neutral or positive events are possible too
- Remembering that probability that a negative event might happen does not mean certainty that it will occur indefinitely
- Acting “as if” you can tolerate uncertainty by changing your behaviours, in turn, it helps to change your thoughts and emotions about uncertainty
- Allowing some uncertainty in life and building coping mechanisms to manage negative outcomes that may happen
How can the team at Oakville Centre for Cognitive Therapy help?
At the Oakville Centre for Cognitive Therapy, we have trained psychologists with experience in addressing tolerance to uncertainty. If you are experiencing difficulties with anxiety and difficulty tolerating uncertainty and are interested in receiving evidence-based treatment, please contact us at: 905-338-1397 or admin@oakvillecbt.ca or via our Contact Us page.
