Anxiety is caused by a variety of different factors, including genetics, brain chemistry, life events, and personality. Some people are genetically predisposed to be more anxious than others, while others develop anxiety as a result of traumatic experiences or other major life changes. Whatever the cause, excessive amounts of stress can trigger an array of symptoms that lead to avoidance behaviours.

In order to better understand why anxiety leads to avoidance behaviours, it’s important to first understand how our brains process fear and stress. When we experience fear or stress our brains release hormones like cortisol which induce a “fight-or-flight” response in us - in other words, we feel an urge either to fight back against the source of our fear or run away from it in order to protect ourselves. In some cases when faced with overwhelming amounts of fear or stress our bodies can freeze up and lead us into a state where we feel unable to take any action at all - essentially leading us into avoiding the situation altogether.

When coupled with feelings of inadequacy or low self-confidence this “freeze” state can become more persistent and pervasive leading one into patterns of chronic avoidance behaviour that can have severe negative impacts on their lives such as job loss due to absenteeism, social isolation due to not wanting to leave their homes etc.. This is why understanding why we react in certain ways when faced with fear/stress is so important for people who struggle with chronic anxiety and avoidance behaviour - without being able to recognize what triggers these responses within us it becomes difficult for us take control over them.