What do I do/avoid in difficult situations?

When you suffer from illness anxiety, you will often try to reduce your anxiety as quickly as possible, for example by displaying/avoiding certain behaviour or seeking out / avoiding situations. This, in turn, affects your anxiety and your physical symptoms. It can help to gain insight into these kinds of behaviour.

You can write about the situations you find difficult.
What did you do or what did you not do, for example? What are the short- and long-term consequences of your behaviour?

Use the following questions and answer them:

• What was the situation like?
• What did I do or what did I avoid in the situation?
• What are the short-term consequences of this behaviour?
• What are the long-term consequences of this behaviour?

Source:

Keijsers, G. P. J., Van Minnen, A., Verbraak, M., Hoogduin, C. A. L. & Emmelkamp, P., (2017). Protocollaire behandelingen voor volwassenen met psychische klachten.