What are avoidance behaviors?

Avoidance behaviors are things people do to stay away from something they don’t want to face.

Imagine you’re about to eat a big bowl of soup, but it’s super spicy, so hot that your tongue feels like it's on fire. Instead of eating the soup, you run out of the room or hide under the table. That’s an avoidance behavior, you did something to escape the uncomfortable feeling of the spicy soup.

Sometimes, when something is really hard or makes us feel bad, we choose to do something else instead. Like if you’re scared of talking in front of a class, you might stay quiet or even pretend you're sick so you don’t have to speak up. That’s also an avoidance behavior, it helps you feel better now, but it doesn't fix the problem.

Avoidance behaviors are like little helpers that keep us from facing things we find tough, just like a blanket keeps you warm on a cold night. But sometimes, they can make things harder in the long run!