Safety Behaviours: The Invisible Maintenance of Anxiety

Safety behaviours are actions taken to prevent or reduce anxiety in the moment. They provide short-term relief, but they reinforce the belief that danger is present. Research by Clark (1999), Salkovskis (1991), and Barlow (2002) shows that safety behaviours are one of the strongest maintaining factors in anxiety disorders.

Safety behaviours interact closely with avoidance, avoidance loops, and the anxiety cycle.

What Safety Behaviours Are

Safety behaviours are not the same as avoidance. Avoidance means staying away from a situation entirely. Safety behaviours happen within the situation — but they prevent new learning by giving the illusion of control or protection. Essentially, they allow the individual to attribute their safety to the behaviour rather than the fact that the situation was never dangerous in the first place.

Examples include:

Carrying water or medication “just in case.”
Sitting near exits in cinemas or restaurants.
Checking your pulse or breathing patterns repeatedly.
Avoiding eye contact to prevent being noticed.
Rehearsing conversations repeatedly before speaking.
Constantly seeking reassurance from others.
Overpreparing for uncertainty or potential "what-ifs."

These behaviours reinforce core beliefs like “I can’t cope” or “Something bad will happen.”

Why Safety Behaviours Feel Necessary

Safety behaviours reduce anxiety instantly. This creates a powerful reinforcement loop: the brain learns that the behaviour prevented danger — even though the situation was safe. This is the same mechanism described in avoidant coping.

They also increase:

How Safety Behaviours Maintain Anxiety

Safety behaviours prevent the brain from learning that feared situations are safe. They block “inhibitory learning,” the process described by Craske (2014) that teaches the brain to update old fear associations. When a safety behaviour is used, the brain concludes: "I survived, but only because I held onto my water bottle." The underlying fear remains untouched.

They also:

Increase focus on internal threat signals.
Intensify physical sensations (through self-monitoring).
Reinforce catastrophic interpretations of normal discomfort.
Reduce confidence in natural coping skills.

How to Reduce Safety Behaviours

Evidence-based approaches such as CBT and Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy help reduce safety behaviours through new learning. Research by Clark, Barlow, and Alladin supports the following methods:

Graded Exposure — Systematically facing situations while intentionally dropping safety behaviours.
Behavioural Experiments — Testing specific predictions (e.g., "If I don't sit near the door, I will be trapped") and observing the actual outcome.
Hypnosis — Rehearsing the removal of "security blankets" in a safe, mental environment to build confidence.
Response Prevention — Making a conscious choice to withhold the safety behaviour during moments of distress.
Imagery Rescripting — Changing the emotional "memory" of past failures where safety behaviours were used.

This approach is especially effective when combined with threat system retraining.

Research & Further Reading

Clark, D.M. (1999) — Social phobia: Understanding and treatment.
Salkovskis, P. (1991) — The importance of safety-seeking behaviours in the maintenance of anxiety.
Barlow, D.H. (2002) — Anxiety and Its Disorders.
Craske, M.G. et al. (2014) — Maximizing exposure therapy: An inhibitory learning approach.
Alladin, A. (2016) — Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy for Anxiety Disorders.

Melbourne Strategic Hypnotherapy