A check on how avoidance buys relief and how a short approach step brings you back.
About this test
Avoidance, worry, and spikes are treated here as skills you can practice, in the spirit of Barlow's account of anxious apprehension and Borkovec's work on worry as a sticky verbal habit. Exposure and inhibitory-learning research say that leaving a situation to feel better teaches the alarm to return. These items ask you to spot that loop. A percent is how often you spotted it. It is not a diagnosis of an anxiety disorder. The separate Anxiety Patterns test is the symptom reflection.
Question 1 of 11
What this test asks
You silence a dreaded email and feel better for an hour. By evening the dread is louder. What happened?
The email still scares you. Which approach step is sized well?
You arrive at a gathering and keep your coat on by the door the entire time, ready to bolt. What is worth noticing?
After you send the short reply, anxiety is still at a 6. How should you read that number?
You want a ladder for a presentation, from easiest to hardest. Which order matches the skill?
During the step your heart is fast and you want to flee. Which instruction fits?
You avoided, then attacked yourself for avoiding. What helps you get back without the extra layer?
A friend offers to sit nearby while you make a hard call. What is a useful role for them?
You finished a ten-minute stay at the store and want to leave. Leaving now is:
The next day you do not want to repeat the step. What does repetition add?
You say no to a party because you are ill and need sleep. How is that different from avoidance?
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