Emotion Avoidance
What is emotion avoidance?
Strategies used to avoid feeling strong emotions or prevent emotions from becoming more intense.
What does EDB stand for?
Emotion-Driven Behaviors.
What are the three types of emotion avoidance?
Answer: Subtle behavioral avoidance, cognitive avoidance, and safety signals.
What are core values?
Answer: Principles or beliefs that are most important to you and guide your actions.
True or False: The same behavior can be both avoidant and emotion-driven depending on the situation.
True.
True or False: Emotion avoidance is always harmful.
False. It can be useful in some situations but is rarely effective long-term.
EDBs always occur before a strong emotion is felt.
False. EDBs happen after a strong emotion has already occurred.
What is subtle behavioral avoidance?
Using small, often unconscious behaviors to prevent unwanted emotions from getting stronger.
True or False: Acting against your core values can lead to feelings of guilt or discomfort.
True.
What is the primary factor that determines whether a behavior is avoidant or emotion-driven?
The timing—avoidance happens before the emotion, while EDBs happen after.
Name one way emotion avoidance can increase the intensity of emotions in the future.
Answer: Avoidance prevents us from fully processing emotions, so they often return stronger when triggered again.
Name one example of an EDB that might occur in response to fear.
Running away from a situation that feels threatening.
Give an example of cognitive avoidance.
Distracting yourself by scrolling through social media to avoid thinking about a distressing event.
Give an example of a core value and how an eating disorder might conflict with it.
Honesty—lying to hide eating disorder behaviors conflicts with the value of honesty.
Give an example of a behavior that could be both avoidant and emotion-driven.
Leaving a social event early—avoidant if done to prevent anxiety, emotion-driven if done in response to overwhelming anxiety.
Give an example of a situation where emotion avoidance might seem helpful in the short term.
Avoiding a difficult conversation to prevent immediate discomfort
How can EDBs limit our lives in important ways?
They can prevent us from facing situations that are necessary for growth or aligned with our values.
What are safety signals, and why might they feel comforting?
Items carried to feel calm in distressing situations, often with a superstitious or magical quality.
How can acting in line with your core values improve relationships?
Answer: It fosters authenticity and strengthens connection with others.
Why is it not always necessary to distinguish between avoidance and EDBs?
Both interfere with the natural course of emotions and are often inconsistent with core values.
Why does emotion avoidance interfere with the natural course of an emotional experience?
It prevents emotions from being fully processed, which can lead to unresolved feelings and increased intensity later.
What is the key difference between EDBs and avoidance strategies?
The timeframe—avoidance strategies happen before the emotion, while EDBs happen after the emotion.
True or False: Subtle behavioral avoidances are always intentional.
Answer: False. They are often unconscious or automatic.
Why is it important to identify discrepancies between your core values and your behaviors?
Recognizing these discrepancies helps you understand how certain behaviors, like those tied to an eating disorder, may harm your well-being and relationships
How can identifying the intent behind a behavior help in understanding whether it is avoidant or emotion-driven?
The intent reveals whether the behavior is meant to prevent or respond to an emotional experience.