Our safety behaviours that make us less safe

Behavioural experiments are also to help patients gather evidence against the use of ‘safety behaviours’ (Salkovskis, 1996), which are avoidance and escape behaviours. 

Within the cognitive model, safety behaviours reinforce anxiety as they encourage  dysfunctional assumptions and negative automatic beliefs.

'Bill' always carries Paracetamol around with him, 'just in case he gets anxious, headachy
or panicky, this is a way of reinforcing his belief that he cannot cope.


 A behavioural experiment would allow Bill the  to gather evidence to discount the predictions that something terrible will happen and that the safety behaviour of (carrying pills in his pocket) as an avoidance and a  necessity to remain safe.