Is it okay to avoid situations that make me anxious, or is that giving up to it?

I think it's really important to protect yourself - avoiding situations that make you anxious or upset you is not weak or 'giving up', it's self care. Looking after yourself is the first step to happiness and sometimes a bit of 'selfishness' is necessary!

I've had issues with anxiety in the past and what I have learned is not to try and avoid triggers and to combat the behaviour and thinking that leads to continuing anxiety. During an anxiety attack, doing things that play into the feelings of emergency and danger (like leaving the place, breathing exercises, drinking water or tea) strengthen the reflex that leads your brain to assess a situation as an emergency which leads to anxiety. If you're having an attack, leaving the situation that is causing it can be the worst thing you can do because you are giving credibility to a response that says a situation is threatening even if its not (obviously this is different if you are actually in danger). The more you treat it like an emergency,the more adrenaline your body will produce, increasing your symptoms and prolonging the episode. The best thing to do is to continue as normal, treat it as an every day occurrence and your body will learn that it doesn't need to have a special response to deal with stressful situations. Regardless of what you do to deal with the symptoms of anxiety, an attack will generally only last 5-10 minutes anyway unless you continue to feed into the anxious behaviour. Just ride it out and treat it like any other part of your day; a little uncomfortable but no big deal.

If a certain type of situation makes you feel anxious, it’s OK to simply avoid it. It's not giving up, it's self care! Know your limits, and practice self preservation!

While you don't want to put yourself in overwhelming situations that will reinforce your fears, it's important to gradually expand your comfort zone. So, small steps at a time, and each time challenge yourself to do a little more until you're able to feel comfortable and tackle the most anxious situations. Overall, build up your confidence to cope by tackling small challenges, allowing you to cope and overcome in the big challenges. For example, perhaps talking to strangers makes you really anxious. Therefore, gradually, make challenges to talk to some acquaintances more, then eventually people you don't know in your class, and finally complete strangers. Do not rush yourself, it is a process.

Another response from my experience (sorry!) One of the things about anxiety is that is a perfectly natural response to a life and death situation. We're supposed to be anxious from time to time, it's perfectly natural and is designed to make you think twice about undertaking an action, going somewhere, or making a decision that has the potential to put us at great danger. Where it becomes an issue is when it gets in the way of you doing every day sorts of activities and interactions. It's important to recognise your present boundaries with anxiety and that slowly stretching them over time is a good thing. And as you do, recognise that you will get through those moments, keep note of your achievements, and give yourself credit for them. If you can't cope with a situation and you need to back out then don't fret too much. Take note of what you learned from the situation and use that for the next situation. You can do this! :)

Although a lot of people say it is best to face up to what makes you anxious, I think that it all depends on what the situation is and how anxious it makes you feel. If you are feeling anxious for something social then I think it is best to figure out how anxious it will make you and whether it is worth it. If you feel like you won't receive anything from the situation and you are getting anxious over it then I think it is completely up to you whether or not you avoid it.

It's totally okay. Small steps make you to be more comfortable with yourself. You can try it little by little.

I find from my personal expedience that avoiding situations help in short term, and not in the long term. If you face what is wrong you might be able to fix what is making you anxious.

It is not giving up. Anxiety is like any other illness, and taking care of yourself is mandatory. Staying away from anxiety-inducing situations is healthy and wise.

I've been having panic attacks for a long while now. The more you let it take over, the more you avoid living your life because of this, the easier it will be to not do anything. To just sit there and never leave your house, always being alone. Nobody really wants to be completely alone.