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

In some situations where you are feeling very overwhelmed and avoiding the situation will not make a major change in your life, it might be acceptable. But running away from your fears is not okay, you have to be in situations that make you anxious and be stronger than anxiety.

It's okay to do that! But if it's something that has to get done, sometimes you just need to push yourself to face your fears. For example, if you're anxious about talking in front of the class, you can ask your teacher not to ask you questions in class and explain it. Usually they'll understand. When you have to do a presentation in front of class, you can ask the teacher if you could do it for less people (people you know are not going to laugh at you when you make a mistake). If that isn't possible, practice will make it less scary for you. So it's okay to avoid situations that are avoidable, but your anxiety shouldn't stop you from living your life.

I don't think that is giving up because I do similar things. I think that is coping with anxiety. In the long run you are going to need to be able to deal with things but I think it is okay to avoid something that will make you uncomfortable because it is natural to do so.

It is totally okay to work to avoid anxiety causing situations. You need to first and foremost care of yourself. If you find that you are avoiding too much of everyday life you can work to start taking small steps to manage and or work through your anxiety.

Avoidance is one of the many fight or flight responses that we use when we are anxious. While we should try not to "avoid" anxious situations, and instead face them head on, that is naturally easier said than done. I like to not think of it in terms of "giving up", though. If we just can't bring ourselves to face a situation, we probably just need to scale back our expectations of ourselves. Instead of jumping into a situation we are afraid of with both feet, it might be better to try and break it down into more manageable steps. That way we aren't "giving up" or "giving in", we're going through it and not around it. Just at a manageable pace.

Learning to live with anxiety is a process. Although it's best to not allow your anxiety to get in the way of your experiences, sometimes there are things that are too overwhelming to approach, and that's okay. You can always work your way up to confronting the things that make you anxious. Movie theaters gave me terrible panic when I was little. It took me years, but I'm able to go to the movies now. I started off just getting comfortable in the lobby, then seeing movies I had already seen. etc. I'm grateful I didn't allow my anxiety to prevent me from doing things, but I had to be kind to myself in the process. In short, it's okay to be careful-- it doesn't mean that you're giving up. You're just a work in progress, and that is a very good thing.

Avoidance is perhaps the most common safety behaviour in anxiety. The problem with avoiding situations that make us anxious is that we never know if it was that bad, so we get more anxious the next time because we never faced the issue. When we find yourself in this cycle, the only way out is to face the issue. It can be terrifying, however it will be such a healthy thing for you to do. Remember you can always talk through the issue with us here on 7 cups! ❤

you shouldn't do something that someone wants you to do you should do what you feel like doing and if you feel like your being pressured into the situation the i suggest you dont do it

That is perfectly okay! However, I do think that you should try to always go for something. Things like speeches and debates are a few examples, and the only way to get better is by going for it.

Its better to face that anxiety and work through it than to let the anxiety make decisions over your life. Finding ways to help you work through that anxiety will help you better face the times you get anxious in the future. It can be a long process but it is much better than missing out on things that you would otherwise enjoy because you are to worried about it. Anxiety does not control you, you control you.