Anxiety is not static. From your day-to-day activities to the people with whom you spend your time, the decisions you make in life affect your anxiety levels. For a chronic worrier, it can be tempting to seek out instantly gratifying practices for stress. The truth is that temporary solutions tend to feed and prolong anxiety disorders.

If you’re ready to reach a more manageable place in your struggle with constant fear, take note of these five things you might be doing that keep stress in your life.

Avoidance

If large crowds cause you to panic, it seems natural to avoid concerts or sporting events attended by many people. While avoidance might be easier in the short-term, you’ve made the choice to cut the crowd out of your life rather than the anxiety.

“Negative reinforcement” occurs when a behavior is rewarded by the removal of a certain stimulus. Say a person has anxiety related to past experiences with dogs. When he purposefully avoids a dog-friendly park, he is chemically rewarded for making that anxiety temporarily disappear. In other words, as you avoid an activity that makes you anxious, your anxiety congratulates itself.

Avoiding stressful situations prevents you from confronting your fears. Studies have shown that facing what you’re afraid of can help break up chronic anxiety.

Seeking out reinforcement

When it comes to anxiety disorders, the fear a person feels is based more on patterns of negative thinking than in reality. As a result, many people with anxiety tend to seek out real-life justifications for their worries. For example, many of us have reinforced irrational health concerns by researching the direst possibilities on the web.

When you dwell too long on the possibilities associated with a specific fear, you allow yourself time to develop a false sense of certainty in the logic behind the fear. Consulting with sympathetic friends in your search for affirmation can also make anxiety worse.

Instead of turning to Google or a fellow worrier, compartmentalize your stress by focusing only on what you have control over in the present.

Isolating

Many people with anxiety disorders think being alone might give them a chance to sort out their worries, or at least keep socially-related anxieties at bay. Being alone actually incubates your anxiety, affording your fear all the time it needs to take over your thoughts. Without friends or activities to distract you, you can easily find yourself in an endless cycle of negativity.

Staying home all the time allows your worry dominate to your life. Stay active. Rather than dwelling on a mistake you made, seek out something or someone you enjoy.

Self-medicating

Alcohol is a classic example of a temporary solution for fear. Instead of allowing yourself freedom, you’ve simply added a crutch. A brain that depends on drugs or other highs like gambling will step back and allow the substance to handle anxiety.

Self-medicating is kind of like trimming the weeds in your garden without pulling them out by the root. Avoid the temptation to outsource your fear; get better in the long run by learning healthy strategies for managing your worry.

Neglecting yourself

While a lack of sleep rarely creates anxiety, it can certainly make your fears worse. A tired mind is less equipped to respond to stress. Caffeine and other stimulants can increase your heart rate and make you jittery, mimicking common symptoms of anxiety.

Getting enough sleep and eating properly – taking care of yourself – can equip your brain to better fight anxiety. Most importantly, exercise can help restore chemical imbalances in your brain and increase your overall sense of well-being.

Conclusion

Once you realize how your lifestyle might be fueling your anxiety, it’s easier to outline areas in which you can make life a little easier for yourself. In the end, the challenge of facing your anxiety is worth it.