@anxiety_fitness: What escaping a panic attack does to your baseline anxiety level (general education, not medical advice). Picture your anxiety as a line, with a "panic threshold" running across it. You start calm. As you head toward the thing you are avoiding, the line climbs. The moment it crosses the threshold, panic spikes. You escape, and it drops fast. Relief. But look where it lands. It does not return to where you started. It settles higher, closer to the threshold than before. So next time you need less of a climb to tip back into panic, which is why avoidance tends to grow anxiety over time instead of shrinking it. Your brain also files away that escaping is what saved you, so the pull to escape gets stronger too. The alternative is to let the wave crest and fall on its own, without escaping. It peaks, levels off, and comes back down to baseline more gradually. Each time you do that, the threshold gets harder to reach, not easier. This is the mechanism behind graded exposure. If panic or avoidance is shrinking your life, a therapist can help you do this safely and at a pace that works for you. Sources: American Psychological Association, CBT for panic disorder - https://www.apa.org/monitor/2025/11-12/panic-disorder-treatment-progress Psychiatric Times, Exposure Therapy for Anxiety Disorders - https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/exposure-therapy-anxiety-disorders #panicattack #anxietyfitness #agoraphobia #anxietyrecovery #avoidance #exposuretherapy #panicdisorder #anxietyrelief #nervoussystem #mentalhealth #healthanxiety

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Tuesday 23 June 2026 11:08:26 GMT