Anxiety and Learnt Helplessness

People who have been suffering from anxiety sometimes don’t want to get better. To most sufferers that sounds quite ridiculous, afterall that swell of fear inside you, tingling feelings, restricted breathing, panic attacks and depression at not being able to do what other people do is the worst thing ever. Yet it’s true, some people seem to get caught up in wanting either consciously or subconsciously to keep hold of their problems to kind of scherk responsibility or avoid work.
No, I’m not some conservative politician trying to cut down on benefit payments. This is a serious barrier to some people’s recovery.
Checkout http://www.anxiety2calm.com/secondary_gain_anxiety.shtml for a brief overview of secondary gain issues that can keep you stuck in dysfunctional behaviour.
It’s one to watch out for, and the people who are the quickest to say in their most indignant voice “Of course I want to get over my anxiety”….”Of course I don’t want to have panic atacks”…”Of course I want to clear this depression” are often the ones who are most attached to their problems.