Common avoidance behaviors we mistake as healing

From avoiding difficult conversations to repeating positive affirmations without making progress, here are common avoidance behaviors we mistake as healing.

Healing requires constant work. Unlike other things, healing does not come with a deadline, and more times than not, it is an ongoing process. The journey of healing is slow, effective and requires a lot of awareness, understanding, trust and patience. "Healing requires facing and processing difficult emotions or experiences, with the goal of achieving a sense of closure, understanding, and personal growth. Healing is the process of addressing and resolving emotional, mental, or physical wounds. It involves actively working through issues, gaining insights, and implementing strategies to promote overall well-being," wrote Therapist Israa Nasir.

Common avoidance behaviors we mistake as healing(Unsplash)

Often, we think that avoiding the real reason for trauma can make us heal with time. But that's not true. When we avoid the reasons, we suppress the emotions. This creates an unhealthy space in the body and the mind where the emotions begin to pile up, and one day, it all comes out. Avoidance behaviors are often mistaken as healing – here are some of the behavior patterns pointed out by the Therapist:

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Engaging in excessive work: When we are hurt or traumatised, we often engage ourselves in excessive work and immerse ourselves in things that can distract us from the pain.

Postponing or avoiding difficult conversations: Be it addressing conflicts with family or addressing the trauma with our loved ones, we often postpone such conversations or brush them undder the rug as we feel uncomfortable talking about it.

Repeating positive affirmations: Without making conscious changes, we often repeat positive affirmations to ourselves to give us the illusion of healing.

Constantly setting new goals: We keep on setting new goals for ourselves without making an effort to reach those goals. This can give us a sense of progress, but in reality, that’s not the truth.