Everyday Habits That Unintentionally Keep Anxiety Going | Shifting Perceptions | Amority Health
Published: August 21, 2026
Austin, TX
Written By: Rachel Cooper, MS, LPC Associate
Supervised by Dr. Amber Quaranta Leech, LPC-S
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About the Author
Rachel Cooper is the Founder and Clinical Director at Amority Health. She's a Licensed Professional Counselor Associate in Austin, TX providing therapy to high-achieving women navigating anxiety, overthinking, perfectionism, high-functioning burnout, and imposter syndrome. Helping professionals identify and interrupt the repeating emotional and behavioral HFHA loops that keep them stuck. Read more about her background and approach to therapy here.
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For: Shifting Perceptions - Blog by Amority Health
Anxiety hardly stays alive because someone is "doing life wrong."
More often, it persists when the very habits meant to create safety end up reinforcing fear. What begins as an attempt to cope can gradually become part of the anxiety cycle itself.
For several high-functioning high achievers, these habits are praised. Being prepared, responsible, dependable, and thoughtful are valuable qualities. Yet when they become driven by fear instead of choice, they can keep anxiety in the driver's seat.
🌸You answer one more email before bed, telling yourself you'll finally relax afterward.
From a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) perspective on anxiety, it often continues because our thoughts, emotions, behaviors, and physical reactions influence one another (Beck, 2021). The encouraging part? Small changes in daily habits can gradually interrupt that cycle.
Why We Hold Onto Anxiety Habits
Anxiety isn't trying to make life harder. Its job is to protect you.
When your brain detects uncertainty, it naturally searches for ways to reduce discomfort. If checking your calendar six times makes you feel temporarily reassured, your brain learns, "That worked. Let's do it again." If avoiding a difficult conversation brings immediate relief, avoidance begins to feel like the safest option.
These habits can help, at least temporarily.
The challenge is that temporary relief can teach anxiety that the situation was dangerous in the first place.
🌸It's a bit like repeatedly watering weeds while hoping flowers will grow instead. Your attention isn't intentionally feeding anxiety, but it may be giving it exactly what it needs to survive.
Five Habits That Can Reinforce Anxiety
1. Constant Reassurance Seeking
Do you frequently ask someone if everything is okay? Re-read emails multiple times before sending them? Search online for certainty before making decisions?
Seeking reassurance is understandable. Everyone needs support.
However, when reassurance becomes the only way you feel calm, confidence begins depending on someone else instead of your own ability to tolerate uncertainty.
🌸You ask one more time if they're upset, even though they already said everything is fine.
2. Overthinking Every Outcome
Thinking ahead can be helpful.
Living in every possible future at once is exhausting.
High-functioning anxiety often convinces people that if they prepare for every scenario, they'll prevent disappointment or failure. Unfortunately (or fortunately), most imagined problems never happen, while the mental energy spent worrying is very real.
CBT encourages noticing when thinking shifts from productive planning into repetitive mental rehearsing.
A helpful question might be:
"Is this helping me solve a problem or simply keeping me in it?"
3. Avoiding Discomfort
Avoidance can be subtle.
It can show up as postponing a phone call, saying “yes” instead of setting a boundary, avoiding difficult feedback, or putting off a medical appointment.
Avoidance often reduces anxiety in the short term while increasing it in the long term because the brain never gets the opportunity to learn that discomfort can be tolerated.
4. Trying to Control Everything
Many anxious high-achievers believe control creates safety.
In reality, trying to control every detail often increases stress because life naturally includes uncertainty.
Preparedness can be useful. The problem arises when it turns into a belief that you must prevent every possible outcome.
🌸You double-check the locked door because anxiety whispered, "Check one more time."
5. Treating Rest Like a Reward
High achievers frequently postpone rest until everything is finished.
The difficulty is that everything is rarely finished.
When rest becomes something you earn instead of something you need, high-functioning burnout often follows close behind.
Healthy emotional regulation requires recovery, not just productivity.
Why These Habits Continue
Instead of identifying these patterns as signs of weakness.
Consider that they likely develop as ways of protecting you, and over time, your nervous system can become highly skilled in resorting to them, especially during the most difficult times.
The brain values familiarity more than perfection. Even unhelpful habits can feel safer simply because they're familiar.
That's why meaningful change usually happens gradually rather than overnight.
Instead of trying to eliminate anxiety completely, anxiety therapy often focuses on changing your relationship with it.
Building Healthier Habits
Rather than asking, "How do I stop feeling anxious?"
Consider asking,
"What is one small thing I could do differently today?"
This subtle shift reflects principles found in Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT), which emphasizes noticing strengths and building on small successes rather than waiting for dramatic breakthroughs.
Perhaps that looks like sending the email after one review instead of four.
Maybe it's allowing yourself to sit with uncertainty for five minutes before seeking reassurance.
Or taking a short walk before immediately trying to solve tomorrow's problems.
Small experiments create new evidence.
Over time, your brain begins learning something anxiety rarely expects:
"I can handle discomfort without letting it make every decision."
A Perception Shift
Imagine anxiety as an overly cautious passenger riding beside you on a long road trip. It points out every pothole, every detour, every possible storm ahead. For years, you've allowed it to reach over and steer whenever it became loud.
Now picture placing both hands gently back on the wheel.
The passenger is still there. You don't have to argue with it or force it out of the car. You simply remember who is driving. As the road stretches ahead, notice how each mile becomes a small reminder that you can move forward even with uncertainty riding alongside you.
Conclusion
Many habits that maintain anxiety begin with good intentions.
They offer comfort, certainty, or temporary relief. Yet over time, they may reinforce the belief that uncertainty is dangerous and discomfort must always be avoided.
Greater flexibility means having more ways to respond to fear, uncertainty, and discomfort.
With consistent practice, small behavioral shifts, and greater self-awareness, it becomes possible to respond to anxiety rather than automatically obeying it. Progress often comes one choice at a time, building confidence through experience instead of certainty.
🌸You may not be able to control every thought, feeling, or uncertainty that comes your way. Sometimes the greatest shift is developing more freedom in how you respond and more space to experience the life you’ve worked so hard to build.
If anxiety has become exhausting or feels like it's running your life behind the scenes, therapy may help you identify the patterns keeping the cycle alive and develop practical tools for lasting change.
Thank you for reading. I invite you to explore our other articles on anxiety, perfectionism, burnout, and emotional wellness. If you're ready to begin shifting your perception, Amority Health would be glad to support you on your journey.
Explore Further
If you're noticing the signs of high-functioning anxiety, therapy at Amority Health may provide a supportive space to explore the beliefs and habits contributing to overthinking while developing practical strategies that align with your needs and long-term well-being. Discover the ways shifting your perception can support lasting emotional well-being. If you're interested in exploring these patterns more deeply, reaching out to a therapist can be a meaningful next step toward a healthier relationship with success, thoughts, and yourself.
If you’re a high-achieving adult in Austin, (or across Texas) and interested in exploring practical techniques, reframing unhelpful thoughts, and building emotional security and resilience, consider a conversation toward self-understanding and self-compassion. Find out if telehealth therapy with Rachel Cooper at Amority Health could be the right fit through a free consultation.
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About the Author
Rachel is a Licensed Professional Counselor Associate in Austin, TX who works with high-achieving adults struggling with anxiety, imposter syndrome, perfectionism, and overthinking. Helping clients identify and interrupt the repeating emotional and behavioral HFHA loops that keep them stuck. Read more about her background and approach to therapy here. |
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Welcome to Continue Exploring
If this article resonated with you, take a look at other articles in our Shifting Perceptions series. Topics include overcoming burnout, managing anxiety, achievement grief, and finding work-life balance, all designed to help you build resilience and create long-term change.
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Each post offers insights and practical tools to help high-achieving adults navigate challenges with clarity, balance, and self-compassion.
Written by Rachel Cooper, a psychotherapist specializing in anxiety, overthinking, burnout, imposter syndrome, perfectionism, and life transitions. Learn more about therapy for high achievers at Amority Health.
References
Beck, J. S. (2021). Cognitive behavior therapy: Basics and beyond (3rd ed.). Guilford Press.
Hofmann, S. G., & Otto, M. W. (2018). Cognitive behavioral therapy of social anxiety disorder: Evidence-based and disorder-specific treatment techniques. Routledge.
National Institute of Mental Health. (2024). Anxiety disorders. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/anxiety-disorders
American Psychological Association. (2023). Clinical practice guideline for the treatment of anxiety. https://www.apa.org
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