Anxiety often feels sudden or inexplicable, but in many cases, it’s reinforced by patterns you repeat without noticing. These patterns can keep your nervous system on alert, make emotions feel more intense, and leave you wondering why anxiety seems so persistent. Understanding the habits that fuel anxiety gives you a clearer pathway to change and opens the door to feeling more regulated and grounded in daily life. Here are five subtle habits that quietly intensify anxiety, and what you can do instead.
1. Constantly Monitoring How You Feel
One of the most common habits that fuel anxiety is scanning your body for signs of it. This can look like checking your heartbeat, analysing your breathing, or repeatedly asking yourself, “Do I feel anxious right now?”
Although this comes from a desire to understand what’s happening, hyper-monitoring teaches your brain to stay alert. Your body interprets this constant internal checking as a cue that something might be wrong, even when it isn’t. Instead of reducing anxiety, scanning your sensations creates the conditions for anxiety to grow.
What helps:
Shift from monitoring your inner state to engaging with your outer environment. Redirecting attention outward gives your nervous system a chance to settle.
2. Trying to Think Your Way Out of Every Feeling
Another subtle habit that fuels anxiety is trying to solve it with logic. You might replay conversations, analyse every feeling, or mentally rehearse future scenarios. This overthinking often feels productive, but anxiety doesn’t respond well to mental problem-solving.
That’s because anxiety is primarily a body-based experience. When you rely on thinking alone, you stay in your head while your body remains activated, creating a disconnect that intensifies the anxiety rather than easing it.
What helps:
Move toward regulation first. A slow exhale, grounding through your feet, or placing a hand on your chest can calm the physiological response, making reflection more useful and less overwhelming.
3. Avoiding Small Discomforts
Avoidance provides temporary relief but long-term anxiety. You might avoid conflict, delay tasks, keep conversations superficial, or hold back from new opportunities. But avoidance teaches your nervous system: “This is dangerous. I can’t handle this.”
Over time, your world becomes more restricted, and everyday situations begin to feel harder than they really are. Avoidance is one of the most powerful habits that fuel anxiety because it reinforces fear through repetition.
What helps:
Approach discomfort gradually. Small, manageable steps, like having a brief honest conversation or completing one small task, expand your capacity and reduce fear over time.
4. Being Harsh With Yourself When Anxiety Appears
Self-criticism strengthens anxiety’s grip. Many people tell themselves:
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“This shouldn’t be happening.”
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“Why can’t I cope better?”
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“I’m failing because I’m anxious again.”
Your nervous system doesn’t differentiate between internal and external threat. When you criticise yourself, your body responds with more tension, more adrenaline, and more activation. This is one of the most overlooked habits that fuel anxiety: treating yourself as if you’re doing something wrong by feeling anxious.
What helps:
Shift from judgment to understanding. Acknowledging your experience doesn’t make the anxiety worse, it helps your nervous system feel safer.
5. Keeping Emotions Controlled Instead of Processed
Trying to “keep it together” is another subtle habit that fuels anxiety. Many people hide difficult emotions to avoid burdening others, avoid conflict, or remain in control. But emotions that aren’t expressed don’t disappear, they accumulate in the body. This can lead to:
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muscle tension
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irritability
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restlessness
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emotional numbness
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persistent anxiety
When emotions stay stuck, your nervous system remains activated beneath the surface.
What helps:
Make space for emotional expression in small, safe ways, movement, speaking honestly, or simply allowing yourself to feel what you feel.
Final Thoughts
You don’t need major lifestyle changes to reduce anxiety. Small, intentional shifts in the habits that fuel anxiety can create meaningful improvements in how you feel. The key is noticing your patterns without judgment and learning to respond in ways that support your system rather than overwhelm it.
If you recognise yourself in these patterns and want support in changing them, therapy can help you understand the underlying dynamics and develop tools that actually work for your nervous system. I offer online therapy in English and French, with reduced fees for students and doctorate trainees, and I’m covered by AXA and Aviva insurance.
About the Author
Dr. Pauline Chiarizia is a Counselling Psychologist specialising in trauma. She offers online therapy and EMDR for individuals who are ready to explore themselves more deeply, break free from unhelpful patterns, and address challenges like anxiety, depression, trauma, low self-esteem, and burnout.
Dr. Chiarizia helps you develop resilience, strengthen self-trust, and build the confidence to navigate life’s challenges: personally and professionally. Her approach empowers clients to cope with adversity while also being fully present for moments of joy, love, and connection.