What Are Safety Behaviors?

Salkovskis (1997) argues that anxiety poses a paradox: “Why do people suffering from anxiety fail to benefit from the repeated experience of surviving anxiety-provoking situations unharmed?”. Put another way, why does someone “continue to fear a catastrophe that repeatedly fails to materialise?” (Seligman, 1988). 

Safety-seeking behaviors (‘safety behaviors’) are actions that people take in response to a real – or perceived – threat. When a threat is real, safety-seeking behaviors are helpful (adaptive). Stepping out of the way of a speeding car, leaving a burning building, or attending hospital when faced with a medical emergency are all actions which can save your life. However, if a misinterpretation leads an individual to perceive a threat in the absence of real danger, safety-seeking behaviors can prevent the anxious individual from learning about the (true) absence of danger: 

“Inappropriate seeking of safety can prevent the anxious person from discovering that their fears are groundless. After

• Salkovskis, P. M. (1991). The importance of behaviour in the maintenance of anxiety and panic: a cognitive account. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 19(1), 6-19.
• Salkovskis, P. M. (Ed.). (1997). Frontiers of cognitive therapy. Guilford Press.
• Seligman, M. E. P. (1988). Competing theories of panic. In: S. Rachman & J. D. Maser (Eds.), Panic: Psychological perspectives (pp. 321–329). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.