Behavioral inhibition and its relationship with anxiety disorders

If you’re an anxious, fearful, or avoidant adult, you’ve probably wondered why this is. And these characteristics can greatly condition your life, cause you discomfort and cause you to miss opportunities.

Although there is no single answer to this question, the truth is that many times there is a biological vulnerability that works against us. For this reason, today we want to talk to you about behavioral inhibition.

This is a temperament trait that can already be observed in babies. It is related to fear and behavioral restraint; that is, the tendency to withdraw or not interact. Although it can be influenced by various environmental factors, it usually remains stable throughout life and contributes to the appearance of various anxiety disorders.

Behavioral inhibition causes the person not to act, which maintains anxiety problems in the long term.

What is behavioral inhibition?

As we said, behavioral inhibition is a temperamental variable. But what does this mean? Well then, Temperament is an innate tendency to perceive, feel and act in a certain way. It is a character predisposition that determines how we react and deal with the environment.

This is global (it covers all aspects of life), it is stable (it remains relatively unchanged over the years) and it is congenital (we are born with this tendency and it has a hereditary factor). For this reason, these differences are recognizable from the moment of birth.

When we talk about behavioral inhibition, we mean the predisposition to react with fear to novelty. Inhibited children feel great anxiety when faced with new people, stimuli or situations, and tend to withdraw and seek the security they feel around their attachment figures. They tend to be shy and fearful, frequently feel restless and tend to avoid social situations.

Just as there are babies who appear confident and eager to explore their surroundings, others suffer from the unknown and take refuge behind their parents’ legs. Now this This is not a normal precaution or a particularly sensitive stage.

For example, around eight months separation anxiety appears and babies tend to seek contact with their mother and avoid strangers. However, in the case of behavioral inhibition, this is an extreme tendency and one that remains over time, even into adulthood.

Behavioral inhibition and anxiety disorders

It is estimated that approximately 15% of children exhibit these emotional and acting tendencies. Besides, 10% of those who showed behavioral inhibition in childhood will continue to show it during adolescence and adulthood.

This trait can deeply mark the person’s life and experiences. Not only will they lead you to feel anxiety, worry, fear and restlessness more often, but it will impact your relationships and experiences. For example, it can affect their school performance due to fear of participating actively in class or socializing; but, above all, it will lead the minor to have fewer social relationships since these are less rewardingand may even be rejected by peers.

When we reach adulthood being inhibited, we can lose work, personal and social opportunities. But, in addition, we have a greater vulnerability to developing mental pathologies. Especially, behavioral inhibition increases the likelihood of suffering from separation anxiety, social phobia, and generalized anxiety disorder.

It also appears to increase the risk of developing depression, but this effect will be mediated by the presence of an anxiety disorder.

Prevention and approach

Now, this is not the only factor that determines the appearance of anxiety disorders. In fact, not all inhibited children end up suffering from anxiety, nor are all people with anxiety disorders inhibited.

There are more variables that come into play in the equation, and it is on these that we can influence to counteract the effect. Among the most important are the following:

Presence of anxiety disorders in one of the parents. This does not influence genetic predisposition, but also what is learned from the environment. Anxious parents can convey the idea that the world is hostile and dangerous and increase their children’s tendency to fear and avoid situations.An educational style based on overprotection. In line with the above, many parents prevent their children from experimenting, testing themselves and developing skills out of the desire to do everything for them. Instead of making their lives easier, you are depriving them of the opportunity to build self-esteem and self-confidence, and this will only increase their fear and sense of vulnerability in the world.An upbringing based on lack of affection or criticism. On the other hand, there are fathers and mothers who barely offer affection, who criticize their children, who do not accept them. This creates an insecure attachment bond and makes anxiety disorders much more likely to appear in the future.Negative experiences in early stages. Finally, living through unpleasant or traumatic experiences also conditions this tendency to feel fear. However, paradoxically, inhibited people tend to have these types of experiences more frequently, since their fear and anxiety do not allow them to develop good social skills and they are more vulnerable to rejection, ridicule or isolation.

A portion of children who show behavioral inhibition in childhood continue to maintain it in adulthood.

Final recommendations

In sum, an inhibited temperament increases the risk and probability of suffering from different anxiety disorders in childhood, adolescence and adulthood. However, it is not a sentence.

If affectionate, respectful parenting is applied that encourages autonomy in the child, this risk is reduced. But, even if you are already an adult, you can try to reverse this trend, mainly giving you the opportunity to experiment.

Avoidance is comfortable, but it increases fear and anxiety, you need to overcome your natural tendency to inhibit yourself and allow yourself to have experiences in which to practice, learn and obtain positive feedback.

Of course, if you have an anxiety disorder, it is very convenient that you carry out this process with the help of a professional.

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