In environments where survival is harder it can help to sometimes strive for very rewarding things. In the past indulging in food that provided energy aided in survival as an increase in energy expanded the ability to deal with our ancestral environment. The Environment of Evolutionary Adaptedness (EEA) is the aforementioned ancestral environment in which people developed the tendencies that inform whom they are today. They did not have the same concerns that we have today and could afford to not worry about body image as much. The more pressing issues were things such as finding enough food and avoiding dangerous predators. They could of course not only avoid as certain challenges needed to be met. These challenges were many things such as predators, interpersonal conflict and much more. Negotiating when to avoid and when to confront can be very difficult especially these days, when challenges such as bills are far more ethereal in nature.
Emotions
Avoidance is often preceded by a fear response. When someone experiences a sense of threat when confronted with a relevant trigger, they can present with an anxious response when the threat appears overwhelming in some way. This can cause a sense of apprehension which is a very understandable response as it makes us better at recognising threats and increases our reaction time. This helps if there is something like a dangerous animal around but not if we are experiencing this when making a decision where to live. In this context above apprehension can also make us overthink and be receptive to worrying when confronted with any trigger related to what we fear.
Sometimes people experience a fear response without overthinking and take immediate action. Again, useful responses such as an increase in heart rate pumps blood into the body at greater force which lets us be more able to deal with threats within the EEA. A more immediate expression of avoidance can be running away, but there are many examples of avoidance such as procrastinating or being overly nice.
Problems
The problem is that these days we often present with an excessive fear response to things. This can often be an expression of some problem someone may be having. Someone may believe that they are dumber than they actually are and because of that avoid schoolwork or someone may believe to be worthless and because of that avoid most challenges in Life. There are many people that seek a psychotherapist in London because they are having difficulties to succeed in relevant domains in life and these kind of beliefs about the world can cause unnecessary suffering.
Some of the the best psychotherapist London recognise the importance of evolutionary psychology and how it relates to avoidance. It can however be hard for someone who doesn’t work in the field to know which therapist to trust as the London psychotherapy market is unregulated. If you are looking for private psychotherapy London or generally are interested in being connected with a suitable professional, do not hesitate to contact us as we have years of experiences of connecting clients with the best psychotherapist in London.
