Educational reference
About this symptom
Avoidance means steering clear of places, objects, people or activities likely to set off distressing thoughts or prompt rituals. It is common and can be extensive.
What is avoided follows the theme of the obsessions. It might be public bathrooms, hospitals, knives in a kitchen drawer, certain numbers or words, news coverage, or being alone with particular people. Avoidance can also be subtle: rushing through a task, not looking directly at something, or arranging for someone else to do it.
Avoidance works in the short term, which is what maintains it. Distress is lowered immediately and the feared outcome does not occur, so avoidance appears justified. What it prevents is any opportunity to learn that the situation could have been managed.
The cost is usually a gradual narrowing of daily life, as more situations are ruled out. In treatment, reducing avoidance is generally approached in steps and at a pace agreed in advance, rather than all at once.