6 Popular Stress-Relief Habits That Secretly Make Anxiety Worse

From doomscrolling to over-exercising and forced positivity, explore six common coping behaviors that may be doing more harm than good. Learn healthier ways to cope with stress mindfully and effectively.

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In our fast-paced world, stress is a constant. Whether it’s from work, relationships, or digital overload, we all find ways to cope. But not all stress-relief habits are actually helpful. Some offer temporary comfort while quietly fueling more anxiety, fatigue, and burnout.

Here are seven common habits that may seem helpful but can secretly worsen your mental and emotional health:

1. Doomscrolling to Distract Yourself

Scrolling through news or social media might feel like a break, but consuming endless negativity keeps your brain in a heightened state of stress.

Why it’s harmful: Constant exposure to distressing content activates your nervous system, leading to poor sleep, mental fatigue, and anxiety.

What to do instead: Set limits on media intake. Curate your feed to avoid constant stress triggers, and schedule digital breaks throughout your day.

2. Over-Exercising to Burn Off Stress

Exercise is healthy in moderation. But when used as a way to push through stress, it can backfire.

Why it’s harmful: Intense workouts raise cortisol levels. When you’re already stressed, this can lead to exhaustion, poor sleep, and injury.

What to do instead: Choose restorative movement like walking, yoga, or gentle dance to regulate your body without pushing it further.

3. Staying Busy to Avoid Feelings

Keeping yourself constantly occupied may seem productive, but it’s often a way to avoid emotional discomfort.

Why it’s harmful: It disconnects you from your feelings and creates a dependency on productivity for self-worth, leading to burnout.

What to do instead: Allow moments of stillness. Learn to sit with your emotions without needing to fix or distract from them immediately.

4. Repeatedly Venting Without Resolution

Talking things out can help, but venting without reflection often keeps you stuck in the same emotional loop.

Why it’s harmful: Repeating your problems activates stress responses over and over, reinforcing frustration or helplessness.

What to do instead: be intentional. After expressing yourself, pause and ask: “What do I need next?”

5. Using Sleep to Escape

Rest is essential, but oversleeping or using naps to avoid life can worsen emotional and physical balance.

Why it’s harmful: Too much sleep disrupts your circadian rhythm and drains energy, becoming a form of avoidance rather than recovery.

What to do instead: Keep a regular sleep routine. If you’re overwhelmed, try grounding activities like walking or journaling before resorting to sleep.

6. Forcing Positivity

Gratitude is powerful, but forcing optimism can suppress real emotions.

Why it’s harmful: Telling yourself to “just be grateful” invalidates your feelings and stores emotional tension in the body.

What to do instead: Practice emotional honesty. Use journaling prompts like, “What am I feeling right now? or “What do I truly need?”

Stress is part of life, but how we respond to it makes all the difference. Quick fixes may offer short-term relief, but true healing comes from facing discomfort with compassion and care. Truly ask yourself if your habits are truly helping, or just helping you avoid?

(This article is meant for informational purposes only and must not be considered a substitute for advice provided by qualified medical professionals.)