The "Just-In-Case" Anxiety Trap

Don’t overlook the little anxiety moments.

Yes, big fear moments—such as running off stage in fright when it’s your turn to give a big speech or having a panic attack during a test—are remembered most vividly and often cause immediate and profound damage to our lives.

But it’s the little moments with our anxiety that can cause the most damage. They add up and lead to death by a thousand cuts.

One primary driving force behind these little anxiety moments is the rationale, “just in case” or JIC.

JIC reasoning goes something like this: “I might as well do X just to be safe in case something goes wrong, or I forgot to do X, or I didn’t do X correctly. It’s fast and easy just to do X [again], because doing so can prevent a lot of trouble later.” It’s like a non-religious version of Pascal's wager¹—better safe than sorry.

Did I put my credit card back in my wallet? Better check, just in case. Should I study that chapter again, just in case I missed something? Did I lock the door? Safest to go back and make sure, just in case. Should I bring an extra pair of underwear on my trip, just in case?

We all comply with JIC urges from time to time, but doing so can become a major problem, especially if they start to cause distress or add up and get in the way of life functioning.

Giving in to JIC urges creates problematic safety behaviors.² Safety behaviors include a variety of behaviors, such as avoidance and escape responses and rituals (e.g., checking, fixing, reassurance-seeking, re-doing).

When you are feeling anxious about whether you have your credit card or locked the door, you check to make sure—checking is a safety behavior. If you are worried about whether you studied enough, the safety behavior is to study more. And, yes, packing extra underwear is a safety behavior.

Safety behaviors maintain anxiety over the long run through the mechanism of negative reinforcement.³ That is, JIC-related safety behaviors provide momentary relief from a bad feeling (i.e., fear or anxiety that something bad might happen)—and because of that rewarding relief—we are more likely to use that behavior again in the future as a strategy. For this reason, safety behaviors increase in intensity and frequency and therefore become problematic. The JIC behaviors start to add up and can become impairing over time.

Each safety behavior isn’t necessarily a major problem by itself. In fact, it’s often the case that they help or save us. For example, sometimes you return to check the door and find it unlocked. These moments are very strong reinforcement experiences, like hitting the jackpot on a slot machine (i.e., variable ratio reinforcement⁴).

But the quick and easy safety behaviors (e.g., checking) have a cost. When we perform them repeatedly instead of adopting healthier approaches—such as acceptance-based strategies and cognitive reappraisal—we can get stuck in a cycle in which the JIC urges and behaviors become overpowering over time.

Instead of providing relief, safety behaviors can cause or worsen distress. They grow and become compulsive, seemingly controlling our behavior. And, paradoxically, safety behaviors often lose the ability to bring us relief. For example, checking behavior can lead to more doubt; if you check a locked door repeatedly, you can lose confidence in what you saw with your own eyes and doubt whether the door is locked.⁵

The solution isn't necessarily to stop indulging our JIC urges, but if you notice your own JIC behaviors increasing, or if they start to cause you distress or impairment, it might be time to say no to JIC urges.