We're all familiar with the image of the ostrich sticking its head in the sand. Avoidant coping strategies have very much the same effect. They may well alleviate feelings of anxiety and stress, but they only bring relief insofar as they help us ignore the problem or challenge that we are facing. On an unconscious level, they address the anxiety, but not its source.

Not only does this leave the stress unresolved, it may then compound the problem by allowing the stress to accumulate yet further.

Let's take a look at some of the more common pitfalls.

• Alcohol and drug abuse
• Other addictive behaviours
• Emotional detachment and cynicism
• Running Away
• Addiction to further trauma

Alcohol and drug abuse

Journalism has long been closely associated with drink and drugs. The hard-drinking correspondent has been a familiar stereotype ever since the days of Evelyn Waugh. Stories still circulate about the prodigious narcotic consumption of reporters during the Vietnam War.

Alcohol is, in many ways, extremely useful to the journalist. The business of cultivating contacts is often conducted over a few drinks, and the stress of witnessing disturbing events or meeting tight deadlines can be relieved by winding down in a bar at the end of the day.

The real difficulty begins to arise when the use of alcohol and other chemicals moves beyond enjoyment and light stress relief and becomes an end in itself. Although there is still very little consensus over the various definitions of misuse, dependence and addiction, the important factor is the impact that consumption begins to have on your life.

It is rarely a question of how much you are consuming. It is a question of what it is doing to you.

Warning signs linked to use of alcohol include:

• Difficulty in stopping drinking once you have started
• Covering up how much you drink
• The need to start drinking again to relieve withdrawal symptoms
• Needing more and more to achieve the same effect
• A waning interest in other pleasures, activities or relationships
• Continuing the habit, despite the harmful effects this is having.

All of the above apply to drug use, with the added complication that drugs are illegal in many parts of the world, presenting an added risk to your wellbeing and professional career.

And finally, while drink and drugs may initially have a relaxing effect, long-term use acts either as a depressant or an unhealthy stimulant, thus increasing the stress and anxiety that you were initially trying to relieve.

Other addictive behaviours

It is possible to become addicted to almost anything that alters your mood:

• Compulsive eating can provide temporary comfort in the midst of mental anguish, but leads to long-term health problems
• Gambling can be a thrilling distraction initially, but can cause devastating damage to your future financial prospects and family life
• Sexual addiction, which can range from compulsive use of pornography to promiscuity to voyeurism, can destroy important long-term relationships.
• Other behaviours include: compulsive spending, self-harm (such as cutting), compulsive internet usage, obsessive relationships, prolonged and excessive use of caffeine (shown to lead to both sleep and anxiety disorders).

Emotional detachment and cynicism

As we saw in the section on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), so-called emotional numbing is a common symptom of traumatic stress. Also known as "dissociation", it describes the protective mechanism whereby the mind shuts off feelings associated with very upsetting events.

Journalists can, however, be prone to subtler forms of emotional detachment that are not necessarily symptoms of severe trauma. Over time, it is easy to become increasingly closed off to the suffering and hardship that they routinely witness.

On one level, this is a necessary professional skill, allowing the reporter to assess and describe the situation with accuracy and independence. But taken to deeper levels, the protection offered by extreme detachment can slowly turn into an inability to empathise with the people one is dealing with, be they interviewees, colleagues or even family members.

At the end of this particular road lies cynicism, a jaded and negative world view that generally distrusts the integrity of others. While it can seem clever to sound cynical (and many journalists do), it can cloud one's judgement, to say nothing of draining life of joy and meaning.

Other unproductive and negative thought patterns that can arise from feeling stressed include:

• Perfectionism
• Isolation
• Exaggerated sense of responsibility
• Blame
• Self-pity
• Envy
• Resentment

Running Away

The life of some journalists is characterised by almost constant movement, or by the desire for it. While global travel can be one of the main attractions of the profession, there can also come a point when it becomes counter-productive. What starts out as an exciting exploration of the world can become a whole new kind of avoidant behaviour.

If one is feeling stressed, or even traumatised, a constant change of environment can be an effective way of side-stepping uncomfortable emotional anxieties. The preoccupations of always adapting to something new can eventually become a substitute for the risks of deeper and more satisfying connections.

But like all avoidant coping strategies, it represents a vicious circle. It may bring some initial relief from stress, but it eventually becomes a source of stress itself, which reinforces the need to find further relief, which then perpetuates the behaviour.

Addiction to further trauma

One of the most common unconscious defence mechanisms in humans involves taking inner anxiety, stress or trauma - felt to be unbearable - and externalising it in a bid to make it easier to digest or cope with. For journalists, this can translate into a desire actually to seek out the suffering of others in an attempt to avoid inner fears and worries. This is particularly common in armed conflict. Watching other human beings go to war with each other can have a paradoxically soothing effect when set against inner conflicts that one does not wish to address.

It almost goes without saying, but this cycle of re-traumatisation leads almost inevitably to burn-out.

Getting Help

All avoidant coping strategies have the capacity to launch us into a downward spiral. The reality of human behaviour, however, normally dictates that we will continue to use a coping strategy until it no longer works; that is to say, we are no longer coping. But the ability to recognise the warning signs gives us the chance to change direction before we do any serious damage.