A clinical psychologist has explained why so many people succumb to self-sabotaging behaviours such as procrastination, skin-picking and ghosting people. The brain would rather deal with the certainty of a controlled threat, caused by itself, than an out-of-control, unknown threat, explained Dr Heriot-Maitland. The reason behind self-sabotaging behaviours is because of survival instincts, a psychologist has claimed'Our brain would rather we were the arbiter of our downfall than risk being floored by something external. Common self-sabotaging behaviours include procrastination, perfectionism and pessimism, he says. It's important to understand these mechanisms behind self-sabotaging behaviours, which he dubbed 'controlled explosion' rather than trying to eliminate them, he says.

Source: Daily Mail January 05, 2026 04:23 UTC